Extraordinary Session - August 20, 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 August 20, 2008
11 10:16 a.m.
12
13
14 EXTRAORDINARY SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR GEORGE D. MAZIARZ, 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 MAZIARZ: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and repeat the Pledge of Allegiance to
6 our Flag.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: In the
10 absence of clergy, I'll ask that we please bow
11 our heads for a moment of silence.
12 (Whereupon, the assemblage
13 respected a moment of silence.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
15 reading of the Journal.
16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
17 Tuesday, August 19, the Senate met in
18 Extraordinary Session pursuant to adjournment.
19 On motion, Senate adjourned.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
21 Without objection, the Journal stands approved
22 as read.
23 Presentation of petitions.
24 Messages from the Assembly.
25 Messages from the Governor.
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1 Reports of standing committees.
2 Reports of select committees.
3 Communications and reports from
4 state officers.
5 Motions and resolutions.
6 Senator Libous.
7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
8 there will be a Finance Committee meeting
9 immediately in Room 332.
10 Then we're going to immediately
11 come back and call a Rules Committee meeting
12 in Room 332. And then we'll come back and
13 address the bill on the floor.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
15 will be a meeting of the Senate Finance
16 Committee in Room 332.
17 The Senate will stand at ease.
18 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
19 ease at 10:17 a.m.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
21 Senator Libous.
22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
23 there will be an immediate meeting of the
24 Rules Committee in Room 332.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
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1 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules
2 Committee in Room 332.
3 The Senate continues to stand at
4 ease.
5 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
6 at 10:28 a.m.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
8 Senator Libous.
9 SENATOR LIBOUS: Could we have
10 the members in the chamber, please.
11 And could we return to reports of
12 standing committees for a report from the
13 Finance Committee.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
15 Reports of standing committees.
16 The Secretary will read the Finance
17 Committee report.
18 THE SECRETARY: Senator O.
19 Johnson, from the Committee on Finance,
20 reports the following bill direct to third
21 reading:
22 Extraordinary Session Senate Print
23 Number 2, Senate Budget Bill, an act to amend
24 Chapter 50 of the Laws of 2008 enacting the
25 Public Protection and General Government
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1 Budget and others, in relation to the support
2 of state government.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
4 Without objection, the bill is reported direct
5 to third reading.
6 Senator Libous.
7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
8 can we now take up the third reading of the
9 Finance report, please.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
11 Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
13 Calendar Number 1, Senator O. Johnson moves to
14 discharge, from the Committee on Finance,
15 Extraordinary Session Assembly Print Number 2
16 and substitute it for the identical
17 Extraordinary Session Senate Bill Number 2,
18 Third Reading Calendar 1.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
20 Substitution ordered.
21 The Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 1, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
24 Extraordinary Session Print Number 2, an act
25 to amend Chapter 50 of the Laws of 2008
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1 enacting the Public Protection and General
2 Government Budget and others, in relation to
3 the support of state government.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
10 Senator Libous.
11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Is there a
12 message of necessity at the desk?
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
14 is a message of necessity at the desk,
15 Senator.
16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
17 we're just pausing for a second so members can
18 come into the chamber.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Would
20 all the members please report to the chamber.
21 Senator Libous.
22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I
23 now move to accept the message of necessity.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: All in
25 favor of accepting the message of necessity
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1 please signify by saying aye.
2 (Response of "Aye.")
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
4 Opposed, nay.
5 (No response.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
7 message is accepted.
8 Read the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
15 Senator Connor, to explain his vote.
16 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 First I want to congratulate and
19 applaud Governor Paterson for focusing the
20 attention of the state on the fiscal crisis
21 that we're facing and the economic downturn
22 and the impact it has on the state's fiscal
23 condition.
24 And my colleagues certainly are to
25 be applauded for their efforts in both houses
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1 to try and meet this.
2 That said, as I've said before many
3 times, a budget and the state's fiscal
4 integrity have two sides of the ledger.
5 There's the revenue side, there's the
6 expenditure side. And on that expenditure
7 side are what I call tax expenditures, tax
8 breaks we give to people, taxes we don't
9 collect, ostensibly for good public purposes
10 like job generation.
11 Unfortunately, we've often been
12 misled and given tax credits to people who
13 don't produce the jobs for the areas of the
14 state that desperately need them, who don't
15 meet their obligations.
16 This effort to close the gap is but
17 a minuscule piece of what needs to be done.
18 We need to evaluate and recoup tax dollars we
19 give away to people who don't meet their
20 commitments. We need a tax system that's
21 truly progressive. Why is it that our highest
22 earners pay middle-class rates on their state
23 income tax -- or worse -- or worse, nothing?
24 I have addressed before on this
25 floor the question of investment bankers whose
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1 income, the money they make on a deal they
2 spend their time on is treated as capital
3 gains rather than income. In theory, it's a
4 fiction: Oh, it's a return on their
5 investment. What investment? Their time?
6 I'm not talking about people who
7 put their money at risk, entrepreneurs, people
8 who take risks. That's different.
9 But because we track the federal
10 tax law, we let investment bankers, some of
11 the highest earners in this state, some of the
12 wealthiest people in this state, escape paying
13 the normal income tax rate of all of our other
14 taxpayers that make it to a middle-class
15 bracket -- and we don't have a whole lot of
16 brackets here in this state; that's why it's
17 not a progressive system -- but they pay
18 capital gains.
19 Real entrepreneurs, the people in
20 my district who invest and own and operate a
21 little luncheonette or a bodega, they don't
22 get that kind of treatment when they put in
23 60-, 70-hour weeks working there. They end up
24 paying income tax. Why aren't we addressing
25 that?
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1 Why aren't we addressing revenue
2 needs? Why are we afraid to say the T word,
3 taxes? Everybody in this state should pay
4 their fair share. I'm not talking about more
5 taxes, more taxes. I'm talking about a system
6 that's fair, that all New Yorkers think
7 they're paying their fair share, that property
8 taxpayers don't get killed because the house
9 they live in for years appreciates in value
10 yet they have very modest incomes.
11 Why don't we address that? That's
12 part of this package if you want to close this
13 gap. But we've gone willy-nilly from year to
14 year giving away tax breaks, lowering this tax
15 but raising that tax, taxing certain
16 businesses unfairly, letting others off the
17 hook. It's all part of the same fiscal
18 package, and we have to address it.
19 And, Mr. President, let's talk
20 about cuts. Where are the cuts in those
21 upstate prisons that we don't need anymore?
22 Why are we leaving them open? Why are we
23 cutting nickels and dimes from women and
24 children, in some of these things that we're
25 doing today, and leaving those prisons up
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1 there? Why are we doing that? Why aren't we
2 attacking that?
3 Mr. President, until we have a
4 comprehensive approach to New York State's
5 fiscal condition that's evolved over the past
6 decade or two, and until we address the issue
7 of fairness in our tax system, the concept of
8 every New Yorker paying their fair share but
9 no more than is needed to support government,
10 and until we eliminate real waste despite the
11 political obstacles or local political
12 considerations -- such as those prisons --
13 until we do all that, we're never going to
14 straighten out the fiscal condition of the
15 state, we're never going to convince the
16 public we're doing the right thing in regard
17 to the way we budget.
18 And until we do that,
19 Mr. President, I'm voting no on this bill.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
21 Senator Connor will be recorded in the
22 negative.
23 Senator Liz Krueger.
24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I want to
25 thank my colleague Senator Connor for actually
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1 going first and raising some of the exact same
2 issues I was going to raise.
3 This is a very hard vote for many
4 of us. We all hate cutting budgets. We know
5 we have an economic crisis. I think we know
6 we're going to be back here, perhaps even
7 before the next budget session, to do some
8 more harm.
9 And yet while my concerns are
10 almost identical to my colleague Senator
11 Connor, I will vote yes, because I recognize
12 that we do have to cut our budget.
13 And I wish we were making other
14 cuts. Senator Connor just pointed out what
15 are we doing keeping empty prisons open where
16 we all know we could save hundreds of millions
17 of dollars without doing harm to the endless
18 number of small groups listed in this budget
19 document who are going to take cuts that may
20 in some situations -- even though it might
21 just be a 6 percent cut, but it's a 6 percent
22 cut on the last half of a year, which is a
23 12 percent cut minimum -- some of these
24 programs might close their doors because of
25 the decisions we're making today.
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1 And so when I know that I'm passing
2 a budget bill that's cutting out
3 emergency-food money at a time where food
4 prices are skyrocketing and the economy is
5 bad, that causes me enormous pain. And when I
6 know that we're cutting HIV prevention
7 programs, and when I know we're cutting SUNY
8 and CUNY programs when we all know that the
9 future of this state is dependent on making
10 sure that our generation of young people are
11 competitively positioned through their
12 intellectual capital to move us through the
13 21st century and into the kinds of jobs that
14 are there.
15 And so I am frustrated that the
16 best we could do today, even in cutting
17 budgets, was this list. But like my
18 colleague, I recognize that because of the
19 borrow-and-spend philosophy of Governor
20 Pataki's 12 years in office and this chamber,
21 led by the Senate Republicans, that we find
22 ourselves with only these choices in front of
23 us today.
24 Four hundred million in savings
25 from closing down prisons we don't need
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1 instead of the cuts we're putting on the table
2 today? I have no question where I would put
3 our priorities if I had been the one at the
4 negotiating table.
5 Senator Connor talked about our tax
6 policies. I have spent endless amounts of
7 time on the floor of the Senate trying to
8 convince my colleagues what we need to do in
9 New York State is a full evaluation of our tax
10 policies to have a progressive instead of a
11 regressive system. And that doesn't
12 necessarily mean a tax increase, that means a
13 fair and equitable distribution of taxes.
14 And, like my colleague, I have
15 spent endless hours on this floor and in
16 written documents talking about the fact that
17 we never evaluate, and we didn't today either,
18 the tax expenditure budget.
19 We have not done Empire Zone
20 reform. There are hundreds of millions of
21 dollars that are going out the door to people
22 who should not be getting these tax exemptions
23 and who have not met the standard even of the
24 limited rules we have put into place about
25 Empire Zones.
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1 There are tax expenditures on our
2 books that there is no way you can justify
3 from an incentive perspective in a
4 21st-century economy. And yet billions,
5 billions of dollars are being left uncollected
6 from people who end up not paying their fair
7 share of taxes.
8 And so because we don't have a good
9 tax policy system and we aren't an honest
10 legislature when it comes to determining who
11 gets to pay their taxes and who doesn't,
12 instead we will cut hundreds of millions of
13 dollars out of groups who do the work that is
14 so critically important in communities and who
15 are more needed in bad economic times than in
16 good economic times. And that's where we find
17 ourselves.
18 And I would even hazard to say that
19 if I had been the governor in the last few
20 days, one of the decisions I might have made
21 is if you're actually big enough to afford a
22 lobbyist up here, maybe you could take a
23 bigger cut than all the small folks who barely
24 got their voices heard at all and who are, in
25 this document, losing hundreds of millions of
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1 dollars.
2 So I will vote yes, but with a
3 heavy heart. And I will say we could have
4 done much better, and I wish we had.
5 Thank you, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
7 Senator DeFrancisco.
8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 I rise also to compliment Governor
11 Paterson for initiating this special session.
12 Right around the corner, we'll be
13 dealing with a very difficult budget year
14 coming -- actually, his budget will come out
15 in about five months. That's not too long
16 from now. And by being here earlier to start
17 addressing the issue, I think we're going to
18 be in a position to face less of a problem
19 come January, but, more importantly, address
20 the overspending that has obviously been
21 happening over the last few years.
22 You know, there's cuts in this
23 budget bill that I don't like. And I'm sure,
24 if you go around the room, you could find
25 everybody with some issue they don't like
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1 that's cut in this particular budget.
2 The fact of the matter is is that
3 Governor Paterson gave a framework, we
4 followed that framework. We restored much of
5 the cuts, made sure nothing happened to
6 education, minimized completely, I believe, or
7 to a very large degree any pass-ons to local
8 government. And we've got a substantial
9 savings here.
10 Many of the ideas that have been
11 expressed by earlier speakers, we've got
12 plenty of time in five months to do that.
13 This was an extraordinary session
14 for an extraordinary purpose. And we followed
15 the Governor's lead today in making
16 substantial cuts. And I'm going to vote aye
17 on this bill.
18 Secondly, we followed the
19 Governor's lead on the tax cap about 11 days
20 ago. And what we're trying to show is that
21 what you're Republican or Democrat, a
22 Democratic governor or a Republican majority,
23 you can work together a common goal.
24 And we continue to partner with the
25 Governor and hope that the Assembly will come
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1 along on the other tax issue.
2 So with that said,I vote aye today.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Maziarz.
5 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very
6 much, Mr. President.
7 I rise to also support this budget
8 resolution. I agree with my colleague Senator
9 DeFrancisco. I think that the Governor's
10 approach to share the pain, if you will, to
11 cut a little bit across the board from
12 hundreds of different areas, is the right
13 approach.
14 We all know that with the impending
15 bad financial news, with the ups and downs of
16 Wall Street, with what everyone forecasts as a
17 potential banking crisis coming next year, I
18 think this is a good first start for us here.
19 And again, I congratulate the Governor.
20 I think the absolutely wrong
21 direction to go in would be to increasing
22 taxes, increasing revenues and increasing
23 fees. For too long that's been the easiest
24 answer. And the Governor, and I congratulate
25 him again, rejects that approach.
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1 The real story out of this
2 extraordinary session of the Legislature is
3 the Assembly's refusal to adopt the property
4 tax cap that the Governor proposed -- and I
5 want to emphasize that the Governor proposed
6 and the Senate adopted two weeks ago. That's
7 really the only disappointing part about this.
8 Mr. President, I vote in favor of
9 this budget bill. I think it's the right
10 direction to be taking our state at this very
11 critical time.
12 Thank you.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
14 you, Senator Maziarz.
15 Senator Gonzalez.
16 SENATOR GONZALEZ: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 I think that Senator Connor
19 articulated what in terms of I agree with.
20 Also, the first ones to get the
21 cuts, the first ones are the poor, the
22 disabled and the vulnerable. And others are
23 not -- they share the pain immediately. And
24 others do not share the same pain.
25 And for that reason, I vote no.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
2 you, Senator Gonzalez.
3 Senator Golden.
4 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 These are truly hard cuts. But
7 these cuts are what the majority of this great
8 state expect of us. Six cents on every dollar
9 sounds like a lot of money. But we will get
10 through it.
11 Families across this great state
12 are cutting much more than that. They're
13 making decisions on the education of their
14 children, the future of their families. They
15 expect more out of this Legislature.
16 And I'm listening to some of my
17 colleagues today. We have to give the people
18 of this great state that double insurance
19 policy that really guarantees them a future
20 for their family, and that is that bipartisan
21 cap that we talk about on property that the
22 Governor has put forward. And the other
23 insurance policy is that 4 percent spending
24 cap.
25 And if we had a spending cap here
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1 in the State of New York, as I said yesterday,
2 we would have had $2.4 billion savings last
3 year, $2.4 billion savings this year, and
4 $2.8 billion savings next year. Think about
5 that.
6 The people of the State of New York
7 deserve those cuts. The cuts that they are
8 making for their families this year are truly
9 a burden to each and every one of those
10 families. And we as a body can make a
11 difference for each and every one of those
12 families by doing the right thing.
13 And the right thing is doing these
14 cuts, and the right thing is doing that
15 property cap tax for the people of the State
16 of New York. And doing the right thing is
17 passing that spending cap and saving
18 $2.8 billion for the taxpayers of the State of
19 New York.
20 Even with these cuts today, and the
21 ones going into the next year with the
22 Governor, we save $1.7 billion. That's a lot
23 of money. But we're still facing a
24 $5 billion-plus deficit next year.
25 We need to get serious here, we
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1 need to get serious in the Assembly, and we to
2 do the right thing, and that's to pass these
3 savings down to the families across the State
4 of New York.
5 I vote aye, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
7 you, Senator Golden.
8 Senator Diaz.
9 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 You know, when I came to this body,
12 Senator Paterson used to be our leader. And I
13 remember all the teaching he gave me, how he
14 taught me to fight against the cuts that the
15 Republicans used to make in our communities.
16 And Governor Paterson -- I mean Senator
17 Paterson was great. He was a leader. He was
18 on top of protecting every cut that would
19 affect our communities.
20 Now Senator Paterson is no longer
21 Senator Paterson, now he's Governor Paterson.
22 And, ladies and gentlemen, the Republican side
23 is always praising Governor Paterson. The
24 Republican side is praising Governor Paterson
25 for the last two weeks. The editorial boards
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1 of every newspaper is praising Governor
2 Paterson, how he's cutting, how he's
3 protecting the budget.
4 He wasn't like that when he was
5 with us. He was a completely different
6 person. What's happened? What's going on
7 here?
8 You know, I've always said that I'm
9 a conservative. Yes, and I am a conservative
10 Democrat when it comes to family values and
11 moral values. But when it comes to protecting
12 the services to our community, to our needy, I
13 am a very liberal guy.
14 As a matter of fact, today I'm
15 going to prove that I am a better Democrat
16 than some of my colleagues. I'm going to
17 prove that I'm a better Democrat. Because we
18 Democrats are supposed to protect the needy.
19 We Democrats are supposed to protect the
20 services for the poor, the black, the
21 Hispanic. That's what we're supposed to do.
22 And Liz Krueger, Senator
23 Liz Krueger just said something here. When
24 she was up, she said some of those programs
25 might close -- that's what she said -- might
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1 close due to the decisions that we are taking
2 here today. Senator Krueger said that. But
3 she said "I'm voting yes."
4 And I'm saying, hey, ain't we
5 Democrats? Ain't we supposed to protect the
6 needy? Now we're cutting HIV services,
7 hospital services in my district, bilingual
8 education, HEOP. We're cutting HEOP. I mean,
9 the program that helps our youth, our minority
10 students to go to college, we're cutting that?
11 And we are calling ourselves Democrats?
12 Ladies and gentlemen, I am a
13 conservative Democrat, I am a conservative
14 Democratic when it comes to family values, to
15 moral values, and to traditional values. When
16 it comes to services to my community, I am as
17 best as you could find. I am very, very
18 liberal when it comes to protecting the
19 services for my community.
20 And I am ashamed, today I'm here to
21 say that we are here saying because the
22 Governor sent in this, we have to help the
23 Governor? And the Governor's being praised by
24 the Republican side? And we are here to cut
25 services to our people, to our communities, to
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1 our children?
2 On breakfast, breakfast and lunch,
3 school breakfast and lunch, we are cutting
4 that. School breakfast and lunches.
5 And we're supposed to be -- I'm
6 supposed to be -- I am -- ladies and
7 gentlemen, I am supposed to be the
8 conservative Democrat here. I'm supposed
9 to -- you are calling me Republican. You're
10 asking me, When are you going to that side,
11 when are you going to that side?
12 I am telling you now, today, when
13 are all of you going to go to that side? When
14 are all of you who are voting for this package
15 going to go to that side?
16 I am voting no because I'm voting
17 with my conscience to protect what we're
18 supposed to protect -- the needy, the poor,
19 the people that sent us here to fight for
20 them. And don't allow programs to close
21 because of a decision that we are taking here
22 today.
23 Ladies and gentlemen, I'm voting --
24 Mr. President, look at me. Please. Look at
25 me, Mr. President, and hear me, please. Hear
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1 me. I am voting no. I am a Democrat. I am a
2 conservative Democratic when it comes to
3 family values and to moral values. When it
4 comes to services to our community, I am as
5 liberal as they could come.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So
7 noted, Senator Diaz. Thank you.
8 Senator Winner.
9 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 I rise in support of this measure
12 as a measure of necessity given the current
13 economic climates that we have in the State of
14 New York.
15 We have a special extraordinary
16 session of the Legislature here, called by the
17 Governor. As such, he has called upon us to
18 enact a rather long series of reductions in
19 expenditures that we have compromised with and
20 negotiated and that has resulted in a package
21 that is eminently reasonable and fair across
22 the board given what we were presented at the
23 time.
24 I commend the Governor for his
25 initiative here in recognizing that the state
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1 clearly has a spending problem, not a tax
2 problem, and we need to make certain
3 reductions in spending in order, very frankly,
4 to meet our constitutional responsibilities to
5 balance the budget.
6 We ignore the fact that the
7 Governor has indicated that at the end of this
8 fiscal year, without enacting any particular
9 spending reductions, that we would have at
10 least a $630 million deficit at the end of
11 March of this coming fiscal year.
12 Without him taking the actions that
13 he has taken, his $630 million is obviously
14 providing what he considers to be executive
15 actions that will meet closure of that gap for
16 the end of the fiscal year.
17 And additionally, he asks us to
18 produce some savings to ensure that in the
19 event that the economic condition of this
20 state worsened, that he would have the ability
21 to close this budget at the end of this fiscal
22 year without the necessity of having a
23 deficit.
24 I don't know what you think is
25 going to happen. The money is not going to
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1 come out of the sky. Your only answer to this
2 problem is to raise taxes some more. And I
3 don't think this state can afford to raise any
4 more taxes. And certainly those economists
5 indicate that if you're in a recession or
6 problem with an economic downturn in the State
7 of New York, as we are, that the worst that we
8 can do would be to raise taxes and further
9 exacerbate our economic problems.
10 So, ladies and gentlemen, we're
11 faced with a laundry list of choices that
12 clearly say, hey, you've got to come up with
13 some money to close this budget gap. The
14 Governor is asking for a cushion to meet the
15 end of this fiscal year. We're providing it
16 in the form of $427 million of additional
17 cushion. He's going to cut $630 million, to
18 his credit, through administrative actions.
19 And, together, we're going to be
20 able to go forward to try to tell New Yorkers
21 that we're serious about making sure our
22 fiscal house is in order as we go and face a
23 potential budget deficit that is going to grow
24 significantly next year in the 2009-2010
25 fiscal year.
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1 The Governor has indicated that he
2 believes that will be $6.4 billion. We can
3 quibble over whether or not we believe the
4 assumptions underlying that number are exactly
5 accurate. But one thing that we do know is
6 we're going to face a budget deficit for
7 2009-2010.
8 So we ought to be responsible and
9 take actions going forward, prospectively, in
10 order to make sure that that burden is less
11 onerous on the taxpayers next year.
12 This measure does provide some
13 cushion, and it does so without raising the
14 already horrendously onerous burden of taxes
15 on New Yorkers. I vote aye.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
17 you, Senator Winner.
18 Senator Hassell-Thompson.
19 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Yes,
20 thank you, Mr. President. Just to explain my
21 vote.
22 I will in fact be voting on this
23 budget, but with deep reluctance. I listened
24 to each of my colleagues. And as somebody
25 whose field of endeavor has been to work with
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1 the HIV and AIDS community, I am heartsick
2 about any of these cuts that are going to
3 affect their ability to not only teach the
4 modes of transmittal but also to make sure
5 that new treatment modalities reach people --
6 that the outreach benefits will just not be
7 there.
8 I am very concerned about the cuts
9 to the aging. But more than that, I am very
10 concerned about just our general health cuts.
11 When we look at mental health and all of our
12 areas and the nursing homes, I am deeply
13 concerned. Because even though it says
14 6 percent, it continues to represent jobs,
15 opportunities within our communities, and it
16 represents a failure to serve.
17 We cannot talk about good health
18 practices, we can't talk about how do we
19 address the issues of obesity if in fact we're
20 going to be cutting research and services. We
21 can't talk about how do we get in front of the
22 issues of women's health, breast cancer, other
23 kinds of things if we're cutting services to
24 our communities.
25 Having said that, you say how do I
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1 vote. Yes. How do I vote yes? Because I do
2 understand that aside from a couple of areas
3 that have already been mentioned, particularly
4 prisons, which I spoke very strongly when we
5 first did our budget, that those things are
6 not in here. There are a lot of "nots" in
7 this budget. But for the most part, we all
8 understood when we came back here, that we
9 were going to make cuts.
10 And how deeply we cut is reflected
11 in how some hospitals are going to be cut
12 deeper than others. When I look at perhaps
13 White Plains Hospital and then look at Bronx
14 Lebanon and see what the impact of one
15 hospital over another -- yes, I understand
16 that Bronx Lebanon has more Medicaid, so the
17 bigger the Medicaid dollars, the bigger the
18 cuts reflected. But that also means
19 reflective of the cuts of services to people
20 in our communities.
21 We can't talk about good health
22 policies when we don't talk about how the
23 budget reflects that. And so that I would
24 like to hope that, having looked at the
25 spending spree that this state has been on
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1 that has brought us to this dilemma, that we
2 have learned something from that experience
3 and that these cuts and what they're going to
4 mean and how we're going to have to explain
5 them in our communities when we go home will
6 help us to come back here next year with a
7 very different mindset about who is going to
8 get what in this state.
9 We have got to start with a policy
10 base. And from that policy we can determine
11 how money is going to be spent. We do not
12 have a policy about -- we've just begun to get
13 a policy about education, but we haven't
14 established a policy about health. And we
15 still look at the disparity between how health
16 is provided in some communities versus others.
17 And until we begin to talk about
18 what is going to be the public policy of this
19 State Senate, we will continue to experience
20 lopsided cuts as we are experiencing in this
21 budget.
22 So I will be voting yes, with
23 tremendous reluctance, Mr. President. But I
24 hope that everyone has learned something about
25 the spending spree, the failure to tax those
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1 who can afford, that have brought us to this
2 state of affairs today.
3 Thank you, Mr. President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Little.
6 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 I rise in support of this bill. I
9 understand that there are some difficult
10 reductions in spending in this bill, but these
11 are difficult times.
12 And the people in this state, the
13 people in my district, are tightening their
14 belts because of their difficulties in costs
15 and income and all that they're dealing with.
16 So I think it's appropriate that we in
17 New York State tighten our belts.
18 I commend the Governor for calling
19 us back. I commend him for working with the
20 Legislature to spread the reductions over
21 many, many areas of the state so that the
22 impact is not totally painful on one segment
23 of this state.
24 I thank him for doing what he's
25 doing, and I believe that the people of
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1 New York State will thank all of us.
2 Thank you.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Stachowski.
5 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 Obviously this is a package that
8 has some cuts that everybody has some problems
9 with. There are cuts in here that, as Senator
10 DeFrancisco said, if you go around the room
11 everybody will have a problem with something
12 in here.
13 There are serious cuts, but I think
14 that in a lot of places they're cuts of
15 6 percent. And if the program is still funded
16 at 94 percent, I think they can get through
17 this year. And hopefully the cuts next year
18 won't be worse. If the economy changes, maybe
19 they'll be getting the money back that they're
20 losing this year. We don't know that yet;
21 we'll have to see.
22 But we have to work on the premise
23 that we needed to make these cuts so that we
24 can get a handle on the budget that will be
25 facing us next year, based on the economic
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1 data that we have in front of us today.
2 These aren't pleasant things. But
3 everybody thinks that the State of New York
4 spends so much, and in many cases too much.
5 And so with that as the backdrop, I don't see
6 how we have a choice except to vote for a
7 cutting package of spending.
8 I think that the cuts could have
9 been different. That's okay. Everybody put
10 up their own cuts; this is what came out.
11 It's like you go to a restaurant,
12 you might want a certain dish but it's not on
13 the menu, so you've got to order from whatever
14 the menu is. And we didn't make the menu up,
15 but this is the menu in front of us and we've
16 got to make a selection.
17 And I think, in the betterment of
18 the state, to put us in better fiscal order,
19 the option is to vote for the cuts, get
20 through this year, hope that all those
21 programs that get minor cuts can handle them,
22 hope that anything that gets a bigger cut --
23 because the things that the Governor cut, but
24 I'm sure his people thought about them before
25 they took them out -- they can get through the
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1 year.
2 So I think that the right thing to
3 do -- and I heard Senator Diaz talk about
4 being a conservative Democrat. Well, I'm a
5 fiscally conservative Democrat. So I look at
6 the spending part. And I think that we have
7 no option but to try to get the cutting on the
8 spending now and, in the future, maybe even
9 cut on some spending in other areas when other
10 people get the options to name what will be on
11 the menu.
12 So I vote yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Farley.
15 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 I see Senator Diaz is leaving. I
18 was going to speak to him.
19 But anyway, I've been here 32
20 years, and I think that this is one of the one
21 time -- perhaps the greatest moment that this
22 Legislature has acted. You know, they call us
23 dysfunctional. I think that the Governor has
24 been magnificent in putting forth this program
25 to solve one of the greatest crises that's
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1 ever faced the State of New York.
2 And it's an example of the
3 Governor, the Senate, and the Assembly working
4 together to try to solve a problem that is
5 absolutely devastating to our citizens in this
6 state.
7 We have addressed this problem with
8 an agreement. It's not perfect. But boy, it
9 addresses almost all of the areas.
10 You know, a number of people are
11 concerned about some of the areas that were
12 cut. Let me just speak to some of them that
13 were excluded, that were not cut. Aid to
14 municipalities, county mandates. TAP, Tuition
15 Assistance Program. The community colleges
16 were not cut. Appropriations below $500,000.
17 School aid, one of the biggest things in our
18 budget, was not touched. Child welfare
19 services. Youth detention. Special education
20 and welfare were not cut.
21 We addressed a problem that's going
22 to solve $2.8 billion over a couple of years.
23 And, you know, the Legislature stepped up
24 here, worked together, and really put together
25 a program that addresses something that the
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1 people of the State of New York are talking
2 about. You've got to get your fiscal house in
3 order, and we're doing it.
4 I applaud the Governor and this
5 house, all of my colleagues and so forth, and
6 the Assembly for working together to get this
7 done within the parameters of this
8 extraordinary session. I think that we're all
9 ready to go back to our districts and say we
10 got it done, we did our job.
11 Now, are there are some things left
12 undone that I'm not satisfied with? Yes. But
13 on balance, it's a very good program.
14 And, Mr. President, look at me.
15 (Laughter.)
16 SENATOR FARLEY: Are you looking
17 at me?
18 I vote aye.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank
20 you, Senator Farley.
21 Senator Stavisky.
22 SENATOR STAVISKY: That's all
23 right, you don't have to look at me.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: But I
25 look like looking at you, Senator.
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1 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
2 Senator -- Mr. President.
3 I've heard people say today that
4 there were no cuts to education. And I beg to
5 differ, because as far as I'm concerned,
6 education is really from prekindergarten to
7 the Ph.D., to the postgraduate degrees. It's
8 a continuum.
9 And yes, there have been cuts to
10 education that I find very troubling. For one
11 thing, we're cutting over $50 million from the
12 CUNY budget. I find that very troubling.
13 What's to me worse are the cuts to the
14 opportunity programs -- to HEOP, C-STEP, the
15 Liberty Partnership Program, the STEP program.
16 There's more than $2 million in cuts to these
17 opportunity programs.
18 And yet these special programs save
19 the state a lot of money in the long run,
20 because these students do well in college,
21 become income-producing, tax-paying citizens.
22 Hopefully many of them -- most of them, I
23 think, stay in New York State. And I find
24 those cuts to be very, very troubling.
25 I'm also concerned about cuts in
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1 the outyears. I think that is an area that we
2 really haven't dealt with.
3 There's an obvious need for fiscal
4 responsibility and prudence. And the question
5 is whether the need for this sense of getting
6 our government in order, our budget in order,
7 outweighs the budget cuts that we're asked to
8 vote upon today.
9 We have two dreadful choices. We
10 have to pick the one that is less dreadful.
11 And in the interests of fiscal stability,
12 Mr. President, I vote aye.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank
14 you, Senator.
15 Senator Saland.
16 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 Certainly there's nobody who can be
19 pleased with the totality of the package that
20 has been presented to us today. There are
21 cuts that have been proposed and included in
22 this budget bill that are painful for each and
23 every member of this Senate.
24 Human nature is such that we always
25 would prefer spending to cutting. The fact of
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1 the matter is that governance is always a
2 challenge. And it certainly is that much more
3 of challenge in difficult fiscal times.
4 I'm reminded of the quote
5 attributable to Winston Churchill which went
6 something to effect that attempting to tax
7 your way out of a bad economy was something
8 like a man standing in a bucket and trying to
9 lift himself by the handle.
10 The resolution of our problem
11 unfortunately requires us to take the action
12 that we're taking today. And I would like to
13 join the chorus that has sung the praise of
14 Governor Paterson. He certainly has set the
15 tone. He has acted admirably under the burden
16 of governing in very difficult times. He
17 acted administratively. He called upon us to
18 meet the challenge of finding some additional
19 $600 million in cuts.
20 And the end product that we have
21 is, as I said, not something that each and
22 every one of us can take enormous comfort in.
23 We can point, I'm sure, to any number of cuts
24 that would displease us, that we might do
25 differently. But the fact of the matter is
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1 that we have to balance our budget.
2 The $600-plus-million that we have
3 to take care of by the conclusion of this
4 fiscal year is addressed in this bill. The
5 combination of Governor Paterson's
6 administrative cuts and these cuts mean over
7 the next two years in excess of $1.75 billion
8 in cuts.
9 That, ladies and gentlemen, is what
10 is expected of us, that is what is required of
11 us, that is what we are accomplishing here
12 today.
13 Mr. President, I vote aye on this
14 measure and certainly hope that this measure
15 passes overwhelmingly and says, to the people
16 of the State of New York: We understand that
17 you are going through challenging times, the
18 state is going through challenging times, and
19 we will make every effort to try and reduce
20 our budgets as you in your respective homes
21 are attempting to reduce yours.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank
23 you, Senator Saland. Senator Saland in the
24 affirmative.
25 Senator Valesky.
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1 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 You and my colleagues know that we
4 are here today because the Constitution of
5 this state gives the governor the power and
6 authority to call a legislature into
7 extraordinary session when he determines
8 issues are of a magnitude that require
9 legislative action outside of the regular
10 session.
11 What is extraordinary, in my
12 opinion, is the leadership that this Governor
13 continues to show since he first took office
14 in late March. My understanding is this is
15 the first time that a legislature here in
16 Albany has done mid-fiscal-year budget cuts
17 since 1990. Eighteen years have gone by since
18 we have done a midyear course correction.
19 But as we look at what the Governor
20 has accomplished in his short time in office,
21 we have come to expect the extraordinary on a
22 regular occurrence with him. Three weeks
23 before a budget deadline, he steers a process
24 and guides a budget process that brings a
25 final budget in at a lower spending level --
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1 for the first time in 10 years -- than what
2 was originally proposed by the former
3 governor.
4 As soon as that process was
5 finished, he went back to his state agencies
6 and said we haven't done enough, you need to
7 cut another 3.35 percent. This summer, with
8 the economy continuing to worsen, he went back
9 to the state agencies and asked for another
10 7 percent in administrative cuts on top of
11 that but said to the Legislature, I can't do
12 it alone, you have to come back.
13 And that's why we are here. We
14 have done $427 million in midyear cuts, a
15 two-year benefit of over $1 billion. It takes
16 extraordinary leadership in difficult times.
17 Many of us expect times to get even more
18 difficult before they get better.
19 And I think we are fortunate in
20 this state to have a governor, in David
21 Paterson, who knows how to lead, who knows how
22 to make difficult decisions. And I for one
23 look forward to continuing to work with him in
24 getting the spending situation under control
25 in this state and getting our fiscal house in
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1 order.
2 I vote in the affirmative.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC:
4 Senator Valesky in the affirmative.
5 Senator Perkins.
6 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 And I want to begin by echoing the
9 introduction of the remarks by my colleague
10 Senator Valesky in complimenting our Governor
11 on his courage and the extraordinary
12 leadership that he's attempting to provide
13 during these very difficult times.
14 Having said that, though, I'm now
15 going to say that I disagree with his
16 conclusion.
17 Yes, this is an extraordinary
18 moment, and what's most extraordinary about it
19 is that we're here supposedly to share the
20 pain. But in fact it doesn't look like it's
21 being shared.
22 You know, in this package we have a
23 whole bunch of cuts typical of which is, for
24 instance, what we're doing with childhood lead
25 paint poisoning prevention, cutting childhood
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1 lead paint poisoning prevention. It was a
2 pittance of a budget to begin with, but
3 nevertheless we're cutting it.
4 Ten thousand children a year are
5 being poisoned in this state, permanently
6 disabled, and we're cutting that. At the same
7 time, we're leaving prisons open. That's not
8 called sharing the pain. Empty prisons being
9 open, yet childhood lead paint poisoning
10 prevention being cut. To me, that's
11 extraordinary. That's unacceptable.
12 You know, we have a situation in
13 which the children and families who will
14 participate in the CUNY system, they're being
15 cut. Yet we're told that those who are rich
16 are sacred cows. They cannot be touched.
17 And so it seems to me that's
18 extraordinary. And that's typical of a lot of
19 what's in this budget and makes it very
20 difficult for me to be able to support it.
21 I find that we have a great
22 opportunity to begin to move this state in the
23 direction that is most responsive to the
24 people, and that this is an effort towards
25 that end. And I guess there's credit to be
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1 given in that regard.
2 But I don't think we hit the mark,
3 and so I will be voting no.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank
5 you, Senator Perkins.
6 Senator Perkins to be recorded in
7 the negative.
8 Senator Oppenheimer.
9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, I
10 will be voting yes, though I must say -- and I
11 think everybody feels as I do, that these are
12 very painful choices that we're making here.
13 And nobody can be happy with this. But I
14 guess we see ourselves in an economic crisis
15 where we have to react in a fiscally
16 responsible way even though it may be painful.
17 And I will agree with Senator
18 Valesky that our Governor has been showing
19 great leadership. And he has taken the brunt
20 of the reductions onto himself, with
21 50 percent reductions.
22 And there are certain things that
23 are very painful for me to see, and I can't
24 imagine they aren't painful for everyone. To
25 be reducing school lunches and breakfasts, to
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1 be reducing 50 percent our summer food
2 program, our workforce education, our adult
3 literacy education. What could be more
4 important than literacy and getting people to
5 a position where they can work in our economy?
6 These are very, very painful.
7 But I think I have to say, on the
8 other hand, that there were many things that
9 were saved that I appreciate. And I agree
10 with Senator Farley. The fact is that our
11 foundation school aid has not been touched and
12 all of our education basic funding has not
13 been touched.
14 And I recall 18 years ago when we
15 did have a midyear upheaval and we had to
16 reduce our expenses, you may remember what it
17 ask did to our school districts. Our school
18 districts got cut in the middle of the year,
19 and it really was a catastrophe for our school
20 districts. So I am very pleased that that
21 hasn't happened this year.
22 And I also want to point to another
23 thing which is very important, I think not
24 just in my Senate district, I think throughout
25 much of upstate as well, and that is that we
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1 have been able to preserve the aid to
2 municipalities.
3 Because shifting these expense to
4 the local property taxpayer is not going to
5 solve our fiscal crisis, because the property
6 tax, at least in my county, is the highest in
7 the United States. And we certainly can't,
8 you know, put an additional burden on them and
9 think that we're going to be helping ourselves
10 fiscally.
11 Already I know local governments
12 are receiving less assistance from our state
13 agency programs due to the directive, the
14 Governor's directive that did reduce the state
15 operating expense.
16 So this is a way to provide a
17 steady stream of money that our local
18 governments can rely on. It is beyond the
19 property tax problem now; they are now relying
20 on things like sales tax, which is not a
21 steady, reliable stream.
22 So I'm very appreciative that at
23 least schools and local aid to municipalities
24 has not been touched. And I think we all
25 recognize that we have a responsibility, as
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1 painful as it is. And that is why I'm
2 supporting this, and I'm sure that's why a lot
3 of my peers are.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC:
5 Senator Oppenheimer will be recorded in the
6 affirmative.
7 Thank you, Senator.
8 Senator Stewart-Cousins.
9 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank
10 you, Mr. President.
11 I rise to certainly echo many of
12 the sentiments of my colleagues and to just
13 say that when we were heading up here, our
14 local news station decided to do a poll and
15 the poll was about whether or not we would do
16 anything.
17 They asked the people whether they
18 really felt that this extraordinary session
19 would be extraordinary at all. They asked
20 whether the Legislature and the Governor could
21 come to an agreement that would really do the
22 kinds of things that New Yorkers expected us
23 to do.
24 So as I stand here, I'm happy to
25 say that there was a lot at stake. Very much
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1 of that was whether or not we could do the
2 hard things, whether or not we could indeed do
3 our jobs. So I stand here commending my
4 colleagues. I stand here certainly commending
5 the Governor, a Governor who in extraordinary
6 times has been extraordinary.
7 But it's not a happy day for me.
8 It's not a happy day because, as my colleagues
9 have spoken, there are things on the table
10 that I would have preferred, if my priorities
11 were at the forefront, to have not cut.
12 I saw the Governor yesterday, and,
13 you know, he said to me: "How are you feeling
14 about this?" And I said, "I'm a little
15 worried."
16 I'm a little worried because I have
17 a mayor at home who says that if the aid to
18 municipalities is cut, that we will lose
19 police officers, we will lose firefighters, we
20 will lose EMS workers. And he went down a
21 list of what would be cut if the cut to
22 municipalities happened.
23 I have a district that had to have
24 a spin-up of $20 million to get through this
25 year. I am happy that we were able to leave
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1 the municipalities' aid alone, because I know
2 that if we were to take that money away it
3 would be a thousand more cuts, fires that
4 would not be put out, police services that
5 would not be there.
6 I am happy that we were able to
7 keep our healthcare system intact. I'm happy
8 that education has not been jeopardized so
9 that we would not steal from the next
10 generation their opportunity.
11 So there are things in this budget
12 that I am sorry about. But quite frankly, I
13 know that I was sent here to do a job. And
14 we're doing the job that New Yorkers need to
15 do in an extraordinary session in an
16 extraordinary time. I will be voting for the
17 budget.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC:
19 Senator Stewart-Cousins will be recorded in
20 the affirmative.
21 Thank you, Senator.
22 Senator Padavan.
23 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you very
24 much, Mr. President.
25 I don't know who it was, but it was
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1 said a long time ago: "There's no fun being
2 in politics when you don't have money to
3 spend."
4 And it's even less fun when you're
5 taking away money you've already spent,
6 meaning the budget we adopted and now we're
7 amending.
8 Many of you have raised issues on
9 different areas, and I share many of them.
10 For instance, I raised the issue of City
11 University, a $51 million cut. I learned that
12 $25 million will be dealt with by virtue of
13 what they already have in a surplus account.
14 And I've asked, Well, what is the impact of
15 the $26 million that remains? And we'll
16 certainly deal with that as best we can.
17 The good side of it, however, is
18 that there are no cuts to the community
19 colleges. At all. And obviously that is a
20 plus.
21 I go back to the days when we were
22 here in the mid-'70s dealing with the fiscal
23 crisis of the City of New York. There are
24 only a handful of us left. We were here all
25 summer, extraordinary session after session,
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1 into the fall. And we were doing some
2 terrible things, like raising tuition where
3 there was none at City University, and
4 reforming a system that was totally in
5 shambles, a city that was ready to go
6 bankrupt. And we made all the tough choices
7 that had to be made, and we succeeded.
8 And then you could go forward in
9 the '80s, when great Governor Carey made his
10 speech, "the days of wine and roses are over,"
11 when the state was in a fiscal jam and we had
12 to do some tough things to get us out of that
13 situation. And we did it.
14 When you reflect back on those
15 particular momentous occasions -- and even
16 after 2001 -- this is not as bad as we have
17 had to deal with in the past. And so we will
18 deal with it appropriately.
19 The last thing we want to do is
20 raise taxes. We don't want to scare any more
21 people out of New York State, taking their
22 businesses with them. And that's what some
23 people would like to do, kill the goose that's
24 laying the golden egg.
25 When you look at roughly a third of
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1 our revenue is coming from the top brackets,
2 the millionaires in this state, the ones who
3 are most mobile -- and this is what the
4 Governor has said, and I agree with him. It
5 is also what Mayor Bloomberg has said. Don't
6 force those people away, because they can move
7 and go elsewhere and take all their resources
8 with them.
9 But let me tell where there are
10 people paying absolutely nothing. You know
11 where Canal Street is, don't you, Senator?
12 Well, there are Canal Streets all over the
13 City of New York and all over the State of
14 New York. They're selling merchandise,
15 ripoffs, everything from pocketbooks to CDs to
16 watches.
17 And you know what? They don't pay
18 any sales tax. They don't pay any income tax,
19 the entrepreneurs who are making millions, are
20 not paying any corporate tax.
21 Now, where did this information
22 come from? The comptroller of the City of
23 New York, Bill Thompson. He did a study last
24 year. $2.4 billion lost, between the city and
25 the state, in revenue on this activity.
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1 Now, every once in a while you pick
2 up the paper and you read about a raid on a
3 warehouse and they're emptying out all that
4 stuff. But they're only scratching the
5 surface.
6 And then we have our Indian
7 tribes -- and of course Senator Nozzolio and
8 others have talked about this ad nauseam --
9 not paying any income taxes on cigarettes and
10 other things. The minimum is $400 million,
11 some say it's a billion. I don't know what it
12 is, but it's a lot of money.
13 So if we want to grab the people
14 who are not paying taxes, they're right there
15 in front of us. And the law is there to
16 enforce; we're just not doing it.
17 But in any event, Mr. President, I
18 applaud everything that's been said here in a
19 positive vein. We will move forward, we will
20 get over this, we will do what we have to do,
21 and there will be a better day ahead.
22 I vote aye.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
24 Senator Padavan will be recorded in the
25 affirmative.
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1 Senator Serrano, to explain his
2 vote.
3 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you,
4 Mr. President.
5 And I do also want to echo the
6 sentiments of many of my colleagues in
7 applauding the Governor on having the
8 intestinal fortitude to recognize and tackle
9 an issue that is obviously very daunting.
10 And while I will vote yes on this
11 bill, I do have a certain level -- or many
12 reservations.
13 I grew up in the 1970s in the South
14 Bronx. A lot of people in this chamber can't
15 say that they did that. And I saw what a
16 fiscal downturn and what mismanagement from a
17 financial standpoint can do to communities.
18 And what was happening in the South Bronx was
19 happening all throughout the state.
20 And what I learned from that, and
21 now what I believe as an elected official, is
22 that if you really want to lose population, if
23 you really want to lose the core base that you
24 want to keep in any state or any city, is you
25 cut services to the point that people feel
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1 unsafe and they don't feel that they are
2 protected.
3 So I believe that the way that we
4 go forward with this -- and while I agree that
5 this is just one step, I am not happy with the
6 cuts that we are enacting here today. But
7 going forward, as we continue to tackle this
8 problem, we cannot ignore the fact that, as
9 Senator Perkins said, we must share the pain
10 and spread the pain in a much more equitable
11 fashion to avoid the mistakes that were made
12 in the 1970s.
13 And if we do not create that fair
14 and equitable tax system, which many people
15 are afraid to talk about, we will continue to
16 have this disparity that exists now.
17 So when I hear people say, well, if
18 we tax too much, then the rich will leave --
19 well, where are they going to go? Boise,
20 Idaho? No offense to Boise, Idaho.
21 But I think that they are in
22 New York because they want to be in New York
23 because New York is the greatest state in the
24 country.
25 So I think it's important that we
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1 really not be mystified by that process and
2 remember that people are here because of the
3 services that we provide. The minute we start
4 cutting those services to a point that they
5 are no longer effective is when we will lose
6 the very population and tax base that we want
7 to keep.
8 So I ask my colleagues, as we move
9 forward in this process, to not only look for
10 ways to cut -- and I think we've cut as far as
11 we can go, and we need to start looking for
12 ways to turn around these cuts -- but we have
13 to look to create a fair tax system where the
14 very wealthy in this state, who are protected
15 enormously by tax loopholes and by shelters,
16 that they do their fair share, as all of us
17 are doing more than our share.
18 I will vote yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Serrano to be recorded in the affirmative.
21 Senator Adams, to explain his vote.
22 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you,
23 Mr. President.
24 Senator Serrano, I think he hit on
25 a point that's so important. I'm not merely
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1 concerned about everything that was brought to
2 the table, I'm concerned about what was left
3 in the kitchen.
4 And so many of those who are
5 avoiding paying taxes is hidden away in the
6 cupboards of our state government. We don't
7 want to really acknowledge the fact. Yes, we
8 should go after those who are selling illegal
9 handbags and Coach bags, but we should also go
10 after those who can afford to purchase legal
11 Coach bags.
12 It is wrong to continue to bring
13 out the surgical, governmental scalpel and cut
14 at the heart and soul of those programs that
15 ensure that many New Yorkers who are basically
16 eking by are not having the opportunity to
17 have a level of productivity in this state.
18 We are the last step towards squeezing hope
19 not only in the hands of people who have given
20 up on government, but many of them have given
21 up on themselves.
22 Some of them are afflicted with
23 AIDS. Some of them have diabetes issues.
24 Some of them go to or attend school lunch
25 programs not merely because they have a
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1 luxury, but because that's the only meal they
2 receive. And this is the reality.
3 So when you talk about "those
4 people" -- and 1199, they're not "those
5 people." They are the individuals who sent me
6 to Albany, and they make up a large portion of
7 my district. They are the healthcare
8 employees. They are part of the five
9 hospitals that border the 20th Senatorial
10 District that do not leave when they punch the
11 clock at the end of a 8.5-hour day, they in
12 fact stay there, to infuse money in that
13 economy and in that community.
14 Those are the individuals that I'm
15 afraid, if we continue to tighten their belt,
16 that we will lose them. I'm not concerned
17 about those who are at the top echelon of our
18 economy stratas, will they flee the great
19 State of New York. Because they won't. We've
20 heard that before.
21 They must pay their fair share of
22 taxes, just like every other New Yorker, the
23 average, everyday nine-to-five guy. Let's
24 stop the madness in believing that all of a
25 sudden they will have tax flight because we
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1 ask them to pay what John the plumber is
2 paying. That's wrong.
3 I'm going to vote aye on this bill.
4 I think that is only the beginning. I'm
5 hoping that this is a step towards showing
6 that we're willing to tighten our belt. Now
7 some of the overbloated individuals who are
8 economically strong need to tighten their belt
9 as well.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Adams to be recorded in the affirmative.
12 Is there any other Senator wishing
13 to be heard?
14 I then call upon Senator Libous to
15 close and explain his vote.
16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 Like all of my colleagues, I stand
19 and applaud the Governor for bringing us back
20 to this session and making the very difficult
21 decisions. And I certainly have great respect
22 for even those colleagues who are not
23 supporting this; I understand why.
24 But, you know, we are in
25 extraordinary session, and these are certainly
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1 extraordinary times. And if you look at some
2 of the tough decisions that we've made in this
3 budget bill, it equates back to people.
4 You know, I've spent some time
5 traveling throughout the State of New York and
6 certainly with my constituents in the Southern
7 Tier. And as I talk to them, they talk about
8 how they've had to tighten the belt at home --
9 gas prices too high; if you go to the grocery
10 store, prices continually increasing; home
11 heating fuel contracts being sent out and now
12 these companies are requesting a premium or a
13 lockdown charge of anywhere from $250 to $500
14 because you can even get home heating fuel.
15 It puts a tremendous burden on a
16 family trying to raise children. Even buying
17 school clothes this year, they're telling me
18 that the prices continue to go up. If you're
19 a single mother trying to raise children and
20 holding down two jobs, that single mother has
21 had to make some very difficult choices and
22 decisions.
23 And that's what we're doing today.
24 We have to behave very similar to the way our
25 constituents are behaving at home. They're
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1 tightening their belts. Their salaries aren't
2 going up at the rate that some of the costs to
3 raise a family are going up.
4 The Governor has recognized this.
5 He's called both houses back. And as Senator
6 Stewart-Cousins said, I think many of our
7 constituents did not believe that we would
8 take a positive action today. I think many of
9 our constituents thought that there would be
10 gridlock here in Albany.
11 But I am very pleased to stand on
12 this floor, with my colleagues from both sides
13 of the aisle, and coming together and doing
14 what the Governor has asked us to do. While
15 we may not have made the same decisions that
16 Governor Paterson has, at least together, in a
17 cooperative effort, Republicans and Democrats,
18 we have addressed the problem. We have
19 addressed it quickly, and we have addressed it
20 in an orderly fashion.
21 Now, having addressed the problem
22 means that there's going to be hardship. And
23 many of my colleagues have mentioned the
24 hardship; I'm not going to repeat. Because,
25 as Senator Padavan said, whenever you fund a
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1 program or give money and then you take it
2 away, it would be like you coming to work and
3 then at the end of the week your employer
4 saying I need 20 percent of your paycheck
5 back, and that money was already spent
6 providing for your family. That's what's
7 happening here today.
8 But these are good decisions.
9 They're tough decisions. And I think that in
10 the long run the State of New York and the
11 people that we serve -- the people who were
12 making those tough decisions before we came
13 back, on a personal level -- I think will be
14 happy with it.
15 So, Mr. President, I vote aye. And
16 I congratulate my colleagues and the Governor
17 for taking this action today.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Libous to be recorded in the affirmative.
20 Announce the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
22 the negative on Calendar Number 1 are Senators
23 Connor, Diaz, Gonzalez, Huntley, Parker and
24 Perkins.
25 Ayes, 51. Nays, 6.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 bill is passed.
3 Senator Libous.
4 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
5 could we now return to reports of standing
6 committees for a report from the Rules
7 Committee.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Reports
9 of standing committees.
10 The Secretary will read.
11 THE SECRETARY: Senator Skelos,
12 from the Committee on Rules, reports the
13 following bill direct to third reading:
14 Extraordinary Session Senate Print
15 Number 3, Senate Budget Bill, an act to repeal
16 Section 2 of Part P of Chapter 57 of the Laws
17 of 2007 relating to providing funding for
18 certain community projects.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Libous.
21 SENATOR LIBOUS: Move to accept
22 the report of the Rules Committee,
23 Mr. President.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
25 favor of accepting the report of the Rules
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1 Committee signify by saying aye.
2 (Response of "Aye.")
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
4 Opposed, nay.
5 (No response.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 report is accepted.
8 Senator Libous.
9 SENATOR LIBOUS: Can we now take
10 up the third reading of the Rules report.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 Secretary will read.
13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
14 Calendar Number 2, Senator Skelos moves to
15 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
16 Extraordinary Session Assembly Print Number 3
17 and substitute it for the identical Senate
18 bill, Extraordinary Session Senate Print
19 Number 3, Third Reading Calendar 2.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
21 Substitution ordered.
22 The Secretary will read.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 2, Extraordinary Session Print Number 3, by
25 the Assembly Committee on Rules, an act to
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1 repeal Section 2 of Part P of Chapter 57 of
2 the Laws of 2007 relating to providing funding
3 for certain community projects.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Libous.
6 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
7 is there a message of necessity at the desk?
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
9 is.
10 SENATOR LIBOUS: I now move that
11 we accept the message of necessity.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
13 favor of accepting the message of necessity by
14 the Governor signify by saying aye.
15 (Response of "Aye.")
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
17 Opposed, nay.
18 (No response.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 message is accepted.
21 Read the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 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 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
3 Announce the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 the negative on Calendar Number 2 are Senators
6 Connor, Diaz, Gonzalez, Huntley, Parker and
7 Perkins.
8 Ayes, 51. Nays, 6.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 bill is passed.
11 Senator Libous.
12 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
13 may we please return to motions and
14 resolutions.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Motions
16 and resolutions.
17 Senator Libous.
18 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I
19 now hand up the following concurrent
20 resolution, ask that the title be read, and
21 move for its immediate adoption.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: The Assembly sent
25 for concurrence Extraordinary Session Assembly
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1 Concurrent Resolution Number 2. Senator
2 Skelos moved to substitute Extraordinary
3 Session Senate Concurrent Resolution Number 2
4 for Extraordinary Session Assembly Concurrent
5 Resolution Number 2.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
7 Substitution so ordered.
8 The Secretary will read.
9 THE SECRETARY: Extraordinary
10 Session Concurrent Resolution Number 2,
11 relative to the adjournment of the
12 Extraordinary Session of the Legislature
13 sine die:
14 "RESOLVED, That the Legislature
15 adjourn the Extraordinary Session sine die on
16 August 20, 2008, at the close of business."
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in
18 favor of the resolution signify by saying aye.
19 (Response of "Aye.")
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:
21 Opposed, nay.
22 (No response.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 resolution is adopted.
25 Senator Libous.
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1 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,
2 that closes the extraordinary session.
3 I ask that all my colleagues have a
4 safe trip home.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 extraordinary session is hereby closed.
7 (Whereupon, at 11:44 a.m., the
8 Senate adjourned.)
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