Regular Session - June 23, 2008
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1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 June 23, 2008
11 11:25 a.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR JOSEPH A. GRIFFO, Acting 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 GRIFFO: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask all present to please rise
5 and join with me as we recite the Pledge of
6 Allegiance to our 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 in a moment of silence.
12 (Whereupon, the assemblage
13 respected a moment of silence.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 reading of the Journal.
16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
17 Sunday, June 22, the Senate met pursuant to
18 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
19 June 21, was read and approved. On motion,
20 Senate adjourned.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without
22 objection, the Journal stands approved as
23 read.
24 Presentation of petitions.
25 Messages from the Assembly.
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1 Messages from the Governor.
2 Reports of standing committees.
3 Reports of select committees.
4 Communications and reports from
5 state officers.
6 Motions and resolutions.
7 Senator Maziarz.
8 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Mr. President,
9 there will be an immediate meeting of the
10 Corporations Committee in the Majority
11 Conference Room, Room 332.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
13 will be an immediate meeting of the
14 Corporations Committee in the Majority
15 Conference Room, Room 332.
16 On motions and resolutions, Senator
17 Fuschillo.
18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you
19 very much, Mr. President.
20 On behalf of Senator Maltese, I
21 move that the following bill be discharged
22 from its respective committee and be
23 recommitted with instructions to strike the
24 enacting clause: Senate Print Number 5877.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So
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1 ordered.
2 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of
3 Senator Nozzolio, I wish to amend Senate Print
4 Number 7762A by striking out the amendments
5 made on June 16th and restoring it to its
6 original print number, 7762.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So
8 ordered.
9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of
10 Senator Maziarz, I wish to call up Senate
11 Print Number 2308, recalled from the Assembly,
12 which is now at the desk.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 500, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 2308, an
17 act to amend the Environmental Conservation
18 Law.
19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I move to
20 reconsider the vote by which the bill was
21 passed.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
23 the roll on reconsideration.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 38.
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1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer
2 the following amendments.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 amendments are accepted.
5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Amendments
6 are offered to the following Third Reading
7 Calendar bills:
8 Sponsored by Senator Lanza, page
9 number 20, Calendar Number 626, Senate Print
10 Number 7024A;
11 By Senator Maziarz, page number 48,
12 Calendar Number 1444, Senate Print Number
13 7924;
14 By Senator Owen Johnson, page
15 number 55, Calendar Number 2037, Senate Print
16 Number 8572.
17 I now move that these bills retain
18 their place on the order of third reading.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 amendments are received and adopted, and the
21 bills will retain their place on the Third
22 Reading Calendar.
23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
25 you, Senator Fuschillo.
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1 Senator Maziarz.
2 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Mr. President,
3 would you recognize Senator Duane, please.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Duane.
6 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 On behalf of Senator C. Kruger, on
9 page number 28 I offer the following
10 amendments to Calendar Number 918, Senate
11 Print Number 7342A, and ask that said bill
12 retain its place on the Third Reading
13 Calendar.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 amendments are received and adopted, and the
16 bill will retain its place on the Third
17 Reading Calendar.
18 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
21 you, Senator Duane.
22 Senator Maziarz.
23 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Mr. President,
24 by way of process, when the Corporations
25 Committee meeting is done, we're going to call
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1 an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee.
2 And in the meantime, we will stand
3 at ease temporarily.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Can we
5 do some substitutions, Senator Maziarz, at
6 this time.
7 Following the Corporations
8 Committee meeting, there will be an immediate
9 meeting of the Rules Committee in the Majority
10 Conference Room.
11 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Please do the
12 substitutions at this time, Mr. President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: On page 9,
16 Senator Volker moves to discharge, from the
17 Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 5258C
18 and substitute it for the identical Senate
19 Bill Number 3175C, Third Reading Calendar 237.
20 On page 13, Senator Fuschillo moves
21 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
22 Assembly Bill Number 70A and substitute it for
23 the identical Senate Bill Number 5045B, Third
24 Reading Calendar 368.
25 On page 20, Senator Seward moves to
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1 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
2 Assembly Bill Number 8343A and substitute it
3 for the identical Senate Bill Number 2071A,
4 Third Reading Calendar 613.
5 On page 28, Senator Winner moves to
6 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
7 Assembly Bill Number 9073B and substitute it
8 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6151B,
9 Third Reading Calendar 896.
10 On page 30, Senator Griffo moves to
11 discharge, from the Committee on Health,
12 Assembly Bill Number 10121 and substitute it
13 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7110,
14 Third Reading Calendar 948.
15 On page 32, Senator Morahan moves
16 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
17 Assembly Bill Number 11491A and substitute it
18 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8058B,
19 Third Reading Calendar 1010.
20 On page 34, Senator Saland moves to
21 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
22 Assembly Bill Number 9628B and substitute it
23 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7293A,
24 Third Reading Calendar 1120.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Excuse
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1 me. Can we have order, please, as the
2 Secretary is reading an official part of the
3 calendar. I'd ask all conversations to be
4 taken outside the chamber. The Senate is
5 still in session.
6 The Secretary will continue to
7 read.
8 THE SECRETARY: On page 35,
9 Senator Sabini moves to discharge, from the
10 Committee on Consumer Protection, Assembly
11 Bill Number 3520 and substitute it for the
12 identical Senate Bill Number 5874A, Third
13 Reading Calendar 1144.
14 On page 38, Senator Young moves to
15 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
16 Assembly Bill Number 11174A and substitute it
17 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8006A,
18 Third Reading Calendar 1209.
19 On page 53, Senator Golden moves to
20 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
21 Assembly Bill Number 5566A and substitute it
22 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3060A,
23 Third Reading Calendar 1960.
24 On page 54, Senator Bonacic moves
25 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
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1 Assembly Bill Number 11005 and substitute it
2 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7364,
3 Third Reading Calendar 1993.
4 And on page 54, Senator Libous
5 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
6 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 11418 and
7 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
8 Number 8539, Third Reading Calendar 2012.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
10 Substitutions are so ordered.
11 The Senate will stand at ease.
12 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
13 ease at 11:33 a.m.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 Senate will come to order.
16 Senator Maziarz.
17 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you,
18 Mr. President. There will be an immediate
19 meeting of the Rules Committee in the Majority
20 Conference Room, Room 332.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
22 Immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in
23 the Majority Conference Room, Room 332.
24 SENATOR MAZIARZ: The Senate will
25 stand at ease in the meantime.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 Senate stands at ease.
3 The Senate will come to order.
4 Senator Maziarz.
5 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very
6 much, Mr. President.
7 There will be an immediate meeting
8 of the Senate Labor Committee in Room 332.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
10 will be an immediate meeting of the Senate
11 Labor Committee in Room 332.
12 SENATOR MAZIARZ: The Senate will
13 stand at ease.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 Senate will continue to stand at ease.
16 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
17 at 12:17 p.m.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 Senate will come to order.
20 Senator Little.
21 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
22 Mr. President. Could we return to reports of
23 standing committees, please.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Under
25 reports of standing committees.
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1 SENATOR LITTLE: Is there a
2 report of the Rules Committee?
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
4 is a report of the Rules Committee at the
5 desk.
6 The Secretary will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno,
8 from the Committee on Rules, reports the
9 following bills:
10 Senate Print 2498A, by Senator
11 Sampson, an act to direct;
12 4255D, by Senator Breslin, an act
13 to amend the Public Lands Law;
14 4994B, by Senator Maziarz, an act
15 to amend the Labor Law;
16 7513, by Senator Golden, an act to
17 amend Chapter 567 of the Laws of 1993;
18 7692A, by Senator O. Johnson, an
19 act to amend the Environmental Conservation
20 Law;
21 8134B, by Senator Maziarz, an act
22 to amend the Public Authorities Law;
23 8143A, by Senator Farley, an act to
24 amend the Real Property Actions and
25 Proceedings Law;
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1 8197C, by Senator Golden, an act to
2 amend Chapter 507 of the Laws of 1974;
3 8297A, by Senator Fuschillo, an act
4 to amend the General Business Law;
5 8303A, by Senator DeFrancisco, an
6 act to amend Chapter 340 of the Laws of 2001;
7 8362B, by Senator Connor, an act to
8 amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law;
9 8376A, by Senator Fuschillo, an act
10 to amend the Executive Law;
11 8432, by Senator Oppenheimer, an
12 act to amend Chapter 137 of the Laws of 1877;
13 Senate Print 8526B, by the Senate
14 Committee on Rules, an act to amend the New
15 York State Urban Development Corporation Act;
16 8527B, by the Senate Committee on
17 Rules, an act to amend the Executive Law;
18 8534A, by Senator Morahan, an act
19 to amend the Social Services Law;
20 8552, by Senator Morahan, an act to
21 amend Chapter 577 of the Laws of 2006;
22 8564, by Senator Libous, an act to
23 amend the Public Authorities Law;
24 8610, by Senator DeFrancisco, an
25 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules;
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1 8613, by the Senate Committee on
2 Rules, an act to amend Chapter 57 of the Laws
3 of 2008;
4 8627, by Senator O. Johnson, an act
5 to amend Chapter 404 of the Laws of 2006;
6 8633, by the Senate Committee on
7 Rules, an act to amend the Tax Law;
8 8637, by Senator Morahan, an act to
9 amend the Labor Law;
10 8655, by Senator Morahan, an act to
11 amend the Mental Hygiene Law;
12 8674, by the Senate Committee on
13 Rules, an act to amend the Public Health Law;
14 8676, by Senator Golden, an act to
15 amend the Retirement and Social Security Law;
16 8679, by the Senate Committee on
17 Rules, an act to create;
18 8680, by the Senate Committee on
19 Rules, an act to amend the Urban Development
20 Corporation Act;
21 8681, by Senator Golden, an act to
22 amend the Tax Law;
23 8683, by the Senate Committee on
24 Rules, an act to amend the General Municipal
25 Law;
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1 8684, by the Senate Committee on
2 Rules, an act to amend the State Finance Law;
3 8698, by the Senate Committee on
4 Rules, an act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel
5 Wagering and Breeding Law;
6 8699, by Senator Skelos, an act to
7 amend the Education Law;
8 8700, by Senator Bonacic, an act to
9 amend the Tax Law;
10 8702, by Senator Hannon, an act to
11 amend the Social Services Law;
12 8703, by Senator Bonacic, an act to
13 amend Chapter 172 of the Laws of 2002;
14 8704, by Senator Bonacic, an act to
15 amend the Private Housing Finance Law;
16 And Senate Print 8705, by Senator
17 Padavan, an act to amend the Real Property Tax
18 Law.
19 All bills ordered direct to third
20 reading.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Little.
23 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
24 Mr. President. We move to accept the Rules
25 Committee report.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
2 favor of accepting the Rules Committee report
3 signify by saying aye.
4 (Response of "Aye.")
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
6 Opposed, nay.
7 (No response.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 Rules Committee report is accepted.
10 SENATOR LITTLE: May we now
11 return to motions and resolutions. And I
12 believe we have some.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Motions
14 and resolutions.
15 Senator Farley.
16 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 On behalf of Senator Maltese, I
19 wish call up his bill, Print Number 8281, it's
20 recalled from the Assembly, and it's now at
21 the desk.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 1827, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 8281,
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1 an act to amend the Arts and Cultural Affairs
2 Law.
3 SENATOR FARLEY: I now move to
4 reconsider the vote by which this bill was
5 passed.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll on reconsideration.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.
10 SENATOR FARLEY: I now offer the
11 following amendments.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 amendments are received and adopted.
14 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of
15 Senator Trunzo, Mr. President, I wish to call
16 up his bill, Print Number 4174, it's recalled
17 from the Assembly, and it's now at the desk.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 Secretary will read.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1684, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 4174, an
22 act to amend the General Municipal Law and
23 others.
24 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, I
25 now move to reconsider the vote by which this
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1 bill passed.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
3 the roll on reconsideration.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.
6 SENATOR FARLEY: I now offer the
7 following amendments.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 amendments are accepted.
10 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of
11 Senator Bonacic, Mr. President, please remove
12 the sponsor's star from Calendar Number 1828.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 star is removed.
15 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President,
16 on behalf of Senator Bonacic, I wish to call
17 up Calendar Number 1828, Assembly Print Number
18 11440.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 Secretary will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1828, by the Assembly Committee on Rules
23 Assembly Print Number 11440, an act to amend
24 Chapter 172 of the Laws of 2002.
25 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, I
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1 now move to reconsider the vote by which this
2 Assembly Bill was substituted for Senator
3 Bonacic's bill, Senate Print 8331, on
4 June 16th.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
6 the roll on reconsideration.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.
9 SENATOR FARLEY: I mow move,
10 Mr. President, that Assembly Bill 11440 be
11 recommitted to the Committee on Rules and that
12 Senator Bonacic's Senate bill be recommitted
13 to the Committee on Rules.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So
15 ordered.
16 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of
17 Senator Bruno, Mr. President, on Supplemental
18 Calendar 63A I now offer the following
19 amendments to Calendar Number 2097, Senate
20 Print 8679, and I ask that that bill retain
21 its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 amendments are received and adopted, and the
24 bill will retain its place on the Third
25 Reading Calendar.
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1 Senator Little.
2 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 I believe there is a resolution at
5 the desk, and I would ask that it be read
6 title only. It is Number 6798, by Senator
7 Bruno.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 Secretary will read.
10 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you.
11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno,
12 Senate Resolution Number 6798, establishing a
13 plan setting forth an itemized list of
14 grantees for the New York State Economic
15 Development Assistance Program established
16 pursuant to an appropriation in the 2008-2009
17 state fiscal year and in Part QQ of Chapter 57
18 of the Laws of 2008.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 Secretary will call the roll on the
21 resolution.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Krueger.
25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
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1 On the resolution.
2 I just want to make sure that we
3 put on the record that this is about
4 $86 million in capital member items. Under
5 the budget reform law we passed two years ago,
6 these capital expenditures -- in fact all
7 memorandum of understanding arrangements --
8 have to go through a resolution and be passed
9 by the Senate.
10 Ironically, in this year's budget,
11 we changed the rules so it doesn't have to go
12 through both houses. The Senate does its own,
13 and the Assembly does its own. I think that
14 wasn't a very good idea in the budget. I
15 think everybody should have a chance to take a
16 look at what the capital monies are and what
17 they're being spent on.
18 It's an improvement over the past,
19 when nobody knew what the dollars were going
20 to be spent on until after they were spent.
21 In fact, the Comptroller's office used to say
22 you wouldn't be able to figure this out until
23 years after the money was spent. It's
24 somewhat of an improvement in that we're
25 getting it on our desks right as we decide to
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1 vote on it.
2 I don't think it's a great model of
3 spending government money. This is a second
4 portion of $350 million that the Senate
5 Majority only seems to have any decision-
6 making over. And we did $215 million, now
7 we're doing about another $85 million, and I
8 understand that leaves us about $49 million to
9 be spent at some point in time.
10 I won't vote against it. But I
11 still think we have a long way to go in how we
12 spend state money. And I just wanted to make
13 sure everyone knew this is what they were
14 voting on.
15 Thank you, Mr. President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
17 you, Senator Krueger.
18 Senator Krueger to be recorded in
19 the affirmative.
20 Announce the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
22 0.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 resolution is adopted.
25 Senator Little.
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1 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 We have a resolution at the desk by
4 Senator Leibell, which we would ask to be read
5 title only. It is Resolution Number 6799.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 Secretary will read.
8 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
9 Leibell, Legislative Resolution Number 6799,
10 memorializing Governor David A. Paterson to
11 proclaim September 2008 as Childhood Cancer
12 Awareness Month in the State of New York.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
14 favor of adopting the resolution signify by
15 saying aye.
16 (Response of "Aye.")
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
18 Opposed, nay.
19 (No response.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
21 resolution is adopted.
22 Senator Little.
23 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you.
24 Mr. President, we also have a
25 resolution by Senator DeFrancisco, which is
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1 Resolution Number 6800. I would ask that that
2 be read title only.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 Secretary will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
6 DeFrancisco, Legislative Resolution Number
7 6800, congratulating the West Genesee Wildcats
8 Girls Lacrosse Team and Head Coach Bob Elmer
9 upon the occasion of capturing the 2008
10 New York State Class A Championship.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: May I
12 ask again that we have order. There is much
13 business to be conducted today, and it is very
14 difficult for the transcripts to be accurate
15 if we can't have order.
16 On the resolution, all those in
17 favor signify by saying aye.
18 (Response of "Aye.")
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
20 Opposed, nay.
21 (No response.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 resolution is adopted.
24 Senator Little.
25 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
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1 Mr. President.
2 We also have another resolution by
3 Senator DeFrancisco, which is Number 6801.
4 And we ask that that also be read title only.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 Secretary will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
8 DeFrancisco, Legislative Resolution Number
9 6801, congratulating the West Genesee Wildcats
10 Boys Lacrosse Team and Head Coach Mike Messere
11 upon the occasion of capturing the 2008
12 New York State Class A Lacrosse Championship.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 DeFrancisco.
15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I just
16 want to rise. There's these two resolutions,
17 a very unique situation, in that both the boys
18 and the girls Class A lacrosse teams from one
19 school, West Genesee, won the state
20 championship.
21 It's just an incredible feat for
22 this school, and it's also incredible when you
23 think about the fact that the boys team, when
24 they won this year, this was their 15th
25 Class A boys lacrosse title, state title,
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1 which is something that will never be
2 duplicated, and it will only be increased by
3 West Genesee.
4 So I just want to congratulate both
5 the boys and girls teams and their respective
6 coaching staffs for excellence in this sport.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
8 you, Senator DeFrancisco.
9 The question is on the resolution.
10 All in favor signify by saying aye.
11 (Response of "Aye.")
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
13 Opposed, nay.
14 (No response.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 resolution is adopted.
17 Senator Little.
18 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 May we now take up the
21 noncontroversial reading of the calendar,
22 which would be Senate Supplemental Calendar
23 Number 63A.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 Secretary will read.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 2071, by Senator Sampson, Senate Print 2498A,
3 an act to direct the conducting of an
4 evaluation for the need of educating barbers.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 2072, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 4255D,
17 an act to amend the Public Lands Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 2073, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 4994B,
5 an act to amend the Labor Law and the State
6 Finance Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
10 act shall take effect on the first of April.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 2074, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 7513, an
19 act to amend Chapter 567 of the Laws of 1993,
20 amending the Private Housing Finance Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
7 Calendar Number 2075, Senator O. Johnson moves
8 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
9 Assembly Bill Number 11080 and substitute it
10 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7692A,
11 Third Reading Calendar 2075.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
13 Substitution ordered.
14 The Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 2075, by Member of the Assembly Sweeney,
17 Assembly Print Number 11080, an act to amend
18 the Environmental Conservation Law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
22 act shall take effect July 1, 2008.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
2 LaValle, to explain his vote.
3 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you,
4 Mr. President.
5 I just want to say, as I do very
6 often at the end of the session, where we have
7 legislation that regulates marine life,
8 whether it be lobsters or other kinds of fish,
9 the industry, when you add the petroleum issue
10 and everything else, is really going to be
11 dying.
12 And rightfully or wrongfully, the
13 only thing that will be left is the marine
14 life, with no one there to secure it for the
15 consumption of anyone.
16 So I vote in the negative,
17 Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 LaValle to be recorded in the negative.
20 Announce the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
22 the negative on Calendar Number 2075 are
23 Senators Duane and LaValle.
24 Ayes, 55. Nays, 2.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 2076, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 8134B,
4 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Schneiderman.
14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: To explain
15 my vote, Mr. President.
16 I feel it's important to call
17 attention to unusual circumstances. This is
18 an excellent Senator Maziarz bill. I vote in
19 the affirmative.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Schneiderman to be recorded in the
22 affirmative.
23 Announce the results.
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays,
25 0.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 2077, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8143A,
5 an act to amend the Real Property Actions and
6 Proceedings Law and others.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Little.
9 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 Is there a message of necessity at
12 the desk?
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
14 is a message of necessity at the desk.
15 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. I
16 move to accept the message of necessity.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
18 favor of accepting the message of necessity
19 indicate by saying aye.
20 (Response of "Aye.")
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
22 Opposed, nay.
23 (No response.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 message is accepted.
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1 The Secretary will read the last
2 section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 28. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
6 please.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 bill is laid aside.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 2078, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 8197C,
11 an act to amend Chapter 507 of the Laws of
12 1974, relating to apportionment.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
18 the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 2079, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print
25 8297A, an act to amend the General Business
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1 Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
5 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Fuschillo.
11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
12 President, just to explain my vote.
13 Last year we had heard throughout
14 New York State and throughout this nation
15 about so many products and dangerous toys that
16 were still on the market and still on the
17 shelves. Well, what this legislation does is
18 it creates the Children's Product Safety and
19 Recall Effectiveness Act.
20 What it does is it sets standards
21 in New York State -- because there are no
22 standards right now -- to ensure that toys
23 that are dangerous or have been recalled by
24 the distributors, by the retailers, by the
25 Consumer Protection Board, the United States
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1 Consumer Protection Board, that they're taken
2 off the shelves within 24 hours, ensuring that
3 parents do not buy these products. And that,
4 if possible, the consumers will be contacted
5 and notified of the recall as well.
6 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
7 I'll be voting in the affirmative.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
9 Fuschillo to be recorded in the affirmative.
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
12 0.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
16 2080, Senator DeFrancisco moves to discharge,
17 from the Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill
18 Number 11459 and substitute it for the
19 identical Senate Bill Number 8303A, Third
20 Reading Calendar 2080.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
22 Substitution so ordered.
23 The Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 2080, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
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1 Assembly 11459, an act to amend Chapter 340 of
2 the Laws of 2001, amending the Judiciary Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 2081, by Senator Connor, Senate Print 8362B,
15 an act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control
16 Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect December 31, 2008.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
25 Little.
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1 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. I
2 would just like to explain my vote on this
3 piece of legislation, which actually makes the
4 distance greater between a church, school,
5 whatever, and an establishment that has a
6 liquor license.
7 In New York City, this may be a
8 problem, and I wouldn't object if this were
9 only for New York City. But in many of our
10 small communities where we're doing
11 revitalization of downtown areas, where we
12 have closed churches but we still have others
13 in existence and we're trying to establish a
14 downtown traffic, with restaurants and all,
15 this becomes very difficult, and making this
16 distance even farther is problematic.
17 Therefore, I vote in the negative.
18 Thank you.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Little to be recorded in the negative.
21 Senator Connor, to explain his
22 vote.
23 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you,
24 Mr. President.
25 This legislation arises out of a
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1 problem which we have certainly in the
2 metropolitan area in New York City, and that
3 is the oversaturation of licensed premises.
4 In my district in the Lower East
5 Side, in Carroll Gardens, in Brooklyn, in
6 Soho, there are literally hundreds and
7 hundreds of licensees, and what this bill
8 addresses is something that we've observed
9 going on.
10 Under the 200-foot rule, a licensed
11 premises can't be licensed to serve alcohol if
12 they're within 200 feet of a church or a
13 school or other house of worship. And the way
14 it's always been computed is from the center
15 of the doorway to the center of the doorway of
16 the house of worship or school. And we have
17 actually found people who want to open a bar
18 moving the door -- closing off the door,
19 moving it around to the side of the building,
20 some other place on their building, to get
21 beyond the 200 feet.
22 So this bill would say it goes from
23 the property line of the school or house of
24 worship to the property line of the licensed
25 premises. It's that simple.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
2 Connor will be recorded in the affirmative.
3 Announce the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 the negative on Calendar Number 2081 are
6 Senators Griffo, Little, Maziarz and Seward.
7 Also Senator Fuschillo. Also Senator Saland.
8 Also Senator Marcellino.
9 Ayes, 53. Nays, 7.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 2082, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print
14 8376A, an act to amend the Executive Law and
15 others.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Little.
18 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 Is there a message of necessity at
21 the desk?
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
23 is a message of necessity at the desk.
24 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. I
25 move to accept the message of necessity.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
2 favor of accepting the message of necessity
3 indicate by saying aye.
4 (Response of "Aye.")
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
6 Opposed, nay.
7 (No response.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 message is accepted.
10 The Secretary will read the last
11 section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 16. This
13 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
21 Calendar Number 2083, Senator Oppenheimer
22 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
23 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 11467 and
24 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
25 Number 8432, Third Reading Calendar 2083.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
2 Substitution so ordered.
3 The Secretary will read.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 2083, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
6 Assembly Print Number 11467, an act to amend
7 Chapter 137 of the Laws of 1877 relating to
8 incorporating.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 bill is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 2084, by the Senate Committee on Rules --
21 SENATOR LITTLE: Lay it aside for
22 the day, please.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is laid aside for the day.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 2085, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
2 Print Number 8527B --
3 SENATOR LITTLE: Lay it aside for
4 the day, please.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 bill is laid aside for the day.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 2087, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 8552,
9 an act to amend Chapter 577 of the Laws of
10 2006, amending the Greenwood Lake Protection
11 Act.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 2088, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 8564, an
24 act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 2089, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
12 8610, an act to amend the Civil Practice Law
13 and Rules and the Insurance Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
17 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 2090, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
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1 Print Number 8613, an act to amend Chapter 57
2 of the Laws of 2008, relating to authorizing
3 the New York State Mortgage Agency.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
9 the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 2091, by Senator O. Johnson, Senate Print
16 8627, an act to amend Chapter 404 of the Laws
17 of 2006, relating to establishing.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 2092, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
5 Print Number 8633, an act to amend the Tax
6 Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 2093, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 8637,
19 an act to amend the Labor Law and the
20 Education Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
24 act shall take effect July 1, 2009.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Maziarz.
5 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Mr. President,
6 to explain my vote.
7 I just want to congratulate Senator
8 Morahan. This is a great bill. All the years
9 that I chaired the Senate Labor Committee, we
10 tried to come to some agreement between
11 hospitals and nurses, and Senator Morahan was
12 able to do that.
13 And I vote in the affirmative.
14 Thank you, Mr. President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
16 Maziarz to be recorded in the affirmative.
17 Senator Morahan.
18 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 This bill, which originated back I
21 guess in 2002, is a bill that really will do a
22 couple of things.
23 First of all, we all know we have a
24 critical shortage of nurses in the State of
25 New York. This bill will start to deal with
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1 working conditions, hopefully to attract more
2 people to that profession. It's a
3 well-thought profession, obviously.
4 But also it ensures patient care in
5 those situations where nurses were required to
6 work even in excess of 16 hours in one tour,
7 when people could be prone to mistakes or
8 people could be overwhelmed with other
9 activities. Thank God this has not happened
10 in our state. This bill will ensure that our
11 nurses get the appropriate time off.
12 And I'm sure those who are
13 concerned with the impact on hospitals where
14 nurses won't work, I believe there will always
15 be a nurse willing and able to take on the
16 tour of those rather than force a mandatory
17 overtime for our nurses.
18 So I'm delighted to finally be able
19 to say this bill has a three-way agreement and
20 will pass in the other house as well as being
21 approved by the Governor.
22 Thank you, Mr. President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Morahan to be recorded in the affirmative.
25 Senator Krueger, to explain her
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1 vote.
2 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you
3 so much. I also rise to thank Senator Morahan
4 for this very important piece of legislation.
5 Sometimes my district is referred
6 to as Bedpan Alley, it has so many hospitals
7 in it. And as a result, I have large numbers
8 of nurses who live in my district and work in
9 my district who come and talk to me about the
10 problems that have been going on in hospitals,
11 who highlight that if you are a patient in a
12 hospital, it is as dangerous for you to be
13 being taken care of by somebody who has not
14 slept and who has worked too many hours.
15 And so not only is this an
16 important bill for health and safety of
17 patients in hospitals throughout the State of
18 New York, it's also going to encourage nurses
19 to stay in hospital care, which is also a huge
20 issue throughout the state with our nurse
21 shortage, where not only are nurses leaving
22 the profession, but they're leaving working in
23 hospitals because they have alternatives that
24 are not nearly as insane.
25 So I am so delighted that we are
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1 passing this bill today. I know that every
2 patient who ever goes into a hospital in
3 New York State will appreciate it even if they
4 don't know that this bill was passed. And I
5 know that it will send a very clear message to
6 support the important work of nurses, the
7 important work they do and the important
8 importance of staying in hospital care.
9 So I want to thank Senator Morahan.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Krueger to be recorded in the affirmative.
12 Senator Hassell-Thompson.
13 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank
14 you, Mr. President.
15 It's a pleasure to stand in support
16 of a bill from one of my colleagues,
17 particularly as someone who, for close to
18 36 years, off and on, I practiced nursing. It
19 was my first job. And believe me, it helped
20 to take very good care of my family.
21 But certainly one of the reasons
22 that I left nursing, and many nurses do leave
23 or those don't come, is because of the
24 excessive hours and the mandated overtime.
25 Everything that we can do in this
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1 chamber to help to make the workplace for
2 nurses as well as any other worker safe, we
3 have an obligation to do. This bill goes a
4 long way toward correcting one of the major
5 issues that has been a concern of nurses for
6 quite some time, and I'm very proud to be here
7 in this Senate chamber at the time that we
8 pass this bill and to support Senator Morahan.
9 Thank you, Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Hassell-Thompson to be recorded in the
12 affirmative.
13 Senator Duane, to explain his vote.
14 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you very
15 much, Mr. President.
16 I also want to congratulate Senator
17 Morahan on this bill.
18 And without belaboring the point, I
19 just want to say that I love those nurses.
20 And they always have taken very good care of
21 me, and I know they take good care of everyone
22 else.
23 And whenever I've had a question, I
24 go to a nurse and they give me a better
25 answer, usually, than anyone else.
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1 So I am very pleased that we're
2 passing this legislation today. And I hope
3 you remember it next time I'm hospitalized.
4 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Duane to be recorded in the affirmative.
7 Senator Montgomery, to explain her
8 vote.
9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes,
10 Mr. President. I also rise to thank Senator
11 Morahan for this bill.
12 I have a sister who is a nurse and
13 a staff member of my mine who is also a nurse.
14 And so I'm very keenly sensitive and aware of
15 issues that nurses have with being overtaxed,
16 overburdened, and I know how important they
17 are. They are extremely important to our
18 health delivery system. Next to the doctor, I
19 think the nurse is probably the most important
20 person.
21 And so I rise to certainly support
22 this legislation. It's about time, it's time
23 for us to pay specific attention and to
24 include nurses in everything that we pass in
25 this Legislature, including any funds to
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1 assist them in their educational and
2 professional preparation, because without them
3 there is no health system.
4 So I want to thank Senator Morahan
5 for this. And I speak for both my own family
6 member and my staff, as well as the nurses
7 throughout this state. We thank you very
8 much.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Montgomery will be recorded in the
11 affirmative.
12 Senator Perkins.
13 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you,
14 Mr. President.
15 On behalf of Kiva Hassina Perkins
16 Watts, my daughter, I want to thank Senator
17 Morahan on her behalf for his leadership on
18 this very, very important bill. She is a
19 nurse and has been practicing as such for
20 quite a bit of time and has been able to even
21 be a part of the advocacy on making this bill
22 coming to fruition.
23 So I want to thank him, and I want
24 to thank her colleagues in the nursing
25 profession for the wonderful work that they've
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1 done to bring this before us and to make sure
2 that it was passed.
3 I vote aye.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Perkins to be recorded in the affirmative.
6 Senator Savino, and then Senator
7 Parker.
8 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 I also want to rise and
11 congratulate Senator Morahan for accomplishing
12 something that we have been advocating for for
13 a very long time. Before I got elected as an
14 AFSCME representative, I joined the nurses
15 many times, whether it was through PEF,
16 whether it was through 1199, NYSUT, NYSNA,
17 lobbying Albany to change this law, because we
18 knew it was unfair.
19 We know how hard nurses work. We
20 know how important they are to the delivery of
21 healthcare services in the hospital. As
22 Senator Krueger said, we know they're leaving
23 the hospital care system because they quite
24 frankly can't handle the workload, they can't
25 handle the stress on themselves and the stress
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1 it places on their patients.
2 But I'm very happy today that we're
3 passing this bill. In fact, about a week or
4 so ago I spoke at a rally in front of the
5 building for the nurses, and I said to them
6 then that our obligation was to pass this bill
7 before we went home on June 23rd and that if
8 we did not, perhaps we should stay and do a
9 little mandatory overtime of our own.
10 So I'm happy to say that we are
11 finally accomplishing something that we know
12 is critically important to nurses all around
13 New York State. Congratulations.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Savino to be recorded in the affirmative.
16 Senator Parker, to explain his
17 vote.
18 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, to explain
19 my vote, Mr. President.
20 There are two kinds of people in
21 the world: there are sick people and those of
22 us who are about to be sick. And so I'm happy
23 to stand and add my voice to the chorus of
24 those who are supporting this bill.
25 I want to congratulate Senator
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1 Morahan for bringing this up. This is
2 important in terms of the quality of care, you
3 know, for everybody who is either a patient or
4 is going to be a patient in the future.
5 Certainly our nurses deserve the
6 best work conditions that they can.
7 Representing a district with Kings County,
8 Downstate, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center,
9 Brookdale -- and Beth Israel-Kings Highway
10 Hospital right on its outskirts -- I have a
11 plethora of nurses who live in my district and
12 who work and who often come to me, both here
13 in Albany and in the district, to talk about
14 the conditions.
15 This is one step on the long road
16 of making this state of state a nurse-friendly
17 state. Ken LaValle, chairman of the Higher
18 Education Committee, a number of years ago did
19 a subcommittee on the nursing shortage in this
20 state.
21 There's lots more that needs to be
22 done. We took care of the some of the issues
23 relating to safety earlier this year. We're
24 now getting rid of mandatory overtime. We
25 still need to pass a bill regulating and
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1 mandating proper staffing ratios in our
2 hospitals and our nursing homes. And we also
3 need to expand the pipeline in New York City,
4 particularly in CUNY, with more nurse
5 practitioners.
6 We need to create some equity
7 between people who are clinical nurses and
8 people who want to be nurse educators, so that
9 we can encourage nurses to become nurse
10 educators.
11 And so once we do all those things,
12 we will begin to stem the tide in this
13 serious, serious crisis we have in terms of
14 nurses in this state. But this is a good
15 first step, and let me thank all my colleagues
16 for being supportive of this bill.
17 I vote aye.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Parker to be recorded in the affirmative.
20 Senator Stachowski, to explain his
21 vote.
22 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Yes,
23 Mr. President, I too rise to congratulate
24 Senator Morahan on finally getting this bill
25 through. It's been a long time, a lot of
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1 conversations.
2 Obviously, the nurses point out to
3 us always that maybe some of the people that
4 have left the profession may come back if they
5 know there's not forced overtime anymore.
6 And I agree with a lot of the
7 things Senator Parker said about things we
8 have to do. And one of the things we have to
9 address next is taking care of the shortage of
10 people teaching nurses, because that's even
11 becoming more rare a bird than the nurses
12 themselves.
13 So I'd like to congratulate the
14 Senate for passing the bill. But more so I'd
15 like to congratulate all the nursing people
16 that came up all these years, pushing hard to
17 get this bill done and finally accomplishing
18 that goal.
19 I vote yes.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Stachowski to be recorded in the affirmative.
22 Senator Stavisky, to explain her
23 vote.
24 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
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1 I too thank our colleague Senator
2 Morahan for his leadership and his devotion to
3 this issue.
4 As Senator Parker indicated, we had
5 a task force on the nursing shortage appointed
6 by Senator LaValle a number of years ago,
7 chaired by then Senator Pat McGee, and we held
8 hearings throughout the state. And the same
9 theme resonated at each and every hearing, and
10 that was the -- there were a number of them,
11 but one of them was the question of mandatory
12 overtime.
13 And the question was how can we
14 attract more people to the nursing profession.
15 Because you certainly are overworked,
16 underpaid. And at least you're hearing
17 today -- not everybody says thank you, but we
18 are giving you a collective thank you for all
19 of the long hours that you've put in in the
20 past and for everything that you're going to
21 be doing in the future.
22 Thank you.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Stavisky to be recorded in the affirmative.
25 Senator Farley, to explain his
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1 vote.
2 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President,
3 it's very evident that this house loves
4 nurses, as everybody is wrapping themselves in
5 nursing.
6 I was lobbied very vociferously,
7 because I have five sisters-in-law who are all
8 nurses. And for a lot of years I carried all
9 the legislation for the New York State Nurses
10 Association.
11 But let me just say I join all of
12 my colleagues in supporting this bill, and I
13 vote aye.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Farley to be recorded in the affirmative.
16 Senator Robach, to explain his
17 vote.
18 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes,
19 Mr. President, just very briefly.
20 In addition to the work-condition
21 issue and all the nobility and important work
22 nurses do, I just think there's also one very
23 important thing. You know, in my days when I
24 worked at Eastman Kodak Company years ago,
25 there were studies done on quality and
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1 productivity, even on manufacturing electronic
2 parts, and how that decreased as people were
3 required to work longer and longer.
4 Well, I always thought on this
5 issue it made absolutely no sense. Nurses, as
6 we all know, are working on us, family
7 members, human beings. And we know we want
8 that margin of error to be zero. So I always
9 thought on patient safety it was very, very
10 important that we get this bill done and limit
11 that to a reasonable goal. I think we've done
12 this.
13 I'm happy to be a cosponsor on this
14 bill, and I do want to also thank Senator
15 Morahan not only for bringing this bill to the
16 floor, but also working so diligently over the
17 years to get three-way agreement with the
18 other house and the Governor.
19 I think this will not only be good
20 for nurses, but it's also going to go a long
21 way toward patient safety and making New York
22 State a much safer and better place, and I
23 applaud everyone for their work on this
24 important bill.
25 I proudly cast my vote in the
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1 affirmative.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Robach to be recorded in the affirmative.
4 Senator Connor, to explain his
5 vote.
6 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 Mr. President, I rise also to lend
9 my voice. And I agree with almost everything
10 that's been said before me, except one thing
11 that Senator Montgomery, my friend Senator
12 Montgomery said. I'm not sure that after the
13 doctors, the nurses are the most important
14 piece of our healthcare.
15 Because, you know, I've been in the
16 hospital -- fortunately, not very often or for
17 very long -- and it's nice to have the
18 physician stop by at 6:30 or 7:00 in the
19 morning and say "How you doing," but I know
20 who took care of me the other 23 3/4 hours of
21 the day, and it was the nurses, very skilled
22 professionals.
23 And what we're doing in this
24 legislation is recognizing the professional
25 status of nursing. And nursing, though,
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1 combines not just the brains and knowledge,
2 but try standing on your feet for eight hours,
3 and then try standing on your feet for
4 12 hours, and see the difference in your
5 performance in the last four hours.
6 So I want to -- I know this is a
7 while in coming, and I want to congratulate
8 and thank Senator Morahan for making this
9 happen and getting us to this point where
10 we're enacting legislation.
11 And I think it's not just great for
12 nurses, who deserve it, but it's great for
13 patients, who need it, who need the skilled
14 professional care that they get from nurses
15 who are not exhausted from compelled mandatory
16 overtime.
17 So I vote aye, Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Connor to be recorded in the affirmative.
20 Senator Hannon, to explain his
21 vote.
22 SENATOR HANNON: Yes,
23 Mr. President.
24 I think what Senator Morahan has
25 brought to the floor is monumental. This has
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1 taken over ten years of work, bringing first
2 all the people concerned about this issue
3 together; the nurses are represented by a
4 wide-ranging number of unions and a
5 wide-ranging number of settings in this state.
6 And it's been obvious, as we've
7 been working on this legislation, that the
8 need has grown more and more. Just recently
9 the Hospital Association predicted that by
10 2012 that we'll have an increased nursing
11 shortage of 30 percent.
12 Well, the difficulty is that unless
13 you have legislation like this, the temptation
14 in running an entity is to push more and more
15 those specific individuals who fulfill the key
16 role of being nurses to work more and more,
17 and it becomes a downward spiral. They will
18 cease to be nurses unless they can predict
19 their work hours, their family schedule. And
20 it does not help society, it does not help the
21 patients.
22 This is obviously a first step,
23 because there are other aspects of the medical
24 practice that need to be addressed, and there
25 needs to be addressing the shortage -- people
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1 are mentioning Senator LaValle's bill; there
2 are other measures -- the shortage of nurses
3 in this state.
4 But this is an important, vital
5 first step. It's been a difficult hurdle. I
6 think Senator Morahan should be congratulated
7 for it. Thank you.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
9 Hannon to be recorded in the affirmative.
10 Senator Adams, to explain his vote.
11 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you,
12 Mr. President. I too want to briefly rise and
13 show my support.
14 I think oftentimes we don't listen
15 to those who are on the ground and who are the
16 professionals. Clearly, the nursing
17 profession is on a sickbed, and we need to
18 start what we can do, as the political
19 surgeons, to revitalize the occupation and
20 bring it to the level of professionalism that
21 it deserves.
22 I think sometimes we don't
23 understand that, after we spend an hour or two
24 visiting our family members in the hospital,
25 and the nurses have to spend those 12 hours or
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1 more inside a hospital, that they too have
2 family members, they too have loved ones at
3 home.
4 And when you do the assignment as a
5 nurse for a day or just take a stroll through
6 the hospital, in spite of the physical and
7 emotional weight of being a nurse, they never
8 allow the burden of the job or the profession
9 to be brought out on the patient. And that
10 has a level of just professionalism that needs
11 to be commended, and I think we all can learn
12 from it as we start the process of
13 recuperating our nursing profession and
14 bringing it to the level of pay, level of
15 hours, level of assignment that it deserves.
16 As a retired law enforcement
17 person, we often had to have our police
18 officers and other first responders go to the
19 hospital. And without the professionalism of
20 our nurses, we would not have the tasks
21 carried out the way they ought to be carried
22 out.
23 I vote in the affirmative, and I
24 thank the sponsor for this bill.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
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1 Adams to be recorded in the affirmative.
2 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his
3 vote.
4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 I think this is an extremely
7 important bill for many reasons, and they've
8 all been discussed. And I won't belabor the
9 point.
10 But there's another reason, and
11 that simply is good nursing care requires
12 people that simply are alert and not working
13 consecutive hours that make it impossible to
14 be alert. We talk about medical errors that
15 happen. There's no reason why we should
16 encourage medical errors by allowing nurses to
17 go beyond a reasonable period of time to
18 practice their profession.
19 And so from a patient standpoint,
20 this is an excellent bill, as well as for the
21 nurses.
22 In addition, I think it's going to
23 be wonderful next year, when the nurses come
24 in, not to have to tell them we're still
25 working on it. Because this has been going on
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1 for many, many years. It's the right thing to
2 do, and Senator Morahan is still my MVP.
3 Thank you.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 DeFrancisco to be recorded in the affirmative.
6 Senator Sampson, to explain his
7 vote.
8 SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you very
9 much, Mr. President.
10 I want to rise, and I want to
11 commend the sponsor, Senator Morahan. You've
12 done a fabulous -- words cannot express what
13 you did here, not only for us but also for the
14 nurses. And you finally gave them the respect
15 that is definitely due to them.
16 I had an opportunity -- when I was
17 sick for a week last year, I had an
18 opportunity to be taking care of by a group of
19 nurses who did a fantastic job to get me well
20 again. You know, and I saw the standards and
21 the conditions that they have to operate
22 under, and I just want to commend them for a
23 job well done.
24 And continue to do what you're
25 doing, inspiring other people, especially
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1 inspiring young nurses to go into the
2 profession and get an opportunity to give back
3 to the community.
4 So I want to commend you for the
5 job well done, to the nurses, but also,
6 Senator Morahan, thank you very much for
7 giving them the respect that is due.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
9 Sampson to be recorded in the affirmative.
10 Senator Schneiderman, to explain
11 his vote.
12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
13 Mr. President.
14 It's great that we're finally doing
15 this. I am truly sorry it took so long.
16 Recognition of basic rights should not be such
17 a heavy lift.
18 I look forward to expanding our
19 recognition of the commitment and services
20 that nurses provide to all of us. This is
21 also a very important bill, and I hope we will
22 expand our protections to people in other
23 types of facilities as we go forward.
24 This is a tremendously important
25 bill because it represents the union of
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1 patients and healthcare professionals. There
2 are efforts sometimes to pit one group against
3 another. We are all together. The nurses
4 take care of us, we've got to take care of
5 them.
6 Thanks to Senator Morahan and to
7 our colleagues in the Assembly and all of the
8 unions and other organizations that lobbied
9 tirelessly for this bill.
10 I vote in the affirmative.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
12 Schneiderman to be recorded in the
13 affirmative.
14 Announce the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
16 0.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 bill is passed.
19 (Applause from the balcony.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
21 you.
22 The Secretary will read.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 2094, by Senator Morahan --
25 SENATOR LITTLE: Lay it aside
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1 temporarily, please.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 bill is laid aside temporarily.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 2095, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
6 Print Number 8674, an act to amend the Public
7 Health Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 bill is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 2096, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 8676, an
20 act to amend the Retirement and Social
21 Security Law and others.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
23 the last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 24. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 2098, by the Senate Committee on Rules --
9 SENATOR LITTLE: Lay it aside for
10 the day, please.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it
12 aside for the day.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 2099, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 8681, an
15 act to amend the Tax Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 13. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 2100, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
3 Print Number --
4 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
5 please.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it
7 aside.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 2101, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
10 Print 8684, an act to amend the State Finance
11 Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 23. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 2102, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
24 Print Number 8698, an act to amend the Racing,
25 Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law and
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1 others.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 19. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays,
10 1. Senator Padavan recorded in the negative.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 2103, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 8699, an
15 act to amend Education Law and the Retirement
16 and Social Security Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 13. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
3 Calendar Number 2106, Senator Bonacic moves to
4 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
5 Assembly Bill Number 11440 and substitute it
6 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8703,
7 Third Reading Calendar 2106.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
9 Substitution ordered.
10 The Secretary will read.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 2106, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
13 Assembly Print Number 11440, an act to amend
14 Chapter 172 of the Laws of 2002.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2 This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays,
23 1. Senator Schneiderman recorded in the
24 negative.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
3 Calendar Number 2107, Senator Bonacic moves to
4 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
5 Assembly Bill Number 10812A and substitute it
6 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8704,
7 Third Reading Calendar 2107.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
9 Substitution ordered.
10 The Secretary will read.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 2107, by Member of the Assembly Lopez,
13 Assembly Print Number 10812A, an act to amend
14 the Private Housing Finance Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 2108, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 8705,
2 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Little.
5 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 Is there a message of necessity at
8 the desk?
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
10 is a message of necessity at the desk.
11 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. I
12 move to accept the message of necessity.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
14 favor of accepting the message of necessity
15 signify by saying aye.
16 (Response of "Aye.")
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
18 Opposed, nay.
19 (No response.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
21 message is accepted.
22 The Secretary will read the last
23 section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
25 act shall take effect on the same date and in
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1 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of
2 2008.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
4 the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
7 Krueger, to explain her vote.
8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
9 Last week we did a bill modifying
10 and extending the New York City ICIP program,
11 and last week I voted against the bill. So
12 since this is a technical amendment to a
13 program I don't think we should have in
14 existence, I feel it would be consistent for
15 those of us who didn't like the program to
16 continue to vote nay on amendments to the
17 program, and so I vote nay.
18 Thank you, Mr. President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Krueger to be recorded in the negative.
21 Senator Duane, to explain his vote.
22 Senator Duane, before you begin,
23 would those who are voting in the negative
24 please raise your hands again.
25 Senator Duane.
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1 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 I'm just clarifying this for my own
4 purposes. I believe that this is an amendment
5 to a bill that we passed last week, and I
6 believe that Senators Adams, Krueger, Parker,
7 Sabini, Schneiderman, Hassell-Thompson,
8 C. Kruger and Savino voted no on it.
9 And I guess one of my colleagues
10 over here will tell me if I'm mistaken about
11 who those no votes were.
12 And thank you, Mr. President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
14 you, Senator Duane. How do you vote, Senator
15 Duane?
16 SENATOR DUANE: Aye.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Duane votes in the affirmative.
19 Announce the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
21 the negative on Calendar Number 2108 are
22 Senators Connor, Hassell-Thompson, Huntley,
23 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Perkins, Sabini,
24 Savino and Schneiderman.
25 Ayes, 51. Nays, 9.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 Senator Little.
4 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 May we take up Calendar Number
7 2104. And is there a message of necessity at
8 the desk?
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
10 is a message at the desk.
11 First, the Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 2104, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 8700,
14 an act to amend the Tax Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
16 Little.
17 SENATOR LITTLE: I move to accept
18 the message of necessity that is at the desk.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
20 favor of accepting the message of necessity
21 indicate by saying aye.
22 (Response of "Aye.")
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
24 Opposed, nay.
25 (No response.)
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 message is accepted.
3 The Secretary will read the last
4 section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Bonacic, to explain his vote.
12 SENATOR BONACIC: First of all,
13 this is an economic development project for
14 Sullivan County.
15 You know, the casinos never came,
16 so this is a gentleman that's prepared to
17 invest a billion dollars in the old Concord,
18 bringing a racino and the track also there.
19 I wanted to thank Governor Paterson
20 for his efforts, and Charles Byrne, and all
21 those that were involved to have this
22 legislation passed. On behalf of the people
23 of Sullivan County, we'd like to thank them
24 for giving the green light to letting this go
25 forward.
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1 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Bonacic to be recorded in the affirmative.
4 Senator Krueger, to explain her
5 vote.
6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 With respect to the sponsor, I find
9 myself having to vote no for this bill. I'm
10 not sure that I'm opposed in the long-term
11 about casinos or casinos in specific
12 locations. But I think this bill is giving a
13 deal to someone before we've agreed to have a
14 casino, before it's gotten through the
15 community process or the environmental review
16 process.
17 And while I am agnostic about
18 gambling questions for the State of New York,
19 my basic understanding of when the state moves
20 into gambling is that it increases revenue to
21 the State of New York to help us pay for
22 public services. And as I read this bill,
23 there would be a dramatic loss of revenue from
24 VLT to us compared to other racino deals we
25 have in the state.
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1 So that while the current maximum
2 keep, so to speak, by the video lottery
3 terminal operator is 54 percent on the other
4 legislation we've moved, this would allow the
5 operator of the VLT to keep 75 percent -- as
6 opposed to 54 percent -- for profits, which
7 would dramatically reduce the money that would
8 be available to state education from this
9 specific deal.
10 So I do believe, without a bad pun
11 intended, it's putting the cart before the
12 horse in this situation. And I don't think
13 that the state should be giving away its
14 potential racing and VLT revenue that's
15 supposed to go for education when in fact we
16 move forward with expansion of gambling in the
17 State of New York.
18 And so I think that we shouldn't go
19 ahead with this deal at this point in time
20 before we know all the details and before we
21 really understand the cost to the communities
22 for having this expansion and the loss to
23 state education aid with this specific deal.
24 So I recommend a no vote.
25 Thank you, Mr. President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
2 Krueger to be recorded in the negative.
3 Announce the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 the negative on Calendar Number 2104 are
6 Senators L. Krueger, Padavan, Perkins and
7 Schneiderman.
8 Ayes, 56. Nays, 4.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 bill is passed.
11 Senator Little.
12 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
13 Mr. President. May we return to Calendar
14 Number 2105.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 Secretary will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 2105, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 8702, an
19 act to amend the Social Services Law.
20 SENATOR LITTLE: Is there a
21 message of necessity at the desk?
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
23 is a message at the desk.
24 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. I
25 move that we accept the message of necessity.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
2 favor of accepting the message of necessity
3 indicate by saying aye.
4 (Response of "Aye.")
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
6 Opposed, nay.
7 (No response.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 message is accepted.
10 The Secretary will read the last
11 section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect July 1, 2008.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 bill is passed.
20 Senator Little.
21 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
22 Mr. President. May we now return to Calendar
23 Number 2086.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 Secretary will read.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 2086, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 8534A,
3 an act to amend the Social Services Law and
4 the Mental Hygiene Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Little.
7 SENATOR LITTLE: Mr. President,
8 is there a message of necessity at the desk?
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
10 is a message at the desk.
11 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. I
12 move to accept the message of necessity.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
14 favor of accepting the message of necessity
15 indicate by saying aye.
16 (Response of "Aye.")
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
18 Opposed, nay.
19 (No response.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
21 message is accepted.
22 The Secretary will read the last
23 section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 19. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 bill is passed.
7 Senator Little.
8 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
9 Mr. President. May we now take up the
10 controversial reading of Supplemental Calendar
11 63A.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: We will
13 now take up the controversial reading of
14 Supplemental Calendar 63A. The Secretary will
15 ring the bell.
16 The Secretary will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 2077, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8143A,
19 an act to amend the Real Property Actions and
20 Proceedings Law.
21 SENATOR KLEIN: Explanation,
22 please.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 message of necessity has already been
25 approved.
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1 An explanation has been requested
2 by Senator Klein, Senator Farley.
3 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,
4 Mr. President.
5 This is a Governor's program bill
6 which has been agreed upon by the Senate and
7 the Assembly. It's something that we've been
8 working on the entire session. There was a
9 six-hour hearing held that many members
10 attended.
11 It is addressing one of the serious
12 problems that is facing our state and the
13 nation, as a matter of fact. And in my
14 judgment, this is a landmark piece of
15 legislation where New York is going to lead
16 the nation in providing a comprehensive answer
17 to some of these problems.
18 To begin with, the bill promotes
19 efforts to encourage lenders and borrowers to
20 reach a mutually agreeable resolution to avoid
21 foreclosure. Specifically, the bill requires
22 that lenders send a notice at least 90 days
23 before initiating foreclosure action. That's
24 rather significant. This notice urges
25 borrowers to work with the lenders or the
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1 housing counseling agency to address their
2 situation.
3 The bill also has mandatory
4 settlement conferences during the judicial
5 foreclosure process. This will provide an
6 opportunity for borrowers and lenders to try
7 to reach a solution that avoids foreclosure.
8 I think that's what we're trying to accomplish
9 here. And we've got $25 million in the last
10 budget we just passed that would encourage
11 conferences and counseling. And that 90 days
12 before the foreclosure takes place is very,
13 very significant.
14 This bill also establishes new
15 standards and protections for subprime loans.
16 For instance, these loans, subprime loans must
17 have escrow accounts, mandatory escrow
18 accounts to be sure that the taxes are paid.
19 They may not have prepayment penalties. They
20 may not provide for negative amortization.
21 And lenders must ensure that the
22 borrower has a reasonable ability to repay
23 this loan. And lenders must also take steps
24 to verify the borrower's income and asset
25 information.
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1 The bill also cracks down on
2 fraudulent practices. Specifically, the bill
3 creates the crime of residential mortgage
4 fraud.
5 This bill also establishes
6 contractual requirements, consumer protections
7 to try to prevent foreclosure, rescue scams --
8 where they're going to save them, and really
9 take advantage of them -- in which persons
10 offer to help the homeowners but simply take
11 their money and fail to provide any meaningful
12 services.
13 This is a comprehensive bill that
14 Senator Padavan has worked very, very hard on
15 this. I also must applaud Senator Connor, who
16 was there for the whole six hours during the
17 hearing process.
18 And in all my years on the Banking
19 Committee, and as chairman, I've never seen a
20 superintendent who was so involved with this.
21 He was not only involved in all the
22 negotiations, but he stayed there for the
23 whole six hours during the hearing. He also
24 attended the Banking Committee meeting early
25 in the session to discuss this program and
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1 talk about the concerns that he has.
2 This is a 31-page bill that is very
3 comprehensive, tries its best to address most
4 of the problems that exist in this area. And
5 you have to realize that whereas anybody
6 that's losing their home, that's a tragic
7 situation.
8 We do have some hot spots in this
9 state, but of course 80-some-odd percent of
10 all the foreclosure subprime problems are in
11 four states: California, Florida, Nevada,
12 Arizona. But New York is addressing this
13 problem. The feds are trying to move on this
14 problem and work on this, with maybe providing
15 billions of dollars, but we'll see what
16 happens there.
17 But I think that we are in the
18 forefront of trying to address this. And it
19 just shows you what can be accomplished when
20 both houses and the Governor work together on
21 this.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
23 you, Senator Farley.
24 Senator Klein.
25 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you,
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1 Mr. Farley.
2 Mr. President, I believe there's an
3 amendment at the desk. I ask that the reading
4 of the amendment be waived. I would like to
5 have the opportunity to speak on the said
6 amendment.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 reading is waived, and you may be heard on the
9 amendment, Senator Klein.
10 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you,
11 Mr. President.
12 My first amendment would deal with
13 the issue of mandatory upkeep of foreclosed
14 properties. The bill would impose a duty to
15 keep property in a mortgage foreclosure action
16 in a safe condition while the mortgage holder
17 recovers possession of the property, until it
18 is sold, occupied by a renter, or otherwise
19 legally disposed of.
20 This comes out of an issue that my
21 office studied over the last two months where
22 we saw many, many foreclosed properties which
23 are now held by lending institutions not being
24 kept in a pristine manner.
25 One of the things that I've been
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1 telling people for over a year and a half now
2 is that the subprime lending crisis is an
3 issue that affects each and every one of us.
4 Whether or not you have a home that's ready to
5 be foreclosed upon, whether or not you have a
6 subprime mortgage, we're now seeing the effect
7 on sort of innocent bystanders. Because as
8 these foreclosed properties become
9 dilapidated, as these foreclosed properties
10 stop being taken care of, we're seeing
11 property values plummet in our communities.
12 According to a study that I read,
13 for every foreclosed property on a block, the
14 surrounding homes go down, on average, $5,000.
15 Also, there's no secret that crime goes up
16 every time there's a foreclosed property on a
17 block.
18 The lending institutions were in a
19 very, very big rush to foreclose on these
20 properties and get rid of the homeowners. And
21 now that they own the properties and the
22 market is rather soft, they really don't know
23 what to do. So they're holding them. Some of
24 them are even rented. Some of them are being
25 lived in by squatters.
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1 And that's really why I started
2 getting involved in this whole issue, because
3 one of the things that happened in my
4 community, in the Throgs Neck section of the
5 Bronx -- and I'm not trying to gloom-and-doom,
6 but we're going to see more of this over the
7 next year -- is a home that was owned by
8 someone who couldn't make their mortgage
9 payments, they had a subprime mortgage that
10 reset to 12 percent, they lost their home, the
11 bank foreclosed on the property, it remained
12 vacant for about three months, squatters moved
13 in, the basement was being used by a drug den.
14 And we did everything possible to,
15 first, locate the individual that owned the
16 property, which we found out finally was the
17 bank. Then we found out that it was
18 supposedly being watched by a management
19 agent. And it took my office probably about a
20 month to finally move for eviction for the
21 tenants, have the place cleaned up, and bring
22 peace back to this tree-lined street in the
23 Bronx.
24 We're going to see this time and
25 time again. And I think the lending
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1 institutions who in many cases caused this
2 problem in the first place should have an
3 affirmative duty to maintain these properties.
4 And if they don't, the locality should have
5 the ability to go in, fix up the properties
6 and bill the lending institutions.
7 So I think the legislation before
8 us today, the Governor's program bill, is a
9 very important step in making sure that this
10 problem doesn't occur again within the State
11 of New York. But I think it could be a better
12 bill if we actually add this amendment.
13 Thank you, Mr. President.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
15 you, Senator Klein.
16 Is there any other Senator wishing
17 to be heard on the amendment?
18 Senator Savino.
19 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 I want to start by saying that the
22 Governor's program bill that has been put
23 forth by Senator Farley is a good bill. It
24 could be better, though. And it could be
25 better and it could be more inclusive if we
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1 were to adopt Senator Klein's amendment.
2 As he said, about a year and a half
3 ago many of us started public forums in our
4 districts, focusing attention on the subprime
5 lending crisis and how it impacted not just
6 the homeowners but the communities around
7 them. At the time, I remarked that I was
8 quite surprised by the lack of empathy for
9 people who had been caught up in this process.
10 Many homeowners, particularly in Staten
11 Island, felt that this could never happen to
12 them, that they would not have made these
13 risky purchases with their homes.
14 And I reminded many of them at the
15 time they bought their home, these types of
16 loans were not available. You had to have
17 good credit. You had to have a down payment
18 for a house. You had to have a solid
19 employment history. There was no such thing
20 as zero percent down or 100 percent financing
21 or 120 percent financing. Those were not
22 options available to homeowners.
23 That is part of the reason why the
24 subprime lending crisis has exploded. We've
25 had an industry that has not policed itself.
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1 We could go on and on about many of the
2 problems that this bill doesn't address. But
3 one of the things we are now seeing, and what
4 I predicted then, was that this is an issue
5 that will affect us from Main Street to Wall
6 Street.
7 And if you think that your neighbor
8 losing their home doesn't affect you, it does.
9 It depresses everybody's property value.
10 We've seen a 14 percent reduction in property
11 value on Staten Island because of the subprime
12 lending crisis, because of the rate of
13 foreclosure. And now we're seeing something
14 worse. We're seeing our properties devalued
15 because we have a high number of homes that
16 are bank-owned and the banks are not taking
17 care of these properties.
18 We're seeing vandalism at
19 incredible rates. And if Senator Lanza were
20 in the room, he would agree with me. We're
21 seeing people breaking into new construction,
22 houses that were in the process of being built
23 and builders walked away because they can no
24 longer afford to pay for them, and people are
25 breaking in and stealing the appliances.
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1 They're stealing the windows. They are
2 vandalizing properties, and they are driving
3 down property value for everyone.
4 So while the Governor's program
5 bill is a good bill, it could be better if we
6 adopted this amendment that says that banks
7 that take these properties have an obligation
8 to take care of them because we are all in
9 this together. Every home that is devalued
10 affects every other homeowner.
11 So I want to thank Senator Klein
12 for his leadership on this issue, and I urge
13 my colleagues to vote in favor of this
14 amendment.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
16 you, Senator Savino.
17 Senator Padavan.
18 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 We are in the middle, in this state
21 and certainly in this nation, of a crisis that
22 is affecting tens of thousands of families.
23 And this is a major step forward in terms of
24 helping them in a whole variety of ways, not
25 only with their present situation, but dealing
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1 with predatory lenders, scammers, a whole host
2 of abuses that have impacted the lives of so
3 many people in this state.
4 Now, I agree with Senator Klein:
5 Any property, whomever it is owned by, should
6 be cared for and maintained consistent with
7 the codes and the laws of the City of New York
8 or any other part of our state.
9 But to amend this bill now, the
10 result of intensive efforts on the part of
11 this house, the Assembly and the Governor --
12 and I am unaware of any amendment being
13 undertaken in the Assembly or any amendment
14 being conferred by the Governor that would
15 prevent this from becoming law quickly,
16 perhaps even by the end of today if we were to
17 get it through, and I believe we can. To put
18 up this amendment just doesn't make any sense.
19 What I would suggest to you,
20 Senator Klein -- and I would be happy to
21 support your bill -- put in a separate bill
22 that says exactly what you said a moment ago,
23 and let that be operative. And I don't think
24 anybody would oppose it. But what I don't
25 want to see happen is your amendment sidetrack
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1 this major initiative.
2 Colleagues, we will be the first
3 state in the nation to take these steps. No
4 other state -- and there are many states worse
5 than ours, by the way. Nevada, California,
6 and Florida, a variety of other locations
7 throughout the nation are far worse off than
8 we are in this problem of foreclosures.
9 But we are taking the lead.
10 Hopefully others will follow. Hopefully
11 Congress will wake up to the realization that
12 this is a national problem and they should be
13 dealing with it in a very substantive way.
14 But let's move forward on this bill. Let's
15 get it done. There are thousands of people
16 out there waiting for us to accomplish this
17 fact.
18 Thank you, Mr. President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
20 you, Senator Padavan.
21 Senator Schneiderman.
22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
23 Mr. President.
24 I rise in support of this
25 amendment. And I must disagree with my friend
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1 Senator Padavan. I think Senator Klein is
2 absolutely correct, and the premise of the
3 argument here for our side of the aisle is
4 that this is a good bill we're passing today;
5 it is a first step and a first step only.
6 We have to continue to work on
7 this. We will be back for a special session.
8 I know my constituents would much rather wait
9 a few weeks and get a bill that requires banks
10 to maintain properties.
11 Senator Klein came up to my
12 district -- and this is a crisis in the inner
13 cities as well as in the suburbs as well as in
14 rural areas. You cannot allow banks who are
15 not property management companies, who are all
16 of a sudden in possession of all of these
17 properties, to allow them to deteriorate. It
18 is a very serious problem in areas where we've
19 worked very hard to reduce crime and to build
20 homeownership and to allow people to own their
21 homes, as in Washington Heights, which I
22 represent.
23 This is a very serious problem. I
24 think Senator Klein is absolutely right, and I
25 think everyone here should vote for the
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1 amendment. I think we'll have no problem at
2 all getting the Assembly to go along with us.
3 I urge everyone to vote yes,
4 Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Sabini.
7 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you,
8 Mr. President. On the amendment.
9 I'm going to support Senator
10 Klein's amendment. You know, not only has he
11 done amazing work on this issue in a global
12 sense, but we've heard some mention of other
13 states like Florida and Nevada. And townships
14 in Florida now -- and for those in suburban
15 and rural parts of the state, you should
16 listen up on this. There are townships in
17 Florida now that have passed resolutions that
18 have mandated that once the grass gets to a
19 certain height in a foreclosed property, the
20 locality goes in to maintain the property.
21 Now, it sounds almost comical, but
22 there are townships in Florida now that their
23 maintenance budgets for parks and recreation
24 and for landscape have gone up 35 percent
25 because they have to go into the grounds of
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1 these foreclosed properties just to get them
2 to look like they're not blighted so that the
3 township doesn't look blighted.
4 So the consequences of this
5 foreclosure crisis have had ripple effects on
6 the economy but ripple effects just on the
7 quality of life for our neighborhoods. And,
8 you know, they sort of set the tone by issuing
9 these loans. We should be calling them to
10 task to maintain the properties so all of us
11 aren't affected by it.
12 I'm going to be voting aye.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
14 you, Senator Sabini.
15 Senator Montgomery.
16 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes,
17 Mr. President, I rise to support this
18 amendment.
19 And I must say that, you know,
20 Senator Klein has been working on this issue
21 for a number of months. And I believe, if I'm
22 not mistaken, there is -- this is the bill
23 that was introduced by Senator Klein that
24 we're now putting forward, he is putting
25 forward as an amendment.
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1 So this is not going to take away
2 any time or opportunity for us to do the
3 Governor's program bill that has been agreed
4 to by both houses. It just means that we have
5 an opportunity to do what the bill does, which
6 is basically mostly prevention. And it seeks
7 to make sure that we don't continue with this
8 serious issue around foreclosing.
9 But what Senator Klein's bill will
10 do is give us an immediate relief from the
11 properties that have already been foreclosed.
12 And that's what we, in neighborhoods like
13 mine, where I have the highest rate of
14 foreclosure in the state and one of the
15 highest in the nation, that would give some
16 immediate relief for those properties that
17 have already been foreclosed.
18 So we need both things to happen.
19 And the one small disagreement -- I am loath
20 to have a disagreement with my Senator -- with
21 Senator Padavan, but I do disagree. I think
22 we can do both of these things, and we can do
23 them by the end of the day if the political
24 will is there.
25 So I support the amendment. I wish
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1 it were a bill. If it comes forward, I think
2 we should support that. We should also
3 support this bill, the underlying bill,
4 because it is also extremely important.
5 I vote aye on the amendment,
6 Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Connor.
9 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 As the ranking Minority member on
12 Banks, I first want to thank Senator Farley
13 for all of his hard work on this. And Senator
14 Padavan I know was involved in this issue, and
15 of course Senator Klein, who took the lead in
16 wakening the whole state to this issue last
17 summer and fall.
18 I'm going to vote for the
19 amendment. But I want to correct something
20 that a lot of my colleagues have said. You
21 know, people have said the bank that
22 forecloses should take care of the property.
23 And I wish it were true. If banks were
24 involved, your local neighborhood community
25 bank that used to lend people their mortgages,
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1 we may not have gotten into this problem.
2 The problem with subprime is the
3 mortgage lender, which is usually not the
4 local bank on subprime -- local banks,
5 certainly credit unions, community banks, they
6 don't lend, by and large, subprime. What's
7 happened, though, is the lender has then
8 transferred the paper, the mortgage, to
9 another party that then transferred it to
10 someone who securitized it.
11 All that means is they bundled a
12 whole bunch of these and then sold them to
13 Wall Street, which is why there are billions
14 in losses.
15 And when we get to foreclosure, the
16 person showing up in court foreclosing is the
17 representative of a mortgage servicer
18 provider. And I know from experience, when
19 they're asked by the court "Well, prove you
20 own the mortgage. Where's the note?" they
21 don't have it.
22 They're some service provider
23 located in Minnesota or Chicago or California
24 or Arizona, foreclosing on a property in
25 New York. And when they're successful in
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1 foreclosing, they end up with the property,
2 some holder in some remote state.
3 So I think that's where we get into
4 the serious problems with not maintaining the
5 properties that have been foreclosed against,
6 because they're so remote they don't care how
7 high the grass gets, they don't care if the
8 shingles are falling off the house, they don't
9 care if the whole neighborhood goes to pot.
10 It's not their neighborhood, it's not their
11 city, it's not their town.
12 And so I think we need -- I'm going
13 to vote for this amendment, but I think we
14 need to keep in mind how this problem arose.
15 And it's those remote, by and large, holders
16 of the paper; we don't even know who they are
17 because they've hired a service provider.
18 And so I would suggest, if this
19 amendment doesn't pass, that we do a similar
20 bill. And I would suggest that localities and
21 the City of New York adopt some local
22 ordinances, as they're entitled to do, about
23 the maintenance of property and, as Senator
24 Sabini pointed out, have the right to go in
25 and maintain the property in the interest of
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1 keeping the tax rateables in the whole
2 neighborhood up and property values up, and
3 charge back the service provider a hefty fee
4 for doing it.
5 So there are ways to approach this.
6 I think the amendment is a good idea. I'm
7 going to vote for it. But I want everybody to
8 understand the problem. It's just not as
9 simple as the banker across town now holds the
10 property. It's somebody Lord knows who they
11 are and where they are.
12 Thank you, Mr. President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
14 you, Senator Connor.
15 Is there any other Senator wishing
16 to be heard on the amendment?
17 On the amendment, those Senators in
18 agreement please signify by raising your
19 hands.
20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
21 agreement are Senators Adams, Aubertine,
22 Breslin, Connor, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
23 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, C. Johnson, Klein,
24 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer,
25 Parker, Perkins, Sabini, Sampson, Savino,
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1 Schneiderman, Serrano, Smith, Stachowski,
2 Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins, Thompson and
3 Valesky.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 amendment is not agreed to.
6 Senator Klein.
7 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I
8 believe there's a second amendment at the
9 desk. I ask that the reading of the amendment
10 be waived and would like to be heard on the
11 said amendment.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 reading is waived, and you may be heard on the
14 second amendment.
15 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 My second amendment would impose a
18 one-year foreclosure moratorium. It's an
19 identical bill to a bill that was introduced
20 in this body by Senator Padavan.
21 I know the legislation before us
22 today does lengthen the foreclosure process,
23 which I think is a good thing. But when you
24 look at the statistics from last year,
25 nationally, 57 percent of people who lost
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1 their homes due to foreclosure had absolutely
2 no contact with their lending institutions.
3 No contact whatsoever.
4 One of the things that I'm very
5 proud that I was part of with the Democratic
6 conference is, I think, a very novel approach
7 and I believe a program that should be
8 replicated nationwide. We started a program
9 about six months ago called Operation Protect
10 Your Home. It makes a tremendous amount of
11 sense in the light of the fact that all of
12 these people find it very difficult to sit
13 down and speak to their lending institutions.
14 What we do is very, very simple.
15 We first identify distressed borrowers in a
16 community, people who are 30 to 120 days late
17 on their mortgage payments, we send them
18 letters to show up at a specific location,
19 usually in a school. And the beauty of the
20 program is we have the lending institution
21 there with the borrower, face to face, in the
22 hope of modifying the mortgage.
23 Through the many hearings that
24 myself and my colleagues had throughout the
25 state this past summer, we found many, many
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1 people were steered into the subprime mortgage
2 crisis. You're always going to get people who
3 probably shouldn't have gotten a mortgage in
4 the first place. But what we heard of more
5 from people was -- people who had the
6 10 percent to put down, they were better off
7 if they were in a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage,
8 but instead they were told by a lending
9 institution, a mortgage broker, not to worry
10 about it.
11 When they asked "What do I do when
12 the adjustable rate mortgage resets to 10, 11,
13 12 percent?" they were told, "You'll be able
14 to refinance based on the new-found equity in
15 your home."
16 Well, here we are, and that equity
17 in the home did not increase, and now people
18 are forced to pay very, very high interest
19 rates. What we found through our program is
20 people can pay 5, 6, even 7 percent. They
21 can't pay 10, 11 and 12 percent.
22 So the ability to sit down with the
23 lending institution, get a financial workout
24 in the hope of modifying a mortgage, has
25 proved very, very successful. We've had these
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1 forums all over the state.
2 And I think we really need the
3 moratorium, because I'd like to sort of put a
4 pause on this whole problem and give people
5 the ability to sit down with their lending
6 institutions in the hope of modifying their
7 mortgages.
8 We really have to take a very
9 strategic approach to this and prevent as many
10 mortgage foreclosures as we can. Because as
11 we see, this is not only having an impact on
12 our housing market, which for many of us is
13 the most important financial investment we'll
14 ever make in our entire lives, but it's also
15 having a tremendous impact on our financial
16 market as well.
17 So if we can just stem the tide of
18 foreclosures by having people modify mortgages
19 through a program like we started with the
20 Banking Department, I think we'll go a long
21 way towards helping out many people.
22 I do want to say thank you to
23 Senator Farley for bringing this bill to the
24 floor.
25 And I like to remind people this
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1 problem could have been prevented in New York
2 State. Senator Farley probably knows that
3 several years ago we passed and the Governor
4 signed it into law, then-Governor Pataki,
5 probably the strongest anti-predatory lending
6 bill anywhere in the nation. Maryland
7 followed suit and New Jersey followed suit.
8 And just by way of background, the
9 Comptroller of the Currency on the federal
10 level ruled this unconstitutional because of
11 preemption. This was upheld by the United
12 States Supreme Court.
13 So what I'm trying to say is we
14 probably wouldn't have been impacted in the
15 same way if this law was allowed to be
16 implemented in the State of New York.
17 But I think that we all can breathe
18 some sigh of relief that we now have a law in
19 place that makes sure that this doesn't happen
20 again within the State of New York. But
21 clearly, the federal government had to act as
22 well. Most of us probably know we only have
23 control over state-chartered banks. So
24 clearly the feds have to do something as well.
25 But I think, more importantly, we
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1 have to be very, very mindful of helping those
2 people who are in danger of foreclosure now.
3 We have to make sure that the American dream
4 of homeownership is kept alive for many, many
5 more generations.
6 So I hope we would pass a
7 moratorium bill today in addition to this
8 legislation, even if it is Senator Padavan's
9 stand-alone bill, because I think we still
10 need to give people time to sit down with
11 their lending institutions in the hope of
12 modifying their mortgages, and keep their hope
13 alive as far as them being part of the
14 American dream.
15 Thank you, Mr. President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Is
17 there any other Senator wishing to be heard on
18 the amendment?
19 On the amendment, those Senators in
20 agreement please signify by raising your
21 hands.
22 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Padavan, to speak on the amendment.
25 SENATOR PADAVAN: Of course I
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1 appreciate your generosity, Senator Klein, in
2 advancing our bill, the Brennan-Padavan bill,
3 in terms of the foreclosure time frame.
4 You know, over the past year as
5 we've been working on that legislation, we've
6 had a great deal of time and input in terms of
7 what this process is all about. This bill
8 does provide for an opportunity and a
9 mandatory requirement that would bring both
10 the lender and the borrower together so they
11 would reach -- so they would reach a
12 settlement, because certainly banks --
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Padavan, excuse me.
15 Could we please have order,
16 particularly in the back of the chamber.
17 Thank you.
18 Senator Padavan.
19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Certainly banks
20 do not want to be in the real estate business.
21 And we understand all of the problems of their
22 ownership providing, in terms of the
23 destruction and the downgrading of the
24 community when you have house after house with
25 foreclosure signs on them.
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1 One of the problems is of course
2 that the banks in many cases aren't the
3 holders of the mortgage. And you have to
4 search out who really does own that property,
5 where is the mortgage, how has it been
6 bundled, how has it been sold to some other
7 entities similarly unknown.
8 And then you have the people who
9 come and in scam the individual whose house is
10 under threat of foreclosure: "I've got a
11 solution for you, we'll take care of all your
12 problems, here, sign on the dotted line." And
13 that dotted line would put the person in a
14 deeper hole than he was in the beginning. And
15 so these scamming artists are a problem that
16 we found out about that we were not fully
17 aware of.
18 We had this entire issue of how to
19 set an appropriate benchmark for the
20 settlement to achieve. What would it be, 3
21 points above prime, 1.7 above prime? Where is
22 an appropriate level to bring that person
23 who's being imposed upon and punished by an
24 adjustable rate mortgage? Which is a big part
25 of the problem. All of those issues and more,
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1 including the $25 million we put in the budget
2 to provide legal advice to those people who
3 will be or are in this kind of a situation.
4 Now, when all of that was
5 presented, both houses, to the Governor and
6 his counsels, the State Banking Department,
7 the commissioner, they had a different point
8 of view. Whether we agree with it or not, it
9 is their point of view.
10 Now, when the Governor was asked
11 last week, directly, "What do you think, and
12 why are you not supporting a one-year
13 moratorium?" his response was very pointed and
14 very specific. He said in terms of available
15 credit to the market, in terms of its impact
16 on the existing problem, it would be more
17 destructive to do that than what we are
18 proposing at that particular moment in time as
19 he was explaining the legislation that is now
20 before us.
21 The bottom line is that's what was
22 deemed appropriate and beneficial. We can
23 debate till the cows come home as to whether
24 or not it's the ultimate solution, whether
25 there's a better solution, whether one year,
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1 nine months, a year and a half, two years,
2 whatever. Keeping in mind that in our state
3 today, without any legislation, we have more
4 time available to the mortgagee in any
5 foreclosure situation than any state in the
6 nation. So when we add 90 days and we add all
7 the other things in this bill, we're over a
8 year and then some. But that's, again, not
9 the issue.
10 The issue is what has been agreed
11 upon by both houses and, most importantly,
12 proposed by the Governor. Because this is the
13 Governor's bill we're dealing with. And as I
14 said earlier, let this go by us, mess it up,
15 amend it, and we will achieve nothing.
16 Now, even the most enthusiastic
17 proponents of the one-year moratorium said
18 just the other day -- it was in the New York
19 Times -- ACORN, a strong advocacy group on
20 behalf of people who are in this terrible
21 situation: This is a good bill, it will do a
22 lot. And moreover, if we'd done this a long
23 time ago, the requirements in this legislation
24 had been in effect, many of the problems that
25 people are experiencing today simply would not
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1 have occurred. And they're right.
2 So even ACORN is saying we must do
3 this. May not be as much as they sought to
4 achieve at the outset, but we should do this.
5 As has said Assemblyman Brennan, the sponsor
6 of our bill, to whom I owe a great deal of
7 gratitude for having generated much of its
8 content. He too has said if we hadn't gone
9 that far, we wouldn't be where we are today.
10 And where we are today in this bill is a long
11 way in the right direction.
12 So I suggest to you you can pass
13 any amendment you want. And if you do that,
14 you kill the bill. And if you kill the bill,
15 you're hurting people. And I don't think
16 that's what you want to do.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Hassell-Thompson, on the amendment.
19 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank
20 you, Mr. President.
21 In January of this year, Operation
22 PUSH and many other organizations came forward
23 asking the federal government to put a
24 moratorium on foreclosures because in December
25 of 2007, over 2 million households foreclosed.
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1 When we looked at the maps of the
2 national average and looked at the numbers of
3 homeownership losses incurred in the State of
4 New York is when many of us began to move with
5 Senator Klein to put together an effort at
6 least for New York State to do a moratorium.
7 Since January, I can't tell you yet
8 the numbers of foreclosures, but every day
9 there continues to be a significant number.
10 You heard Senator Connor describe the process
11 by which banks turn over these loans to
12 servicers. Well, those servicers are not
13 waiting for three months for you to get not
14 even the prerequisite 90 days, they are doing
15 foreclosure letters after one month. And
16 people are in a state of panic.
17 But more than the loss of homes, it
18 speaks to what is happening to neighborhoods
19 and communities based on these foreclosures.
20 People who have made major investments in
21 their homes are also affected. This is a
22 domino effect.
23 We're asking for the moratorium,
24 even though banks are not because they stand
25 to continue to make money every day in late
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1 charges and fees. We're saying that we need
2 time for people to receive the proper kind of
3 counseling in order to make the right deals to
4 get them out of these foreclosure situations.
5 We're asking for this amendment to be passed
6 in support of not just the people who are
7 affected, but our communities as a whole.
8 So, Mr. President, I am asking all
9 of my colleagues in this house to support
10 Senator Klein in his amendment because I think
11 it is good public policy.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
13 you.
14 Announce the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
16 agreement are Senators Adams, Aubertine,
17 Breslin, Connor, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
18 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, C. Johnson, Klein,
19 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer,
20 Parker, Perkins, Sabini, Sampson, Savino,
21 Schneiderman, Serrano, Smith, Stachowski,
22 Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins, Thompson and
23 Valesky.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 amendment is not agreed to.
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1 On the bill, Senator Farley.
2 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 Let me just say that the whole
5 focus and thrust of this bill and the major
6 part of it is to avoid foreclosure. To avoid
7 foreclosure. That's what we're trying to
8 accomplish here. And the 90 days before they
9 can foreclose, where they must meet, counsel,
10 negotiate to prevent foreclosure, is rather
11 significant. And I think that's what
12 accomplishes it.
13 You know, what you're saying,
14 Senator Klein, in regard to taking care of the
15 property, that has merit, there's no question
16 about it. Of course the municipality could
17 jump in there and make the lender do that or
18 put a lien on it and charge them and that sort
19 of thing. And so that has some merit. But
20 that bill was not in my committee.
21 But as far as extending and giving
22 another year, this is after they have been in
23 foreclosure for 440 days. They just keep
24 getting deeper and deeper into debt. The
25 Governor said that, speaking about that. We
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1 want to prevent foreclosure. That's what we
2 want to prevent. We want to have people save
3 their homes.
4 This is a very sophisticated,
5 complicated and comprehensive piece of
6 legislation that tries to address so many of
7 the things that are wrong in this area, the
8 fraud that has been -- how people have been
9 duped, taken advantage of with teaser rates
10 and so many things. And we're trying to
11 address so many things here.
12 It's been agreed upon. Nothing is
13 perfect in this house, nobody passes a perfect
14 bill. But this really addresses a problem
15 which in my judgment is going to be landmark
16 legislation, as New York has always been in
17 the financial area, leading the nation in
18 doing something.
19 You know, the predatory lending
20 which was addressed before, which was my
21 legislation, has prevented New York from
22 becoming one of the worst foreclosure states
23 in the nation. There are pockets.
24 Incidentally, these subprime loans
25 that we're talking about, they don't even make
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1 them upstate. Unfortunately, they don't even
2 make them. What does this do? It allows a
3 person with less than perfect credit to get a
4 loan, to buy a home. So, you know, we don't
5 want to wipe out the subprime market totally.
6 So it's a balancing act.
7 And consequently, I just want to
8 allude to one other thing in here. What is a
9 subprime loan? It is something that is taken
10 every month by the average mortgage rate in
11 the Northeast. And anything 1.75 above that
12 is considered a subprime loan.
13 Now, the Superintendent of Banks is
14 able to look at this and adjust that if it's
15 killing the market. Or he can lower it if
16 it's creating a lot of problems. So that
17 gives the Superintendent of Banks flexibility
18 to keep this market open to those that really
19 need and deserve subprime loans.
20 Now, let's hope that this market
21 gets better. The real estate market, I think,
22 is improving.
23 Incidentally, in the City of
24 Buffalo, I understand -- and I don't know this
25 for sure -- that the city has moved against
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1 some of these lenders to take care of their
2 property. So it can be done on a local level.
3 But with that, I ask everybody to
4 support this legislation. It's the best we
5 can do. It is agreed upon by the Assembly,
6 agreed upon by the Governor. And it is
7 desperately needed to help our homeowners in
8 this state.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Savino.
11 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you,
12 Mr. President. On the bill.
13 First, again, I would like to thank
14 Senator Farley for the work that he's done on
15 this bill, and the Governor for putting it
16 forward. And as I said earlier, it's a good
17 bill, but it's not good enough, and it could
18 be better.
19 I believe that we need to include
20 in this bill a moratorium on foreclosures. I
21 believe we need to include in this bill the
22 requirement that banks that take properties
23 back through the foreclosure process are
24 required to take care of those properties.
25 I also believe that what should be
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1 included in this bill is financial literacy
2 for first-time homebuyers. The subprime
3 lending market was never designed for
4 first-time homebuyers. It was designed to
5 allow easy credit to investors so they
6 wouldn't have to tie up all of their equity as
7 they invested in properties and sold them and
8 resold them. It was never meant for the
9 first-time homebuyer.
10 People putting down money for their
11 first home should have minimally a down
12 payment. The SONYMA mortgage program is
13 probably the best mortgage program for
14 first-time homebuyers. It requires a
15 5 percent down payment. It requires proof of
16 income. It requires that the risk be
17 minimized to not just the seller but to the
18 homebuyer, with the recognition that stability
19 in a person's economics is good for that
20 person.
21 The subprime lending market
22 violates all of those rules for first-time
23 homebuyers. We need to make sure that a
24 person who sits down to make their first
25 purchase understands what they're getting
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1 into.
2 Many of us in this room have bought
3 homes. When I bought my first home, I was
4 very lucky. One, I had the down payment.
5 Two, I had excellent credit. Three, I had a
6 free legal service benefit available to me, so
7 I had my own lawyer.
8 Far too often people are going in
9 to purchase homes, they are buying homes from
10 mortgage brokers, mortgage brokers who have
11 relationships with appraisers, appraisers who
12 overvalue property so the mortgage broker can
13 sell a bigger loan and make a maximum problem
14 profit for themselves.
15 Nobody explains to the homebuyer
16 what they're getting themselves into. Nine
17 times out of ten, they don't have an attorney.
18 They're told they don't need an attorney.
19 There's a bank attorney there, and the bank
20 attorney tells them that they can explain it.
21 Well, many of you in this room are
22 attorneys. You know you cannot represent two
23 people. I believe that might even be a
24 violation of the code of ethics.
25 We need to make sure that
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1 homebuyers know that they're doing, so there
2 should be a requirement for financial
3 literacy. That does not exist. We should put
4 that in this bill.
5 There is work yet to be done on
6 this. I'm going to vote for this, Senator
7 Farley, because we do need to do something.
8 But I think we still need to do more.
9 I spoke earlier of our Operation
10 Protect Your Home project. In February of
11 this year, we hosted that forum -- excuse me,
12 March of this year. We brought that forum to
13 Staten Island. With the pressure of Operation
14 Protect Your Home, the New York State Banking
15 Commission, and the city and state
16 comptroller's offices, we got 19 lenders to
17 come to that forum.
18 Senator Lanza and I and Senator
19 Klein and several other members of the
20 conference went to that forum held at the
21 College of Staten Island. We were able to
22 identify 2,113 Staten Island homeowners who
23 were at risk for foreclosure or were already
24 in foreclosure. Six hundred of them showed up
25 that day. And since then, several hundred
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1 more have contacted my office and Senator
2 Lanza's office.
3 We have been able to help a
4 significant number of those homeowners -- I
5 believe it's 312 to date -- to keep their
6 homes. Through a voluntary modification
7 process that we put in place with Operation
8 Protect Your Home, we've been able to do that.
9 But the problem with this
10 particular bill, and the reason why I think we
11 need the moratorium, is not one of those
12 homeowners that we were able to help through
13 Operation Protect Your Home would be helped by
14 this piece of legislation, because it's too
15 late for too many of them.
16 We cannot allow that to happen.
17 There are thousands of homeowners who need our
18 help today. And I think we cannot leave them
19 behind as we go forward.
20 So I'm going to vote for this bill,
21 Senator Farley, because it is a good bill.
22 But it could be better.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Hassell-Thompson.
25 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank
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1 you, Mr. President. On the bill.
2 Senator Farley said that we don't
3 want to wipe out the subprime lending market.
4 I'm not sure that I agree with Senator Farley.
5 I sat on the Banking Committee with Senator
6 Farley until last year, since from almost the
7 first year I came here. And my understanding
8 of the banking business is certainly nowhere
9 near as sophisticated as his.
10 But what I do understand very
11 clearly is that if banks want to be in the
12 business of doing mortgages, then they need to
13 be in the banking business with the mortgage
14 for the entire life of the mortgage. The
15 whole idea of giving mortgages to servicers
16 takes away their obligation and responsibility
17 to the commitment that they made to the
18 lender. That's number one.
19 The moratorium, as you heard in the
20 very tail end of Senator Savino's
21 presentation, says that for the group of
22 borrowers that we're talking about, this bill
23 would do nothing. And we're as concerned not
24 only about future lending practices, but we're
25 worried about those who have already
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1 foreclosed, for whom this bill gives no
2 relief.
3 The other concern that I have is
4 that if we need to incentivize ways for banks
5 to be in the business of giving them extra
6 points for those that they do lending to that
7 don't have absolutely perfect credit, that's
8 an opportunity for us to have another
9 discussion.
10 But I think that the more layers
11 that we continue to have between the borrower
12 and the person who is responsible for the
13 lending makes it really difficult, because
14 there are many times -- and I can tell you
15 this from personal experience. Many times,
16 once the bank does a loan with you and a
17 servicer takes it over, if there's a
18 discrepancy, the bank will tell you one thing
19 but the servicer will do something completely
20 different.
21 Our subprime lending market does
22 not, in my opinion, have the level of
23 monitoring and regulatory rules that I think
24 that it needs to have. So I'm not as excited
25 about keeping this secondary layer as many of
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1 my colleagues are.
2 And I think that we need to be,
3 again, giving the right incentives to our
4 banks to, if they're going to be in the
5 mortgage business, be in the business of doing
6 mortgages and not give the responsibility --
7 because the contract was never made with the
8 servicer. The contract between the lender and
9 the borrower was made at a primary level, not
10 at the subprime level.
11 So I really become concerned when
12 we institutionalize behavior even when that
13 behavior is bad. And this has been a very
14 unfortunate kind of bad behavior on the part
15 of a lending structure that has seeped into
16 our lending market.
17 And if you don't believe that we've
18 only seen the tip of the iceberg, you need to
19 be talking to people who are in the business.
20 And they will tell you that this is not
21 anywhere near the end of what we're going to
22 be seeing in this lending market.
23 So I think that the minus of this
24 moratorium is not going to put a tourniquet,
25 as they say in the nursing profession, on a
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1 very bad bleeding problem that we have in
2 terms of our economy in the State of New York
3 as well as in this country.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Farley.
6 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, just a
7 couple of things I wanted to mention.
8 At the insistence of Senator
9 Padavan -- incidentally, to address people
10 that are already in foreclosure, this was
11 something the Senate added to the Governor's
12 program bill, that persons with subprime loans
13 who are already in the foreclosure process
14 will be given the opportunity to request a
15 settlement conference. In other words, to
16 help them through this.
17 So we are addressing some of that
18 for those that are already in foreclosure.
19 Actually, we hope that the federal government
20 may come up with billions to help people that
21 are in foreclosure.
22 I do want to address some concerns
23 that Senator Savino had, which are already in
24 the bill. We have a duty of care for mortgage
25 brokers. We prohibit improper influence of
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1 real estate appraisals. We regulate the
2 mortgage loan servicers. We address mortgage
3 fraud. We have criminal and civil penalties
4 in this area. We prevent foreclosure rescue
5 scams. We require foreclosure notices. All
6 of these things.
7 But again, let me just say the
8 thrust of this whole legislation, I think,
9 which makes it kind of unique and significant,
10 we're trying to prevent foreclosures. Banks
11 don't want foreclosures. They don't to be in
12 the real estate business. And we're trying to
13 prevent people from going into foreclosure.
14 And some of the things that --
15 there's no question about it -- that have
16 happened with scams and teasers and all of
17 these things, we're trying to address that in
18 the legislation.
19 It is complicated. It's long, it's
20 31 pages. But by and large, we try and
21 address most of the problems we can. It's a
22 pretty good piece of legislation and one that
23 needs to be done, and I urge my colleagues to
24 support it.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Is
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1 there any other Senator wishing to be heard on
2 the bill?
3 Senator Marcellino.
4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes,
5 Mr. President. I want to say thank you to my
6 colleague Hugh Farley for his efforts and his
7 work on this very, very complicated and
8 important piece of legislation.
9 You know, I hear calls that we've
10 got to do more, we should have done this, we
11 should have done that. You know, there's
12 never a time when you do a bill, especially
13 one as complicated and as controversial as
14 this one, that you don't want to do more and
15 you didn't want to do something. But
16 compromise is always necessary to get a
17 result.
18 In our business we always run the
19 risk of letting the perfect be the enemy of
20 the good. This bill is not perfect, but it's
21 a very, very good bill. I think we have to
22 support it enthusiastically.
23 And I again thank Senator Farley
24 for taking the lead and getting this work
25 done. I intend to vote aye.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Any
2 other Senator wishing to be heard on this
3 bill?
4 The debate is closed. The
5 Secretary will ring the bell.
6 Read the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 28. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Robach, to explain his vote.
14 Remember, we are on explanation of
15 votes now, to all the members.
16 Senator Robach.
17 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes,
18 Mr. President, I rise to support this bill.
19 And I want to thank the Governor, Senator
20 Farley.
21 While there's challenges, I still
22 think a huge part of the American dream is to
23 not only own a home but maintain a home, and
24 having --
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
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1 Robach, excuse me.
2 Thank you. Senator Robach, you may
3 continue.
4 SENATOR ROBACH: -- and trying to
5 have the best resources, programs in place to
6 do that is critically important.
7 We know there's been some failures
8 in the past that has got us a result that we
9 don't like for a lot of people and a lot of
10 communities. But this legislation really does
11 take us from a very, very different place of
12 where we were to where we'll go with this.
13 This is going to add a counseling
14 component, which has been critically important
15 to Rochester, the city I represent, of keeping
16 people in this exact situation in their home;
17 duty of care of mortgage loan servicers;
18 stricter penalties for those people who do not
19 follow the rules, let people know what that
20 rate is of swinging from high to low.
21 This is a good, good step in the
22 right direction. And we are leading the
23 charge in the country. My guess is this
24 legislation that we're passing here will be
25 duplicated in a lot of other states. I think
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1 it's a huge step in the right direction for
2 people to avoid this crisis.
3 Now that the public is much more
4 informed, coupled with this legislation,
5 hopefully will go a long way to stopping this
6 from occurring in the future and not only
7 hurting families trying to maintain their
8 homes but avoid some of the things we've all
9 spoken about earlier, empty properties
10 throughout the municipalities we represent, or
11 those not covered.
12 And I'm happy to cast my vote in
13 the affirmative.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Robach to be recorded in the affirmative.
16 Senator LaValle, to explain his
17 vote.
18 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 I want to congratulate Senator
21 Farley. I know he's worked very hard, very
22 diligently, held hearings on this very
23 subject.
24 In doing some work in the
25 foreclosure area, I think one of the things is
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1 a truism, that the banks do not want to be in
2 the real estate business. And there are times
3 in the process where you really need to bring
4 people together to say how can we ensure that
5 the individual stay in the home and
6 restructure the agreement.
7 So I think this will allow, in this
8 legislation, processes and opportunities for
9 people just to do that and for the individual
10 homeowner to receive the kind of counseling
11 and guidance that they need to see this
12 through to the end.
13 So, Senator Farley, I think you've
14 done a great service to individuals who many
15 times get themselves into a situation or are
16 victimized by bad economic times, to be able
17 to stay in their home and make sure that their
18 family has an opportunity to continue to live
19 in the community that they so love and the
20 reason why they moved there.
21 I vote yes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 LaValle to be recorded in the affirmative.
24 Senator Alesi, to explain his vote.
25 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you,
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1 Mr. President.
2 I know that a significant amount of
3 work has gone into this bill. And listening
4 to my colleagues, it's clear to me that
5 everyone here understands the importance of
6 protecting those people who are on thin ice
7 when it comes to owning their homes, owning
8 that piece of the American dream that so many
9 people have fought and worked so hard for.
10 This not only strengthens that
11 American dream of homeownership for the
12 average person who is caught unawares,
13 sometimes, when they get involved in
14 mortgages, it also strengthens the entire
15 industry. It's good for commerce and industry
16 as well to have such strength in our lending
17 laws.
18 But let me say this. When people
19 are running into trouble on their mortgage
20 payments, it's not just the principal and
21 interest that causes that struggle. There's a
22 third element for most people that are making
23 monthly payments. It's a thing called escrow.
24 It's a thing called taxes, property taxes.
25 And while we're working so nobly on
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1 helping those people who are struggling to
2 make their mortgage payments, let's remember
3 one other thing. We have to do something here
4 before we leave this town about property
5 taxes, because that's a significant component
6 of what people have to face every month when
7 it comes to staying in their homes and
8 affording homeownership.
9 Property taxes, coupled with
10 affordability and mortgage payments. We can't
11 do something without doing all of this. We
12 have to deal with property taxes as well as
13 this issue.
14 I'd like to congratulate Senator
15 Farley for this struggle that he has gone
16 through putting this bill together to make
17 sure that it works well for everyone. But let
18 us all continue to recognize that there is
19 another cost of homeownership in New York
20 State that's running away from the average
21 citizen, and it's property taxes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 Alesi to be recorded in the affirmative.
24 Senator Farley, to explain his
25 vote.
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1 SENATOR FARLEY: I just want to
2 say thank you to my colleagues on both sides
3 of the aisle, to Senator Connor, my Banking
4 Committee, and Ruth, who was my ranker for a
5 number of years, and Senator Padavan, who's
6 worked so hard on this legislation.
7 To see this controversial piece of
8 legislation, which is one of the most
9 significant we're passing this year, to be
10 passed unanimously in this house and perhaps
11 in the other house and it's going to be signed
12 by the Governor, that's rather significant.
13 And I want to thank Peter Edman and
14 Bernie McGarry, who worked through the night
15 without any sleep for the whole past week.
16 They're both here.
17 You know, we're very grateful to
18 all these people that have made this happen.
19 And I have to say thank you to my colleagues.
20 I vote aye.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Farley to be recorded in the affirmative.
23 Announce the results.
24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
25 Calendar Number 2077: Ayes, 61. Nays, 0.
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1 Senator C. Kruger absent from
2 voting.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 bill is passed.
5 Senator Little.
6 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 Could we return to Calendar Number
9 2094, by Senator Morahan.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 Secretary will read.
12 SENATOR LITTLE: Mr. President,
13 please lay that aside for the day.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 bill is laid aside for the day.
16 Senator Little.
17 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you.
18 Could we take up Calendar Number 2097, please.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 Secretary will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 2097, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
23 Print 8679A, an act to establish a workgroup.
24 SENATOR LITTLE: Is there a
25 message of necessity at the desk?
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
2 is a message of necessity at the desk.
3 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you.
4 Mr. President, I move to accept the message of
5 necessity.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
7 favor of accepting the message of necessity
8 indicate by saying aye.
9 (Response of "Aye.")
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
11 Opposed, nay.
12 (No response.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 message is accepted.
15 The Secretary will read the last
16 section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 Senator Little.
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1 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 Could we now temporarily lay aside
4 the controversial reading of this calendar and
5 return to motions and resolutions. I believe
6 we have some.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 bills on Senate Supplemental Calendar 63A will
9 be laid aside temporarily, and we will return
10 now to the order of motions and resolutions.
11 Senator Fuschillo.
12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
13 Mr. President.
14 On behalf of Senator Nozzolio, I
15 wish to call up Senate Print Number 7844A,
16 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at
17 the desk.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 Secretary will read.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1635, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 7844A,
22 an act in relation to authorizing the Town of
23 Webster.
24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to
25 reconsider the vote by which the bill was
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1 passed.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
3 the roll on reconsideration.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer
7 the following amendments.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 amendments are accepted.
10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
11 President, I move to recommit Senate Print
12 Number 8655, Calendar Number 2094 on the order
13 of third reading, to the Committee on Rules,
14 with instructions to said committee to strike
15 out the enacting clause. That's on behalf of
16 Senator Morahan.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So
18 ordered.
19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
20 President, on behalf of Senator LaValle, on
21 page number 50 I offer the following
22 amendments to Calendar Number 1529, Senate
23 Print Number 7497A, and ask that said bill
24 retain its place on the order of Third Reading
25 Calendar.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 amendments are received and adopted, and the
3 bill will retain its place on the Third
4 Reading Calendar.
5 Thank you, Senator Fuschillo.
6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Little.
9 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 Could we now take up the active
12 list calendar for today.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: We will
14 now take up the noncontroversial active list
15 for June 23, 2008.
16 The Secretary will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 108, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 4459, an
19 act to amend the Public Health Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 237, substituted earlier today by Member of
7 the Assembly Scarborough, Assembly Print
8 Number 5258C, an act to amend the Social
9 Services Law and the Family Court Act.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
13 act shall take effect April 1, 2010.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 256, by Senator Little, Senate Print 1101A, an
22 act to legalize, validate, ratify and confirm
23 certain actions taken.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
25 the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
2 act shall effect immediately.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
4 the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 bill is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 285, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 1047B, an
11 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering
12 and Breeding Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
18 the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 368, substituted earlier today by Member of
25 the Assembly Pheffer, Assembly Print Number
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1 70A, an act to amend the General Business Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect on the 60th day.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 449, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 4497B, an
14 act to direct the Commissioner of Education.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 459, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 6949A,
2 an act to amend the Education Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
11 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 520, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5865A,
16 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
25 1. Senator Perkins recorded in the negative.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 546, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
5 2061A, an act to amend the Penal Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect on the first of
10 November.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 557, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 4006A,
19 an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 613, substituted earlier today by Member of
7 the Assembly Sweeney, Assembly Print Number
8 8343A, an act to amend the Insurance Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
12 act shall take effect on the 90th day.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 bill is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 682, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
21 2879C, an act to amend the Estates, Powers and
22 Trusts Law and others.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
24 the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
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1 act shall take effect on the first of January.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
3 the roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 bill is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 711, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 7215A,
10 an act to amend the Education Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect on the 60th day.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 865, by Senator O. Johnson, Senate Print
23 7130A, an act to amend the Retirement and
24 Social Security Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 872, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 7523,
12 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
13 Law and the State Finance Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
17 act shall take effect on the same date as a
18 chapter of the Laws of 2008.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 896, substituted earlier today by Member of
2 the Assembly Morelle, Assembly Print Number
3 9073B, an act to amend the General Business
4 Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
8 act shall take effect --
9 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
10 please.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it
12 aside.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 948, substituted earlier today by Member of
15 the Assembly Destito, Assembly Print Number
16 10121, an act to amend Chapter 479 of the Laws
17 of 2004.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 952, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 247B, an
5 act to amend the Tax Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
7 is a local fiscal impact note at the desk.
8 The Secretary will read the last
9 section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect on the first day of the
12 sales tax quarterly period.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 bill is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 1010, substituted earlier today by the
21 Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print
22 Number 11491A, an act authorizing.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
24 is a home-rule message at the desk.
25 The Secretary will read the last
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1 section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 1031, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 7051A,
12 an act to amend the Education Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
18 the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1094, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 7408A,
25 an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law and the
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1 Education Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1095, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 7410,
14 an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 1120, substituted earlier today by Member of
2 the Assembly Paulin, Assembly Print Number
3 9628B, an act to amend the Public Health Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
9 the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 1124, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 2441A,
16 an act to amend the Tax Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
18 is a local fiscal impact note at the desk.
19 Read the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect on the first day of the
22 sales tax quarterly period.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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4494
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1142, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4029D,
6 an act to amend the General Business Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
10 act shall take effect on 90th day.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
15 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 bill is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 1143, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 4939A,
20 an act to amend the General Business Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 1144, substituted earlier today by Member of
8 the Assembly Nolan, Assembly Print Number
9 3520, an act to amend the Agriculture and
10 Markets Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1148, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print
23 7892A, an act to amend the General Business
24 Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 1158, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 7800,
12 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
13 Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
17 act shall take effect immediately.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 1159, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print
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1 7842A, an act to amend the Environmental
2 Conservation Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect on the 90th day.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 1208, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 7964D,
15 an act validating certain actions.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 1209, substituted earlier today by Member of
3 the Assembly Parment, Assembly Print Number
4 11174A, an act in relation to transportation
5 contracts.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Can we
7 please have order.
8 Read the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
10 act shall take effect July 1, 2008.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 1226, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 7946A,
19 an act to amend the General Municipal Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 1238, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3063A,
7 an act to amend the Education Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
11 act shall take effect on the first of July.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 bill is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 1263, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7866A,
20 an act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel
21 Wagering and Breeding Law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
23 the last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 1265, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2020, an
9 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
13 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
18 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1266, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 2180D,
23 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
25 the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
2 act shall take effect January 1, 2009.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
4 the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 bill is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1311, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 7124B,
11 an act to amend the Education Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 1318, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 166B, an
24 act to amend the General Business Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect on the first of July.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 1335, by Senator Smith, Senate Print 4221B, an
12 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
18 the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1348, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7471A,
25 an act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control
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1 Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1386, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 5037D,
14 an act to amend the Penal Law and the Arts and
15 Cultural Affairs Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
19 act shall take effect on the first of
20 November.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
25 the negative on Calendar Number 1386 are
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1 Senators Adams, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
2 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, L. Krueger,
3 LaValle, Marcellino, Montgomery, Morahan,
4 Oppenheimer, Parker, Perkins, Sabini and
5 Serrano.
6 Ayes, 45. Nays, 16.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 bill is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1413, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print
11 3192A, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic
12 Law and the New York City Charter.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
18 the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
21 the negative on Calendar Number 1413 are
22 Senators Adams, Dilan, Gonzalez,
23 Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Montgomery,
24 Parker, Perkins, Sabini, Schneiderman and
25 Stavisky.
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1 Ayes, 50. Nays, 11.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1415, by Senator Griffo, Senate Print 4380A,
6 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
15 the negative on Calendar Number 1415 are
16 Senators Duane, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger,
17 LaValle, Marcellino, Montgomery, Oppenheimer,
18 Padavan, Parker, Perkins, Sabini,
19 Schneiderman, Serrano and Stavisky.
20 Ayes, 47. Nays, 14.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1433, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 8051B,
25 an act to authorize the payment of
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1 transportation aid.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1465, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
14 5076B, an act to amend the Insurance Law and
15 the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 1470, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 6749B,
3 an act to amend the Insurance Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
9 the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 1505, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 7762,
16 an act to amend the Not-for-Profit Corporation
17 Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
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4508
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1522, by Senator Fuschillo --
5 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay that bill
6 aside temporarily, please.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it
8 aside temporarily.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1599, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 5603B,
11 an act to amend the Executive Law and the
12 Military Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
16 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
18 the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Leibell.
22 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you,
23 Mr. President. To explain my vote.
24 We all in this chamber, I believe,
25 know what a tremendous job our National Guard
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1 and our Air National Guard has done over the
2 course of this great state's history. And
3 particularly now, we have had so many
4 thousands of our Guardsmen and Air Guardsmen
5 deployed not only at home here but around the
6 world.
7 And we also know that beyond
8 international struggles, they are always
9 available to help us and our families and
10 everybody throughout the State of New York on
11 an emergency basis.
12 This legislation attempts to take
13 care of multiple public policy issues, one of
14 which is to make sure that we have as many
15 people covered by health insurance in New York
16 State as is possible, and also to provide this
17 sort of care for our Guardsmen and our Air
18 Guardsmen, and also as a vehicle to encourage
19 recruitment into the National Guard and into
20 the air National Guard.
21 So through this legislation we will
22 be joining in through a federal program
23 providing our Guardsmen with medical care for
24 themselves and their families at no expense,
25 and expenses will be paid for by New York
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1 State.
2 This is, I think, a great incentive
3 to all of our Guardsmen and a way for New York
4 State to say thank you for their tremendous
5 service. I vote aye, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
7 Leibell to be recorded in the affirmative.
8 Announce the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. Nays,
10 0.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 1607, by Senator Thompson, Senate Print 8101B,
15 an act to amend the Parks, Recreation and
16 Historic Preservation Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 1656, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print
4 5307B, an act to amend the Education Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 18. This
8 act shall take effect in two years.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 1695, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 6904,
17 an act to amend the State Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Lay that aside
4 temporarily, please, Calendar 1695.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: In
6 relation to Calendar Number 1695, we will
7 withdraw the roll call and lay the bill aside.
8 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1703, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
14 Print 8363A, an act in relation to adjusting.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 1706, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 8385A,
2 an act to amend Chapter 630 of the Laws of
3 1988, amending the Insurance Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
9 the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 1712, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 3849A,
16 an act to amend the Economic Development Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 1819, by Senator Little, Senate Print 7915C,
4 an act to amend the Real Property Actions and
5 Proceedings Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
14 Announce the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
16 the negative on Calendar Number 1819 are
17 Senators Duane and Sampson.
18 Ayes, 59. Nays, 2.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1842, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 8454, an
23 act to authorize the Village of South Blooming
24 Grove, in the County of Orange.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
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4515
1 is a home-rule message at the desk.
2 Read the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 1844, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 8456 --
13 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
14 please.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it
16 aside.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 1866, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 5830B,
19 an act to amend the Education Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect on the first of
24 September.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1878, by Senator Young, Senate Print 7260A, an
6 act to authorize the Village of Randolph in
7 the County of Cattaraugus.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
9 is a home-rule message at the desk.
10 The Secretary will read the last
11 section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1879, by Senator Farley Senate Print 7282C, an
22 act to amend Chapter 505 of the Laws of 2006,
23 relating to authorizing the City of Amsterdam.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
25 is a home-rule message at the desk.
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1 The Secretary will read the last
2 section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 1907, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 8386A,
13 an act to amend the Public Health Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
17 act shall take effect April 1, 2010.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 1912, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 579A, an
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4518
1 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering
2 and Breeding Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
11 1. Senator Saland recorded in the negative.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 1930, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 7638A,
16 an act to amend the General Business Law and
17 the Labor Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
21 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
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4519
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1945, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 8475A,
5 an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
9 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 1946, by Senator --
18 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Lay it aside
19 for the day, please.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay
21 that bill aside for the day.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 1949, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 8500, an
24 act to amend the Correction Law, the Penal
25 Law, and the Executive Law.
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4520
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
2 the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 1957, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 1585A,
13 an act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel
14 Wagering and Breeding Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
23 Calendar Number 1957: Ayes, 59. Nays, 2.
24 Senators Duane and Saland recorded in the
25 negative.
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4521
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1960, substituted earlier today by Member of
5 the Assembly Englebright, Assembly Print
6 Number 5566A, an act to amend the Elder Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 1985, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 8313B, an
19 act to authorize and direct the Department of
20 Education.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 1987, by Senator Bruno, Senate Print 8365A, an
8 act authorizing the City of Rensselaer.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
10 is a home-rule message at the desk.
11 The Secretary will read the last
12 section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1993, substituted earlier today by Member of
23 the Assembly Lopez, Assembly Print Number
24 11005, an act to amend Chapter 915 of the Laws
25 of 1982 amending the Public Authorities Law.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
2 the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 1994, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 7675, an
13 act to amend the Town Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
17 act shall take effect immediately.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 2006, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 8515,
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1 an act to adjust certain state aid payments.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 2010, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 8537, an
14 act in relation to transportation contracts.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 2012, substituted earlier today by the
2 Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print
3 Number 11418, an act to amend the Civil
4 Service Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 2014, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 8544, an
17 act to amend the Navigation Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
19 is a home-rule message at the desk.
20 The Secretary will read the last
21 section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 2020, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 5218A,
7 an act to create the Orangetown Public Library
8 District.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 bill is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 2026, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print
21 7893A, an act to amend the Executive Law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
23 the last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
25 act shall take effect on the 90th day.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 2027, by Senator Griffo, Senate Print 7912A,
9 an act to authorize the New York State Canal
10 Corporation.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 2034, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 8559,
23 an act to amend the Real Property Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
25 the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
2 act shall take effect immediately.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
4 the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 bill is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 2036, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 8571, an
11 act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 2038, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 8573,
24 an act to authorize the Town of Clarkstown, in
25 the County of Rockland.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
2 is a home-rule message at the desk.
3 Read the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 2039, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 8578, an
14 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
23 3. Senators Griffo, Libous and Maziarz
24 recorded in the negative.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 2044, by Senator Robach --
4 SENATOR PERKINS: Lay it aside.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay the
6 bill aside.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 2050, by Senator O. Johnson, Senate Print
9 7509A, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic
10 Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
19 the negative on Calendar Number 2050 are
20 Senators Dilan, Duane, Griffo, LaValle,
21 Libous, Morahan, Oppenheimer, Padavan,
22 Perkins, Sabini, Saland, Savino and Stavisky.
23 Ayes, 48. Nays, 13.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 2054, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
3 Print 8240A, an act to amend Chapter 331 of
4 the Laws of 2007.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
6 is a home-rule message at the desk.
7 Read the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 2060, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8586, an
18 act to authorize.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
2 the negative on Calendar Number 2060 are
3 Senators Bonacic, Larkin and Rath.
4 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 2061, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8587, an
9 act to authorize.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
18 the negative on Calendar Number 2061 are
19 Senators Bonacic and Larkin.
20 Ayes, 59. Nays, 2.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
22 bill is passed.
23 The Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 2062, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8588, an
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1 act to authorize.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
10 the negative on Calendar Number 2062 are
11 Senators Bonacic, Larkin and Rath.
12 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 2063, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8589, an
17 act to authorize.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
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1 the negative on Calendar Number 2063 are
2 Senators Bonacic, Larkin and Rath.
3 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 2064, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8590, an
8 act to authorize.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
17 the negative on Calendar Number 2064 are
18 Senators Bonacic, Larkin and Rath.
19 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 2065, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 8592, an
24 act to authorize.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
8 the negative on Calendar Number 2065 are
9 Senators Bonacic, Larkin and Rath.
10 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
14 Calendar Number 2066, Senator Leibell moves to
15 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
16 Assembly Bill Number 11651 and substitute it
17 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8595,
18 Third Reading Calendar 2066.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
20 Substitution ordered.
21 The Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 2066, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
24 Assembly Print Number 11651, an act
25 establishing.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
2 the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 2067, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 8596,
13 an act to amend the Executive Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
17 act shall take effect immediately.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
25 Calendar Number 2068, Senator Larkin moves to
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1 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
2 Assembly Bill Number 11650 and substitute it
3 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8605,
4 Third Reading Calendar 2068.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
6 Substitution ordered.
7 The Secretary will read.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 2068, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
10 Assembly Print Number 11650, an act in
11 relation to establishing.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
23 Calendar Number 2069, Senator Larkin moves to
24 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
25 Assembly Bill Number 11652 and substitute it
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1 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8606,
2 Third Reading Calendar 2069.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
4 Substitution ordered.
5 The Secretary will read.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 2069, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
8 Assembly Print Number 11652, an act to amend
9 the State Finance Law and the Executive Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 2070, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 8607, an
22 act to amend the Highway Law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
24 the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
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1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
3 the roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
7 bill is passed.
8 Senator Libous, that completes the
9 reading of the noncontroversial calendar, the
10 active list.
11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
12 could we now take up the controversial
13 calendar, please.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
15 Secretary will ring the bell. All members are
16 encouraged to take their seats in the chamber.
17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
19 Senator Libous.
20 SENATOR LIBOUS: There will be an
21 immediate meeting of the Health Committee in
22 Room 332.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
24 will be an immediate meeting of the Health
25 Committee in Room 332.
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1 SENATOR LIBOUS: And we'll stand
2 at ease temporarily.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank
4 you. The Senate stands at ease.
5 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
6 ease at 3:24 p.m.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
8 Senator Libous.
9 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
10 for those who are in the chamber, the Health
11 Committee meeting has commenced and finished,
12 and we will now have a Finance Committee
13 meeting in Room 332.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Senate
15 Finance Committee meeting in Room 332.
16 SENATOR LIBOUS: And the Senate
17 will still stand at ease while Finance is
18 meeting.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
20 Senate will stand at ease during the course of
21 the Finance Committee meeting.
22 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
23 at 4:16 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 if we could now go to the active list,
4 controversial.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 Secretary will ring the bell.
7 The Secretary will read.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 896, substituted earlier today by Member of
10 the Assembly Morelle, Assembly Print Number
11 9073B, an act to amend the General Business
12 Law.
13 SENATOR BRESLIN: Explanation,
14 please.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
16 Senator Winner, Senator Breslin has called for
17 an explanation.
18 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 This is actually a very simple
21 bill. This bill is a measure to try to bring
22 a little bit of competition in the marketing
23 of gasoline in the State of New York and is a
24 bill that passed the Assembly unanimously
25 earlier on this year and is legislation that
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1 fundamentally applies prospectively to new
2 franchise agreements that would be entered
3 into between a service station operator who
4 owns his own station and owns his tanks and
5 pumps and the refiner who provides the
6 gasoline through the distributor, who
7 otherwise might have a franchise agreement
8 that would prohibit that owner of the service
9 station who owns the pumps and tanks from
10 being able to sell unbranded fuel.
11 Unbranded fuel would have to be
12 sold separately. It would have to be
13 conspicuously labeled as such. The consumer
14 would have to be so advised prior to entering
15 the station.
16 And in many instances it is found
17 that unbranded fuel is at a less expense to
18 the motorist and certainly at no less quality
19 to the motoring public.
20 So this is a measure that is
21 prospective in nature. In my judgment, it is
22 constitutional because of its draftsmanship in
23 that fashion. And it should provide for some
24 relief at the pump to our hard-pressed
25 motorists who are having a difficult time.
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1 Only yesterday, when I filled up my
2 tank in Elmira, I went to an unbranded fuel
3 station and was able to secure gas at that
4 station at 6 cents a gallon less than the
5 lowest other price in any branded station in
6 the city of Elmira.
7 So under those circumstances, this
8 is good for the consumer and it is something
9 that the State of New York, other than dealing
10 with taxes, as this house has done before on
11 gas, is something to instill a little bit of
12 competition. This is not a be-all and
13 end-all. This may provide some relief to that
14 hard-pressed motorist.
15 And I urge its adoption in this
16 house unanimously, as did the Assembly.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Breslin.
19 SENATOR BRESLIN: Mr. President,
20 through you, thank the sponsor, Senator
21 Winner, for the explanation.
22 And if, again through you, he could
23 give us the name of that station where he
24 purchased it for 6 cents less, we'd appreciate
25 it.
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1 Thank you, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
3 you.
4 Any other Senator wishing to be
5 heard?
6 Debate is closed. Ring the bell.
7 Read the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
14 Calendar Number 896: Ayes, 59. Nays, 0.
15 Absent from voting: Senators C.
16 Kruger, Montgomery and Parker.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 bill is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 1522, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print
21 1312C, an act to amend the Education Law.
22 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
23 the day, please.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it
25 aside for the day.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 1695, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 6904 --
3 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
4 the day.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay the
6 bill aside for the day.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 1844, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 8456, an
9 act relating to requiring.
10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
11 Explanation.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
13 Explanation requested by Senator Schneiderman,
14 Senator Golden.
15 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 This bill would require that the
18 Superintendent of the State Police do a study
19 to calm the questions about microstamping the
20 bullet casings of semiautomatic pistols. It
21 would be reported to the Governor by
22 January 31, 2010.
23 And the reason we're doing this
24 study is whether you're a supporter or an
25 opponent of microstamping, it's impossible to
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1 discuss policy because you have too many
2 questions that affect the microstamping issue.
3 There is a microstamping bill in
4 California that has one company that does the
5 microstamping, there's only one in the nation
6 at this point, and that doesn't go into effect
7 until 2010.
8 There are questions about
9 durability, tampering, accuracy, permanency,
10 training, cost, counterfeiting, efficacy,
11 availability, alternatives, coverage. There's
12 a whole host of issues.
13 There's nobody would want to see
14 anybody that is using guns to kill, those
15 using illegal guns here to kill people in the
16 City and State of New York. You want those
17 people removed. And you want as many tools as
18 you can give to law enforcement to have that
19 job done. But unfortunately, there are just
20 too many questions at this point.
21 And we believe we have a consensus
22 on a study bill that would help us move
23 towards a solution in the near future.
24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
2 Schneiderman.
3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I believe
4 I have an amendment at the desk. I would
5 request that the reading be waived and that I
6 be heard on the amendment.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 reading is waived, and you may be heard on the
9 amendment, Senator Schneiderman.
10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
11 This amendment would strike Senator
12 Golden's study bill, which is one of the bills
13 that we sometimes see in the Senate --
14 sometimes in the Assembly also -- which really
15 should be called a study-to-death bill. And
16 this would strike it and replace it with a
17 bill that passed the Assembly on April 14th
18 that would actually direct the State of
19 New York to go forward with proven
20 microstamping technology.
21 The reason to reject Senator
22 Golden's proposal and to enact the Assembly's
23 version of this bill is very simple. All of
24 the issues Senator Golden talked about were
25 raised and dealt with in the context of the
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1 lengthy debate over this legislation in
2 California.
3 And I do not believe that anyone
4 here that reached out to our counterparts in
5 California -- anyone on the other side of the
6 aisle; I know the gun safety advocates have.
7 All of the questions that Senator Golden has
8 alluded to have been dealt with.
9 The other states that have studied
10 this issue and are working on legislation
11 include New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin,
12 Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
13 This is not something that is
14 brand-new. Microstamping technology was
15 developed in the 1990s. And while actually
16 developing micro-identification technology for
17 the electronics industry, it has been used, it
18 has been tested on thousands of firearms.
19 So what we're doing here is
20 essentially saying to the people of the State
21 of New York we know that microstamping, which
22 marks every bullet with an indelible mark that
23 can tell you the gun it came from, that makes
24 it so much easier for our law enforcement
25 officers to track a crime gun -- to track it
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1 to the dealer who sold it, to track it to the
2 person who purchased it or from whom it was
3 stolen -- we're not going to implement this,
4 we're going to pass a bill to say we need
5 another study.
6 Now, the technology of
7 microstamping is an incredible addition to the
8 law enforcement community because they already
9 have a system for examining the shell casings
10 in order to try and determine where the shell
11 casing comes from. The technology is so
12 developed that they can often tell just by the
13 random markings that a particular gun
14 generates where a shell came from.
15 This would make it so much easier,
16 would allow us to track down so many more
17 illegal guns and gun dealers, because it would
18 have a defined laser-imprinted mark that would
19 gone on every shell. They have developed
20 systems to make it virtually impossible for
21 this to be tampered with and, in fact, systems
22 where if you attempt to tamper with it, you
23 are at risk of disabling your own weapon, of
24 damaging your firing pin.
25 This is something that we know
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1 works, we can do. In Albany, you know,
2 there's one sure way to kill a good bill, and
3 that's to substitute a study. That's what
4 we're doing here today, ladies and gentlemen.
5 This is the dance of the one-house bills.
6 And when people complain to me
7 about why can't you do anything in Albany, the
8 main issue that they raise, the main issues of
9 concern to them are the issues that come up in
10 this context of the Assembly passing a bill
11 and the Senate saying we're addressing the
12 issue but then passing a different kind of
13 bill.
14 We don't need another study. I
15 will be glad to send to Senator Golden's
16 office all of the information that was
17 developed in California when they moved this
18 virtually identical legislation. We've
19 studied this issue.
20 For the Senate now to substitute a
21 study bill for the Assembly's bill is studying
22 this issue to death. How many more crimes
23 will go unsolved, how many crime guns will go
24 untraced because of our failure here today?
25 I urge everyone to support this
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1 amendment. Let's do something real on the
2 issue of guns. Let's pass a real bill that is
3 identical to the Assembly bill passed on
4 April 14th.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Golden.
7 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you,
8 Mr. President. I've listened to Senator
9 Schneiderman and I find it very interesting
10 some of the comments that he's made.
11 But there are just simple
12 realities. This technology that he speaks of
13 is so incredible that there's only one company
14 in the entire country that does it. I'd
15 rather make sure that we're more than one
16 company so that we could not sole-source this
17 to one company but to have several companies
18 to choose from.
19 And, you know, no matter who you
20 talk to, whether it's in California or any of
21 the states that have been mentioned by the
22 Senator, nobody can come up with how much it
23 costs. A dollar-fifty, $5, $8, $20, $100,
24 $300? Nobody can seem to finger a cost of
25 what it would be to do this.
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1 And of course the Senator pointed
2 out that if you move the firing pin, you
3 jeopardizing maybe disabling your own gun.
4 That is another issue that the Senator himself
5 has pointed out.
6 And the last thing I'd like to
7 bring up is the Assembly has passed this bill
8 to take effect just when our study would be
9 completed in 2010. So I don't see that this
10 bill would hamper the Assembly. If the facts
11 come back that we can do the Assembly's bill
12 in 2010, then we would gladly do the bill in
13 2010.
14 Thank you, Mr. President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
16 Adams.
17 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 I'm a bit confused. Would the
20 sponsor yield for a question?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: You're
22 on the amendment right now, so the sponsor
23 would be Senator Schneiderman.
24 SENATOR ADAMS: Okay, I'll wait
25 until after.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
2 Schneiderman.
3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Just to
4 respond to my friend Senator Golden's
5 comments, there are companies that are capable
6 of going into the microstamping business. But
7 until more states pass microstamping laws,
8 they're not going to invest the funds to do
9 it.
10 Todd Lizotte, who is one of the
11 developers of microstamping, has a company
12 that will go into the business. This is not
13 something that is that complicated. As soon
14 as we create the demand, there will be a
15 supply.
16 And I would urge everyone that they
17 did do cost estimates in California, and
18 obviously the costs go down the more people
19 are doing it. So if a few more big states do
20 it, this is something that can become the
21 standard for everywhere in the gun
22 manufacturing industry, and that's going to
23 bring the cost down substantially.
24 So these are really problems that
25 are best dealt with by actually passing a bill
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1 to save lives and help our law enforcement
2 officers, and not doing another study.
3 So I'm happy to work with Senator
4 Golden on any other questions he might have.
5 There are answers. There are answers.
6 Let's not miss an opportunity to do
7 something tremendously important. We have
8 people being shot all over New York State. A
9 small child was just shot in Albany. One
10 night in Senator Perkins' district we had a
11 whole round of teenagers being shot.
12 We can't trace the guns unless we
13 implement something like microstamping. Let's
14 do it. Let's not play the Albany dance of
15 one-house bills and kill it.
16 Thank you, Mr. President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All
18 those in agreement with the amendment please
19 raise your hands.
20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
21 agreement are Senators Adams, Breslin, Connor,
22 Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
23 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, C. Johnson, Klein,
24 L. Krueger, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker,
25 Perkins, Sabini, Sampson, Savino,
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1 Schneiderman, Serrano, Smith, Stavisky,
2 Stewart-Cousins and Thompson.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 amendment is not agreed to.
5 On the bill, Senator Adams.
6 SENATOR ADAMS: Would the sponsor
7 yield for a question.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
9 Golden, do you yield to a question from
10 Senator Adams?
11 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes, Mr.
12 President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Adams.
15 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you,
16 Senator. I just need to understand, are you
17 against the technology or are you against the
18 one company having the technology?
19 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President,
20 I'm concerned about only one company being out
21 there, that we would be sole-sourcing this.
22 I am not against technology that
23 would help us resolve crimes and resolve death
24 and homicides committed by illegal guns in the
25 City and State of New York.
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1 SENATOR ADAMS: Would the sponsor
2 yield for one more question.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: One
4 more question, Senator Golden?
5 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes,
6 Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Adams.
9 SENATOR ADAMS: Through you,
10 Mr. President, do you believe the
11 technology -- do you think that -- are there
12 any reports that state that there's a flaw in
13 the technology? Are there any reports that
14 state that there's a flaw in the technology?
15 SENATOR GOLDEN: There are
16 studies, Mr. President, out there that say
17 that the companies that -- or the company that
18 does this, there are flaws in it, yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Adams, on the bill?
21 SENATOR ADAMS: Yes, on the bill.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 Adams, on the bill.
24 SENATOR ADAMS: Okay, I'm not
25 sure aware of any studies that state that
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1 there's a flaw in the technology.
2 And I'm a bit surprised that a
3 retired member of the New York City Police
4 Department that had a great record in the
5 police department would actually state that we
6 should wait until 2010 before giving police
7 forensic experts a technology that's
8 available.
9 And if the reason that we are
10 against producing this technology is because
11 only one company is currently in the process
12 of doing it, I mean, there's a patent system
13 that we have in this great country. And what
14 happens when you allow new technology to come
15 into the market, as Senator Schneiderman
16 stated, is that you open the door for others
17 to join this technology.
18 And there's no one magic bullet to
19 deal with the issues of gun violence. I
20 introduced a bill -- that has yet to come to
21 the floor and yet to be discussed -- that we
22 could put permanent traceable codes on every
23 bullet that's produced. Yet we're not using
24 that technology.
25 Our law enforcement community
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1 cannot be afraid to marry technology with
2 solving crimes. And to state that we're
3 against this bill or we're against this new
4 innovation, this new technology, merely
5 because one company is doing it or merely
6 because we want to wait until 2010 or that we
7 believe that there are flaws in the technology
8 where there's no evidence to show this, that
9 we're going to prevent our officers from
10 having this information beforehand, that's
11 troubling to me.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Golden, why do you rise?
14 SENATOR GOLDEN: Just to point
15 out a statement that's just been made,
16 Mr. President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Are you
18 asking the questioner to yield?
19 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Adams, do you yield?
22 SENATOR ADAMS: Yes. Yes, of
23 course. For Senator Golden, anything.
24 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
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1 As you do know, Senator, this bill,
2 your own amendment, doesn't kick in until the
3 same date, 2010. You're aware of that; right?
4 SENATOR ADAMS: Yes, I am.
5 SENATOR GOLDEN: That's, I think,
6 one of your arguments.
7 Mr. President, one of the arguments
8 is that this bill, we have to wait till 2010.
9 The amendment that is on the floor forces the
10 bill to wait to 2010. So there is no
11 difference.
12 Our study here, our bill, allows us
13 to study to see if in fact the amendment that
14 they want to go forward with is in fact not
15 flawed. And that if in fact it is flawed, we
16 can correct it, and that it would allow for
17 more companies to be allowed to do the
18 technology that we speak of today. And I
19 think that's only fair and right.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Adams.
23 SENATOR ADAMS: Would the sponsor
24 yield for a question.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
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1 Golden, do you yield?
2 SENATOR GOLDEN: I do indeed,
3 Mr. President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Adams.
6 SENATOR ADAMS: Senator Golden --
7 through you, Mr. President -- you say if there
8 are flaws. If there are flaws in what? In
9 the technology, or there's flaws in the study?
10 SENATOR GOLDEN: Flaws in the
11 technology, sir.
12 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you.
13 Again, as I stated --
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Adams, on the bill.
16 SENATOR ADAMS: As I stated,
17 Mr. President, how can we in America argue
18 that we should not institute technology merely
19 because there's one company involved? I just
20 don't understand the logic behind that.
21 One company being involved in
22 technology opens the door in this country for
23 other companies to be a part of the technology
24 and to start opening a market where we can use
25 new technology and law enforcement.
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1 So I don't believe it's a viable
2 argument to state that merely because one
3 company decides to take the initiative to find
4 ways that we can solve gun crimes -- nothing
5 is more disturbing and troubling for a
6 detective that investigates particularly
7 homicide cases to hit a cold case merely
8 because the evidence is not there to connect
9 the person who discharged the weapon with the
10 ballistic evidence that's found at the scene.
11 There's technology that's available
12 today that we can permanently mark ballistic
13 evidence, either through the barrel of the gun
14 or through permanent marking of the bullet.
15 And we should be embracing that technology.
16 To state let's do a study when
17 there's already studies out there that show
18 that this technology could be used, to state
19 that we should wait to do this I think is the
20 wrong direction to go in. And I believe that
21 our law enforcement community deserves the
22 support that is needed during a shooting or a
23 homicide.
24 I don't want to tell a family
25 member that we're unable to find a person who
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1 killed their loved one. I don't want to tell
2 a police officer that we're unable to find the
3 person who shot a cop. You know, we argue
4 about the death penalty, yet we're unwilling
5 to give the evidence that's available to find
6 the person that shot a police officer.
7 I don't want to tell family members
8 that we couldn't do it because we were too
9 slow here in the State Senate or the State
10 Assembly to pass the technology that could
11 connect a bullet with a gun. And we can say
12 whatever we want about one company or two
13 companies or 20 companies. How many companies
14 do you have to have before you say technology
15 is available?
16 We've got technology that's
17 available that could put people in jail that
18 hurt people with guns. And to sit here and
19 state that we should wait or maybe -- or have
20 another survey or another study, that's
21 madness. The technology is here. Let's do
22 this. Let's do this now and start getting the
23 individuals who are using guns to take lives
24 of New Yorkers and let's make sure we can find
25 them so they can't go out and continue their
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1 craft of bringing harm to innocent people.
2 Let's make sure we have the technology.
3 And it's wrong for an ex-police
4 officer to state merely because there's one
5 company, he doesn't want to see the technology
6 there. It's wrong. It's the wrong attitude
7 to take. And I'm surprised that my colleague
8 would take that attitude.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Golden.
11 SENATOR GOLDEN: Will the Senator
12 please yield.
13 SENATOR ADAMS: Yes, I will.
14 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President,
15 does the Senator believe that if we found the
16 markings of the gun that the technology had
17 produced, does he believe that the person that
18 shot that gun is the actual person that used
19 the gun in that crime?
20 SENATOR ADAMS: I don't
21 understand your question. Can you say it
22 again so I can understand it?
23 SENATOR GOLDEN: The individual
24 technology that's used to mark the shell,
25 would that show us who in fact used that gun
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1 to kill that individual?
2 SENATOR ADAMS: No, it doesn't in
3 fact show us.
4 What it does is that -- what it
5 does -- let me answer your question. What it
6 does, when you have a homicide case, it brings
7 you one step closer to solving the crime.
8 Whatever information we can give our trained
9 investigators allows them one step further to
10 not have a cold case.
11 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President,
12 if the Senator would yield, one more question.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Adams?
15 SENATOR ADAMS: Yes, I will.
16 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President,
17 would the Senator, as he spoke of going to
18 those families of those that have been killed,
19 would he have any problem going to the
20 families of an individual that may have been
21 wrongly convicted because the technology had
22 not worked the way it should have because we
23 didn't wait to do a study to 2010,
24 Mr. President?
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
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1 Adams.
2 SENATOR ADAMS: No one would want
3 to see a wrongly convicted person
4 incarcerated.
5 And that is why I stated that the
6 studies have already been done, based on what
7 Senator Schneiderman said and based on
8 information that I've witnessed, and based on
9 a bill that I introduced, which is that you
10 can mark all the bullets that are sold,
11 regardless of what gun, to trace them to the
12 person who discharged.
13 So no, don't give the impression
14 that I am advocating incarcerating innocent
15 people. I'm advocating a marriage of
16 technology with our law enforcement community
17 so they can conduct an investigation. That is
18 what I am advocating, not to merely put
19 innocent people in jail, but to put guilty
20 people in jail.
21 People who wear the same uniform
22 that you wore, Senator Golden, as a police
23 officer, when they are victims of shooting,
24 then we should make sure we give them all the
25 technology that's available so we can find
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1 them. We can't not only talk about the death
2 penalty, we need to make sure we find the
3 people who kill our officers. That is what
4 I'm advocating.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
6 you, Senator Adams.
7 Senator Volker.
8 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, I
9 have to tell you, Senator Adams -- all the
10 studies have been done? No studies have been.
11 Now, let me tell you something
12 about microstamping. There's a good reason
13 why this bill is opposed by the New Yorkers
14 Against Gun Violence, because they -- they
15 want microstamping. The vast majority of
16 police officers don't believe it works.
17 In fact, here's an interesting --
18 we contacted California. California said
19 don't do that bill unless you do a study. The
20 California professors who helped develop this
21 technology are not sure it even works.
22 In fact, it's interesting that the
23 people who developed this stuff -- California,
24 a very anti-gun state. And the mayor of
25 New York City, who's obviously very
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1 anti-gun --
2 SENATOR GOLDEN: Senator -- if I
3 could, please, Mr. President --
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Golden, why do you rise?
6 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President,
7 please lay the bill aside due to the course of
8 the day. Lay it aside for the day.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
10 Calendar Number 1844 will be laid aside for
11 the day at the sponsor's request.
12 The Secretary will read.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 2044, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 6350A,
15 an act to amend the Public Health Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Perkins.
18 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
19 Mr. President, may I ask the sponsor a
20 question or two or three.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Robach, will you entertain a question?
23 SENATOR ROBACH: I will.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
25 Perkins.
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1 SENATOR PERKINS: I want to
2 recognize that this childhood lead poisoning
3 health issue is really very, very important
4 for our state. There are over 10,000 children
5 being poisoned, crippled for life, unable to
6 fulfill their potential educationally. There
7 have even come studies out about some
8 correlation with crime.
9 So this is a very, very important
10 issue, and I do have to give you some credit
11 for being on top of this to the extent that
12 you have attempted to be with this piece of
13 legislation.
14 I just want to, however, ask you a
15 question or two as it relates to the bill.
16 One question in particular that I'm concerned
17 about is, who is covered by this bill?
18 SENATOR ROBACH: Well, maybe a
19 good way for me to answer some of your
20 questions is say what the bill does.
21 After working for several years
22 now -- in addition to what this Legislature
23 has already done, sending millions of dollars
24 to targeted areas, doing member items for
25 testing kits, retrofitting windows, a number
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1 of things -- what this bill does is really
2 four major components. To take what we've
3 already reduced lead in the state from almost,
4 in some high-risk areas, down by 60 percent.
5 As you point out, Senator Perkins,
6 40 percent still stand out, which affects the
7 behavior, the educational development, the
8 learning development of our children, not to
9 mention muscle, bone growth, language, almost
10 everything important to their development.
11 What this bill will do is, for the
12 first time, four major things. And I'll give
13 them to you in the order I think is important.
14 It would amend the Public Health
15 Law to ensure that all children age 1, 2, up
16 to age 6, will be tested across the state, and
17 also pregnant mothers in high-risk areas.
18 The second major component to go a
19 long way to really stamping out lead poisoning
20 in our state would be to amend the Tax Law to
21 authorize a tax credit for certain activities
22 related to lead-hazard reduction and
23 abatement -- I don't know if you want all the
24 details -- up to $1,500 per property, $5,000
25 per individual, both for rental and
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1 owner-occupied properties.
2 The third part would be to amend
3 the Public Health Law to authorize the
4 department to establish regulations for
5 inspection, everything else, hoping that over
6 the next several -- well, not even several,
7 couple of years we will have nobody occupying
8 or moving into a house with lead-paint danger.
9 And fourth would create the Public
10 Health Law to require the department to
11 establish an already continued effort,
12 lead-safe housing awareness guidelines and
13 seminars, both for residents and for people
14 working in this, to do that.
15 So it would not only be testing,
16 continued education and public awareness, it
17 would incentivize landlords and homeowners,
18 roughly with a fifty-fifty split through a tax
19 credit, to get every property in New York up
20 to snuff so no children, by 2011, would be in
21 unsafe lead environments, is the main gist,
22 the four components.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Perkins.
25 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
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1 Mr. President, may I ask a --
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Robach, do you yield?
4 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Mr.
5 President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
7 Perkins.
8 SENATOR PERKINS: So does this
9 cover children in New York City?
10 SENATOR ROBACH: It doesn't, and
11 I probably should have mentioned that. It
12 covers the entire state except for New York
13 City, which has its own, already through City
14 Council, its own set of regulations and rules.
15 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
16 Mr. President, may I again ask --
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Robach, do you continue to yield?
19 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Perkins.
22 SENATOR PERKINS: Let me just say
23 with respect to New York City, actually, that
24 legislation does not include children that are
25 in lead-based-poison homes of more than
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1 two-family homes. So I was just wondering if
2 this bill manages to cover them as well. I
3 believe there was an earlier bill that to some
4 extent looked at that.
5 SENATOR ROBACH: I think that
6 this bill -- let me say this, Senator Perkins.
7 This bill would cover that outside of the City
8 of New York. I'm unfamiliar -- I don't know
9 what the regulations are for the City of
10 New York.
11 But just so you know the genesis of
12 it, this bill was a culmination of working
13 with advocates, the legal community, the
14 medical society, the industry, and a number of
15 other people interested in this, is how we got
16 to where we're at. After, I'd say, three
17 years.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Perkins.
20 SENATOR PERKINS: Mr. President,
21 through you, may I continue to ask a question.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 Robach, will you continue to yield?
24 SENATOR ROBACH: I will.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
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1 Perkins.
2 SENATOR PERKINS: If you could
3 answer it yes or no, this does or does not
4 cover children in New York City?
5 SENATOR ROBACH: It does not.
6 Well, it takes out cities over a million,
7 which would exclude New York, correct.
8 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
9 Mr. President, may I ask another question.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Robach, would you yield?
12 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Perkins.
15 SENATOR PERKINS: Does this
16 legislation include the distribution of
17 linguistically and culturally sensitive
18 material? As you know, a diverse state --
19 different cultures, different languages. Does
20 your bill cover for those constituents that
21 might not necessarily speak English?
22 SENATOR ROBACH: I think it
23 would, in terms of however the Health
24 Department currently distributes information.
25 I think they do do some of that bilingually,
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1 at least in Spanish. I think that would
2 continue in what they would develop, the
3 Health Department, in terms of seminar
4 guidelines and inspections, I believe.
5 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
6 Mr. President, may I continue to ask.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Robach, will you continue to yield?
9 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Perkins.
12 SENATOR PERKINS: Specifically,
13 does it speak, in its language, to the
14 linguistic and cultural diversity of the
15 state, yes or no?
16 SENATOR ROBACH: I wouldn't say
17 it does anything different than any other bill
18 we pass dealing with the Health Department to
19 create programs or anything else. Which
20 again, I have to say, I believe usually does
21 include English and Spanish.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 Perkins.
24 SENATOR PERKINS: I have another
25 few questions, if it's okay with you,
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1 Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Robach, would you yield?
4 SENATOR ROBACH: Absolutely.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Go
6 ahead, Senator Perkins.
7 SENATOR PERKINS: So it's clear
8 that it does not specifically address the
9 linguistic and cultural diversity that is
10 represented. But you expect that at some
11 point the Health Department will do so
12 accordingly, but it does not require the
13 Health Department to do so?
14 SENATOR ROBACH: I would say both
15 things, Senator Perkins. I think it does to
16 some degree. I don't know if that's enough to
17 appease your -- what your goal is.
18 And then, secondly, this was also
19 the language that was agreed upon, the main
20 body of this, with the other house as well.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Perkins.
23 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
24 Mr. President, is there a same-as bill that
25 has been agreed upon?
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1 SENATOR ROBACH: I am hopeful
2 that there will be. The content of the bill
3 is the same as. We made some technical
4 changes on dates, costs, things that were
5 inaccurate. And the only thing that we
6 changed in content was to make the bill
7 effective immediately. And I'm hoping it will
8 match in the other house.
9 I have every reason to believe, due
10 to the importance of this, the work of
11 advocates and so many people working together,
12 that before we leave that will happen.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Perkins.
15 SENATOR PERKINS: So at this
16 point there is no same-as?
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Robach.
19 SENATOR ROBACH: Ninety-nine
20 percent same-as, correct. Not a hundred,
21 that's correct.
22 SENATOR PERKINS: So that means
23 no?
24 (Laughter.)
25 SENATOR ROBACH: Ninety-nine
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1 percent, yeah. Yes or no, whichever one you
2 want to pick.
3 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you
4 again, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Robach, will you continue to yield?
7 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
9 Perkins.
10 SENATOR PERKINS: Is there a
11 fiscal impact statement that accompanies this?
12 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, there is.
13 It would roughly -- around those tax credits I
14 talked to you about, $15,000, splitting the
15 difference per household residents, multiple
16 dwellings up to $5,000 per person, up to
17 $15 million in the aggregate.
18 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
19 Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Perkins.
22 SENATOR PERKINS: So there will
23 be a budget appropriation, there's a budget
24 appropriation that has been legislated for
25 this tax credit program that you talk about of
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1 $15 million?
2 SENATOR ROBACH: Yeah, I would
3 say two things. There will be for next year,
4 and maybe that will grow, depending on need.
5 But then, secondly, I also think
6 there is money in housing and other places
7 that can go to address this, even General
8 Fund.
9 I think as you stated earlier,
10 Senator Perkins, given the importance of this,
11 what it does to children, what the cost is
12 down the road for those kids who have already
13 been damaged in terms of special education,
14 other services and things, both for the
15 humanity as well the cost, I think it would be
16 money very, very well spent.
17 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
18 Mr. President, may I continue to ask
19 questions.
20 SENATOR ROBACH: Absolutely.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Robach yields, Senator Perkins.
23 SENATOR PERKINS: There's no
24 question that this is a worthy cause of at
25 least $15 million. However, there is no money
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1 been appropriated for this as of now, nor has
2 there been any commitment of money in the next
3 budget.
4 SENATOR ROBACH: One of the
5 reasons why people didn't want to do the bill
6 is for that exact reason you're bringing up.
7 I am not in that camp. I think
8 we're already, right now, not doing this -- I
9 think it's imperative, again, both in human
10 terms of the damage to these kids.
11 But I would also make the argument
12 even on a fiscal note that the money we're
13 spending down the line for the thousands of
14 the kids that have been damaged will far, far
15 outpace the money if there was ever -- this is
16 more than an ounce of prevention for a pound
17 of cure, this is well, well beyond that.
18 So I understand what you're saying,
19 and I want to work on that. But I'm unwilling
20 to use that for a reason not to try to get a
21 result for those children and those families.
22 SENATOR PERKINS: On the
23 budget -- on the budget? On the bill. On the
24 bill.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
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1 Perkins, on the bill.
2 SENATOR PERKINS: On the bill
3 with no budget.
4 Let me just first again express my
5 appreciation for your interest and your effort
6 to try to address one of the most serious
7 problems we have affecting our children. But
8 however, I -- and even though I feel it falls
9 short in some very important specifics,
10 particularly as it relates to New York City,
11 the children of New York City, particularly as
12 it relates to recognizing the cultural and
13 linguistic diversity of the state, which has
14 to be explicitly required in any
15 legislation -- we cannot leave it up to the
16 Health Department to divine how that needs to
17 be done.
18 And I'm very concerned about the
19 fact that the tax credit and the fiscal impact
20 issues are not as strongly defined and assured
21 as they would need to be that would make this
22 real substantive as well as having a same-as
23 that would give us some assurance that this
24 bill is going someplace.
25 Because unfortunately, as you know,
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1 as it stands now, this is a one-house bill
2 that doesn't quite identify how the funding is
3 going to support the bill. It does not cover
4 folks, young people in New York City. And so
5 it might be misunderstood as not a sincere
6 effort.
7 On the other hand, let me say to
8 you that again, I appreciate what you're
9 doing. I hope that we do better. And I'm
10 going to support the bill.
11 And so, Mr. President, I vote aye
12 on this bill.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Is
14 there any other Senator wishing to be heard?
15 Senator Maziarz.
16 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Mr. President,
17 on the bill.
18 I want to join my colleague Senator
19 Perkins in congratulating Senator Robach. I
20 know Senator Robach represents a large part of
21 the City of Rochester, and I have just a very
22 small portion of it. But this is something
23 that has been covered a lot in the local media
24 in upstate New York.
25 And my understanding -- and I
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1 didn't quite understand my colleague Senator
2 Perkins' point, because my understanding is
3 that children in the City of New York are
4 already covered by present law. So I think
5 Senator Robach is doing the right thing by
6 extending that coverage to children in other
7 areas of the state.
8 And, you know, I think that all too
9 often this issue is seen as one that is a
10 major metropolitan area -- you know,
11 Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse. And New York
12 City, of course. But actually, I think this
13 is an issue in smaller communities,
14 particularly smaller upstate cities, the type
15 of cities that I represent -- North Tonawanda,
16 Lockport. You know, where there's a lot of
17 older housing, houses that were painted a long
18 time ago where a lot of people have moved out
19 into the suburbs and a lot of these houses are
20 now occupied by younger families with young
21 children.
22 And I think this is a very
23 important bill. I agree with Senator Perkins.
24 And I know that Senator Robach is going to
25 working to get that appropriation done. I
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1 think this is excellent legislation for the
2 entire state of New York, and I will be voting
3 in the affirmative, Mr. President.
4 Thank you.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Perkins.
7 SENATOR PERKINS: Through you,
8 Mr. President, I'd just like to clarify the
9 record that was misrepresented, not
10 purposefully, as it relates to the New York
11 City legislation and whether or not it
12 actually covers the children of New York.
13 In fact, the bill that I have,
14 4121, was specifically designed not only to
15 cover the State of New York upstate but also
16 to cover that part of New York City that is
17 not covered by Local Law 1, which was passed,
18 I modestly say, by me when I was in the City
19 Council.
20 So we need a bill that fills the
21 hole that was not able to be covered in
22 New York City. The bill that I have put
23 forward, 4121 -- which also, by the way, has a
24 same-as in the Assembly carried by
25 Assemblywoman Peoples -- does cover New York
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1 City. It's very, very important that we cover
2 New York City, particularly in terms of those
3 one- and two-family homes that are not
4 covered. Those young people deserve to be
5 helped as well.
6 Thank you.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Schneiderman.
9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 You know, this is a very important
12 issue, and Senator Perkins comes to us with a
13 great deal of knowledge about it.
14 I just have to say, in the same
15 spirit with which we have been discussing the
16 problem of one-house bills and the dance of
17 one-house bills in Albany, that for us to be
18 here at the last day of session and not to
19 even have a same-as, much less have it moving
20 through the Assembly, indicates to me that
21 this probably is not something that has a
22 realistic possibility.
23 I think it would be a good step if
24 we were going to do it. But I frankly don't
25 understand why, in the last day of session,
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1 we're moving something out that doesn't even
2 have a same-as in the Assembly.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Robach --
5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I would
6 support the bill --
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Robach.
9 SENATOR ROBACH: For you and
10 everybody else, we are just waiting for
11 Assemblyman Gantt to make the technical
12 changes. I believe this bill is as live and
13 as -- and if it's not done, that will be for
14 all the wrong reasons, not to get to solve for
15 kids.
16 So I wasn't trying to be flippant
17 when I said there's a 99 percent agreement.
18 We had to change dates that were done from a
19 bill last year that was technically flawed and
20 make some very, very minor changes.
21 The bill that we put in together on
22 the content of what this does to protect kids
23 is exactly what has been discussed in
24 dialogue. So hopefully that will alleviate
25 some of your fears.
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1 This is as sincere and as real as
2 ever. And if it isn't done, I don't know what
3 the reasons will be, but it will be very, very
4 easy to get this done and rectified -- again,
5 only correcting the inaccuracies in the bill
6 to make it viable to get done right now, if
7 that makes you feel any better. It has a
8 hundred percent --
9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through
10 you, Mr. President, if the sponsor would
11 yield.
12 Is there an Assembly sponsor for
13 this bill?
14 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes. And he has
15 the amendments, and we're waiting for him to
16 put them in.
17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through
18 you, Mr. President, who is the Assembly
19 sponsor?
20 SENATOR ROBACH: David Gantt.
21 Assemblyman David Gantt.
22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And what
23 is the bill that Assemblyman Gantt is seeking
24 to amend in the Assembly? Was this bill
25 introduced in the Assembly?
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1 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes. We had the
2 same bill. We amended ours to technically
3 make the date changes correct.
4 And the only content change at all
5 took the bill to make it immediately
6 effective. That's it. There was nothing to
7 the agreed-upon concepts that I discussed
8 talking to Senator Perkins.
9 So I am very, very hopeful that
10 after we've been working so hard for the last
11 two years to build consensus, that people who
12 have spoken highly of the importance of this
13 bill will sincerely get it done. I have every
14 belief that they will, due to the importance
15 of this and what's transpired in the past.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Schneiderman.
18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I thank
19 the sponsor for his comments. I am very
20 hopeful that we will do this and that we will
21 do more than this.
22 It sounds as though he's got the
23 details worked out, and we look forward to him
24 delivering a two-house bill that the Governor
25 will sign.
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1 Thank you, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Anyone
3 else wishing to be heard?
4 Debate is closed. The Secretary
5 will ring the bell.
6 Read the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 14. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote.
14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I just
15 want to rise to compliment Senator Robach.
16 This bill, I've been a cosponsor of
17 this bill from the beginning. It's been a few
18 years that it's been percolating. And I know
19 how difficult it was to get all the pieces
20 together to make the various groups happy
21 about it, and also to make sure that there
22 would be adequate funding down the road for
23 this particular bill.
24 The fact that it passed both
25 houses -- I'm confident it will pass both
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1 houses. I'm also confident that there will be
2 funding available. Because it's going to be
3 very difficult for us not to fund this in view
4 of its substantial importance to many
5 communities.
6 And I represent part of Syracuse,
7 and I know there's a lot of old housing there
8 that has lead paint. And it's time that we
9 got this particular problem behind us after
10 these many years of trying to get this bill
11 together.
12 So, Senator Robach, congratulations
13 for the hard work that you have done to get
14 this bill to this point.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
16 DeFrancisco to be recorded in the affirmative.
17 Senator Perkins, to explain his
18 vote.
19 SENATOR PERKINS: Yes, I'd like
20 to explain my vote.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
22 Remember, members, we're on explanation of
23 votes now.
24 SENATOR PERKINS: I want to be
25 clear, again, that a significant hole in this
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1 bill is the absence of covering children in
2 New York City, number one.
3 Number two, the same-as bill that
4 originally accompanied this effort that came
5 from the Assembly was a bill, as was pointed
6 out, sponsored by Assemblyman Gantt, which has
7 passed three times in the Assembly.
8 However, since then, a new bill has
9 arrived at the Senate where there were some
10 amendments made to which no same-as was
11 created. So at this point I'm assured that
12 the closeness that has been alleged may not be
13 so close, based on what it is that has come to
14 my attention.
15 So I'm hopeful that if there are
16 significant differences, that they'll be
17 resolved. Nevertheless, I'm going to support
18 this bill. I'm going to ask my colleagues to
19 support the bill. But I want to be clear that
20 99 percent close is quite -- not the moment,
21 anyway. But I hope I'm wrong.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 Perkins, how do you vote?
24 SENATOR PERKINS: I vote aye.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
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1 Perkins to be recorded in the affirmative.
2 Senator Alesi.
3 SENATOR ALESI: To explain my
4 vote, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Alesi, to explain his vote.
7 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you.
8 First of all, I'd like to
9 congratulate Senator Robach. With regard to
10 whether or not there is a same-as, I think the
11 leadership that Senator Robach has taken is
12 exemplary. And even though we are coming
13 close to the tail end of the session here --
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Excuse
15 me, Senator Alesi.
16 May we have order, please.
17 SENATOR ALESI: -- this bill
18 gives us the opportunity for any other action
19 to be taken in the other house.
20 As you know, I represent about a
21 third of the City of Rochester. But we don't
22 have to limit our focus to just those large
23 urban areas. The problem of lead poisoning
24 that Senator Robach's bill deals with is
25 everywhere.
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1 And what we should be concerned
2 with is Senator Robach's central issue, and
3 that is the health of our children and the
4 fact that when they have been poisoned by lead
5 from the sources that his bill deals with,
6 it's irreversible. There's no changes that
7 can be made. They're doomed. The results of
8 lead poisoning can't be turned around.
9 So I'm voting yes on this bill, and
10 I would like to compliment, again, Senator
11 Robach for his hard work on this. And I would
12 urge those in the other house to follow this
13 kind of leadership, and before the session
14 ends that we can make something happen that
15 deals with the health and welfare of the
16 children not just in our urban cores but all
17 across New York State.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Alesi to be recorded in the affirmative.
20 Announce the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. Nays,
22 0.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 Senator Skelos.
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1 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
2 if we could return to reports of standing
3 committees for the report of the Finance
4 Committee.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Reports
6 of standing committees.
7 The Secretary will read the report
8 of the Finance Committee.
9 THE SECRETARY: Senator O.
10 Johnson, from the Committee on Finance,
11 reports the following nominations.
12 As a member of the State Liquor
13 Authority, Jeanique Greene, of Yonkers.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Johnson.
16 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the
17 nomination.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 question is on the nomination of Jeanique
20 Greene as a member of the State Liquor
21 Authority. All in favor say aye.
22 (Response of "Aye.")
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
24 Opposed, nay.
25 (No response.)
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
2 Congratulations. Jeanique Greene is now
3 confirmed.
4 (Applause.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
6 Jeanique Greene is here with us today. We
7 offer you our congratulations and best wishes.
8 The Secretary will read.
9 THE SECRETARY: As a member of
10 the State Liquor Authority, Noreen Healy, of
11 Brooklyn.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Johnson.
14 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the
15 nomination.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Connor.
18 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you,
19 Mr. President. I just want to rise to second
20 the motion to move the nomination of Noreen
21 Healy.
22 She's a neighbor of mine from my
23 neighborhood. I've observed her for the last
24 two years on the State Liquor Authority. She
25 has been part of an effort which has made that
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1 agency far more responsive to our community
2 boards in New York City and to our community
3 concerns in terms of interpreting and
4 enforcing the law in a way that's
5 community-friendly, takes into account the
6 concerns of residents in many neighborhoods
7 that I represent where there are literally
8 hundreds of licensed premises and they've
9 turned into a kind of nightclub row,
10 night-life row.
11 The agency has now paid a lot of
12 attention to that, and the commissioner has
13 done an excellent job. And I'm very, very
14 happy to move to second her nomination.
15 Thank you.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 question is on the nomination of Noreen Healy
18 as a member of the State Liquor Authority.
19 All in favor signify by saying aye.
20 (Response of "Aye.")
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
22 Opposed, nay.
23 (No response.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 nominee is confirmed.
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1 We want to acknowledge Noreen Healy
2 is here today. We want to offer her our
3 congratulations and best wishes.
4 (Applause.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 Secretary will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: As a member of
8 the New York State Employment Relations Board,
9 Edward Stahr, of Troy.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Johnson.
12 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the
13 nomination.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 question is on the nomination of Edward Stahr
16 as a member of the New York State Employment
17 Relations Board. All in favor signify by
18 saying aye.
19 (Response of "Aye.")
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
21 Opposed, nay.
22 (No response.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 nominee is hereby confirmed.
25 Mr. Stahr is in the chambers today.
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1 We want to extend our congratulations and best
2 wishes to Mr. Ed Stahr.
3 (Applause.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 Secretary will read.
6 THE SECRETARY: As a member of
7 the Workers' Compensation Board, Mark D.
8 Higgins, of West Seneca.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Johnson.
11 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the
12 nomination.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Stachowski.
15 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Yes,
16 Mr. President, I'd like to rise to second the
17 nomination of Mark Higgins.
18 If you looked at Mark's background,
19 he's worked with labor for most of his career,
20 if not all of his career. He's got an
21 outstanding record working on behalf of the
22 working men and women of the State of
23 New York. I think that Mark comes from a
24 family of working people.
25 He's a truly good appointment by
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1 the Governor. I think the Governor did an
2 outstanding selection here. And most
3 importantly to me, Mark Higgins is a friend.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Robach.
6 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes,
7 Mr. President, could I rise to second to this
8 nomination.
9 I would also say that from Mark's
10 dad, his brother, who I lived with and served
11 with in the Assembly, Brian Higgins, their
12 whole family has been really involved in
13 trying to improve their neighborhood and
14 having statewide impact across that great
15 resume.
16 And I think he'll be a tremendous
17 asset filling in on the Workers' Comp Board,
18 which is going to be a challenging job these
19 days, but I know Mark Higgins will be up to
20 it. I'm happy to second the nomination.
21 Good luck.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 Thompson.
24 SENATOR THOMPSON: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
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1 I rise to support the nomination of
2 Mr. Higgins. He comes from a rich tradition
3 of public servants, people who have given not
4 only to their communities but also to make
5 government work better for all New Yorkers.
6 I'm also excited because I know
7 that last year there was a lot of work that
8 went in for many years to reform workers'
9 comp, and he'll be there to protect the rights
10 of workers.
11 And so I wish him much success, and
12 I'm certain that many people in Western
13 New York will be happy to see someone from
14 Western New York on this very, very important
15 board.
16 Congratulations.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 question is on the appointment of Mark Higgins
19 as a member of the Workers' Compensation
20 Board. All in favor signify by saying aye.
21 (Response of "Aye.")
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
23 Opposed, nay.
24 (No response.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
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1 nominee is hereby confirmed.
2 Mark is with us today, and we
3 extend our best wishes and congratulations.
4 (Applause.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 Secretary will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: As a member of
8 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
9 Mark D. Lebow, of New York City.
10 As a member of the Capital District
11 Transportation Authority, Thomas M. Owens,
12 Esquire, of Albany.
13 As a member of the Ogdensburg
14 Bridge and Port Authority, Samuel James
15 LaMacchia, of Ogdensburg.
16 As members of the Port of Oswego
17 Authority, Alfred J. Archer, of Oswego, and
18 John K. Smith, of Oswego.
19 As members of the Advisory Board on
20 Public Work, Joseph R. Lagana, of West Nyack,
21 and Angela B. Cornell, of Ithaca.
22 As commissioner of the State
23 Insurance Fund, Raymond Wayne LeChase, of
24 Webster.
25 As a member of the Veterans Affairs
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1 Commission, Ned D. Foote, of Queensbury.
2 As a member of the Waterfront and
3 Airport Commission of New York and New Jersey,
4 Ronald Goldstock, of Larchmont.
5 As director of the New York State
6 Urban Development Corporation, Robert G.
7 Wilmers, of Buffalo.
8 As members of the State Council on
9 the Arts, Judith O. Rubin, of New York City;
10 Jeffrey B. Soref, of New York City; and
11 Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, of New York
12 City.
13 As a member of the Board of
14 Visitors of the New York State Home for
15 Veterans and Their Dependents at Oxford,
16 Theodore A. Barbuto, of Liverpool.
17 And as a member of the Public
18 Health Council, Howard Fensterman, of Hewlett
19 Harbor.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Johnson.
22 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the
23 nominations.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 question is on the confirmation of the
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1 nominees as presented. All in favor signify
2 by saying aye.
3 (Response of "Aye.")
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
5 Opposed, nay.
6 (No response.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 nominees are hereby confirmed.
9 Senator Skelos.
10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
11 there will be an immediate conference of the
12 Majority in the Majority Conference Room.
13 And if we could stand at ease.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
15 will be an immediate conference of the
16 Majority in the Majority Conference Room,
17 Room 332.
18 Senator Dilan.
19 SENATOR DILAN: Yes, Mr.
20 President, there will be an immediate meeting
21 of the Minority conference in Room 315.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
23 will be an immediate meeting of the Minority
24 Conference in Room 315.
25 The Senate stands at ease.
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1 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
2 ease at 5:33 p.m.)
3 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
4 at 6:18 p.m.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 Senate will come to order.
7 Senator Winner.
8 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 Could you return to motions and
11 resolutions, please.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: We'll
13 return to motions and resolutions.
14 I'll recognize you, Senator Winner.
15 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 On page 45, I offer the following
18 amendments to Calendar Number 1356, Senate
19 Print Number 8022A, and ask that said bill
20 retain its place on the Third Reading
21 Calendar.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 amendments are received and adopted, and the
24 bill will retain its place on the Third
25 Reading Calendar.
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1 SENATOR WINNER: Mr. President, I
2 wish to call up Senator Padavan's bill, Print
3 Number 5920, recalled from the Assembly, which
4 is now at the desk.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 Secretary will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 570, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5920, an
9 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Winner.
12 SENATOR WINNER: Mr. President, I
13 now move to reconsider the vote by which this
14 bill was passed.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call
16 the roll on reconsideration.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62.
19 SENATOR WINNER: Mr. President, I
20 offer the following amendments.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 amendments are accepted.
23 Senator Winner.
24 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
25 Mr. President. Is there any further business
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1 at the desk?
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
3 is not.
4 SENATOR WINNER: Then I move that
5 the Senate stand adjourned until Tuesday,
6 June 24th, at 10:00 a.m.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On
8 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
9 Tuesday, June 24th, at 10:00 a.m.
10 (Whereupon, at 6:20 p.m., the
11 Senate adjourned.)
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