Regular Session - March 14, 2016
927
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 14, 2016
11 3:23 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, President
19 FRANCIS W. PATIENCE, Secretary
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25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will
3 come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of
6 Allegiance.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 THE PRESIDENT: The Reverend
10 Dr. Edward O. Williamson is with us today to
11 give the invocation. He's the pastor of Bethel
12 Baptist Church, from White Plains, New York.
13 PASTOR WILLIAMSON: May we bow our
14 heads together, please.
15 Dear God, we humbly come before You
16 today seeking Your presence to be among us, Lord
17 God.
18 And, Lord God, we pray for these
19 men and women that You've placed in positions of
20 authority and leadership, Lord God. We pray,
21 Lord God, that they would understand that they
22 are servants of Your people, Lord God. And,
23 Lord, we pray that You would grant them wisdom
24 and knowledge and understanding. Would You lead
25 and guide them and give them the directions that
929
1 they are to go in their proceedings this day,
2 Lord God.
3 And, Lord, may they honor You in
4 all that they do. And we just give You glory
5 and praise for all things.
6 In Your Son's name, we pray. Amen.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
8 Reverend.
9 Reading of the Journal.
10 THE SECRETARY: In Sunday, Sunday,
11 March 13th, the Senate met pursuant to
12 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
13 March 12th, was read and approved. On motion,
14 Senate adjourned.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Without objection,
16 the Journal stands approved as read.
17 Presentation of petitions.
18 Messages from the Assembly.
19 Messages from the Governor.
20 Reports of standing committees.
21 Reports of select committees.
22 Communications and reports from
23 state officers.
24 Motions and resolutions.
25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Madam
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1 President, I move to recommit Senate Print
2 Number 6738, Calendar Number 332, by Senator
3 Boyle, on the order of second report, to the
4 Committee on Local Government, with instructions
5 to said committee to strike the enacting clause.
6 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered.
7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you.
8 THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Floor Leader.
9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Madam
10 President, there's a privileged resolution by
11 Senators Flanagan and Klein, and it's the
12 Senate's response to the 2016-2017 Executive
13 Budget submission. Please read the title only.
14 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
15 read.
16 THE SECRETARY: Resolution Number
17 4330, by Senators Flanagan and Klein, in
18 response to the 2016-2017 Executive Budget
19 submission (Legislative Bills Senate 6400B,
20 Senate 6403B, Senate 6404B, Senate 6405B,
21 Senate 6406B, Senate 6407B, Senate 6408B and
22 Senate 6409B) to be adopted as legislation
23 expressing the position of the New York State
24 Senate relating to the 2016-2017 New York State
25 Budget.
931
1 THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Floor Leader.
2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Madam
3 President, would you please call on Senator
4 Stewart-Cousins for remarks.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
6 Stewart-Cousins.
7 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank
8 you, Madam President.
9 Thank you, Senator Flanagan and
10 Senator Klein. And I want to thank all of my
11 colleagues.
12 And I also want to the thank the
13 staff on both sides of the aisle. I know that
14 the leadup to this exercise is extremely busy,
15 and your hard work and dedication and diligence
16 is always appreciated.
17 I also want to thank my Finance
18 ranker, Senator Liz Krueger, for her tireless
19 work on the budget and her advocacy for Senate
20 Democratic positions.
21 Today, on the first day of Sunshine
22 Week, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that
23 this year's budget process has taken a step back
24 in transparency. The much-maligned three-men-in-
25 the-room process seems to have been replaced by a
932
1 more secretive format of covert meetings and
2 phone calls shielded from the press and the
3 public.
4 I hope that in the remaining time we
5 have left, we can open up the process and allow
6 all New Yorkers to see what is being done on
7 their behalf.
8 But getting to the substance of the
9 budget, this budget resolution is a first step
10 and has some positive things and some negative
11 things. I'm glad we all understand the
12 importance of adequately funding our public
13 education system and eliminating GEA this year,
14 and at the same time increasing Foundation Aid.
15 But we still haven't dealt with CFE. And I wish
16 we had not allowed political games to hurt our
17 CUNY school system.
18 Also, I think the budget misses a
19 crucial opportunity that so many have labeled
20 Albany's "Watergate moment" and does not deal
21 with any ethics reforms. We need to take
22 concrete steps to restore trust in our state
23 government, including restricting outside income
24 and closing the LLC loophole.
25 I'm glad that this resolution
933
1 advances a paid family leave proposal, but I do
2 wish it went a bit further. And I'm slightly
3 concerned that the language in the resolution
4 does not match the language in the budget bill.
5 No one in New York should have to choose between
6 doing their jobs and taking care of a loved one.
7 But I do want to congratulate my
8 member, Senator Joseph Addabbo, for his advocacy
9 on this issue, as well as Senator Klein for his
10 advocacy on the issue.
11 I'm disappointed we did not take
12 steps to help lift millions of people out of
13 poverty and raise the minimum wage. But I'm glad
14 that this resolution helps lower the tax burden
15 on many New Yorkers -- but I wish it had been
16 more targeted and helped more working- and
17 middle-class New Yorkers.
18 I wish that we had helped our local
19 municipalities more and increased AIM funding. I
20 wish we had gotten serious about our environment
21 and stopped sweeping the RGGI fund, and also not
22 stripped funds in efforts to combat climate
23 change.
24 While I agree with some things in
25 the resolution, there are far too many things
934
1 that are left out -- and I'm sure you'll hear
2 many of those things today. This budget simply
3 doesn't go far enough to help all New Yorkers in
4 the myriad of ways that we can. But the good
5 news, of course, is that we have three weeks and
6 that I'm sure that we can come to something that
7 gets that job done.
8 So I am willing, ready and able to
9 roll up my sleeves, put aside any political
10 differences, and deliver for the people of
11 New York.
12 Thank you, Madam President.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Floor Leader.
14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Madam
15 President, would you please now call on Senator
16 Klein for remarks.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Klein.
18 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, Madam
19 President.
20 I too want to thank the Democratic
21 Leader of the Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
22 But I really want to say a very
23 special thank you to our Majority Leader, John
24 Flanagan.
25 You know, I've done now five of
935
1 these joint one-house budget resolutions, and
2 John has been an absolute pleasure to work with.
3 His encyclopedic knowledge of the process and
4 policy has been very, very refreshing.
5 And I also want to say a special
6 thank you to all of the members of the
7 Independent Democratic Conference.
8 Back in January, the IDC laid out a
9 blueprint for a Better New York, a vision of
10 where we wanted New York State to be by 2020.
11 And each and every one of the members of the
12 Independent Democratic Conference played a very,
13 very important role in actually pushing for their
14 issues, which I really think allowed us to take a
15 statewide and very regional approach to making
16 sure New York is a better place.
17 On education we put forth a proposal
18 which we call Investing in a 50-Hour Learning
19 Week. It was based on a very simple truth, that
20 education shouldn't only include the four walls
21 of a classroom, and also education has to
22 continue after the school day at 3 o'clock.
23 We actually, in this one-house
24 budget resolution, we expand after-school
25 programs throughout the State of New York. Right
936
1 now, believe it or not, there's 1.2 million
2 youngsters that have no after-school programs in
3 the State of New York. That resolution, the
4 resolution today, will change that.
5 We want to expand the concept of
6 community schools -- not only in problem schools,
7 who certainly need it, but to make sure that
8 schools don't become problem schools by
9 advocating the community school model.
10 Thanks to Senator Carlucci, we're
11 advocating for mandated kindergarten for all
12 5-year-olds in the State of New York. Believe it
13 or not, in this day and age, we still have school
14 districts in the state that don't have full-day
15 kindergarten. Well, hopefully after this
16 resolution that's going to change.
17 I picked up the torch on behalf of
18 diversity in our specialized high schools. These
19 are high schools that exist in the City of
20 New York which any child that is lucky enough to
21 attend these schools is launched on a fantastic
22 career. Unfortunately, we see that the majority
23 of individuals who are in these schools are not
24 African-American or Latinos. Even though they're
25 72 percent of the students who attend middle
937
1 school in the City of New York, there's only
2 about 10 to 15 percent that are in these
3 specialized high schools.
4 What we need to do is make sure,
5 first, more and more of these students are aware
6 of these exams and, just as important, each and
7 every school district in the City of New York
8 should have access to test preparation to prepare
9 these young people for these tests. And I
10 guarantee you that will change the results.
11 We also put forth something we call
12 House New York. Again, we're making a tremendous
13 commitment to a program which I think is the
14 greatest housing program ever created in the
15 State of New York, called Mitchell-Lama. Last
16 year we were able to get a middle-income tax
17 credit to continue Mitchell-Lama -- we haven't
18 built any units for probably 30 years -- and in
19 this resolution we once again expand our
20 commitment to Mitchell-Lama.
21 The New York City Housing Authority.
22 I and Senator Savino have worked very, very hard
23 in shedding light on the conditions of the New
24 York City Housing Authority. These are thousands
25 and thousands of units. When everyone talks
938
1 about affordable housing, well, this guarantees
2 affordable housing for thousands and thousands of
3 tenants throughout New York City.
4 Unfortunately, according to two
5 reports conducted by the Independent Democratic
6 Conference, the New York City Housing Authority
7 is considered the worst landlord in the City of
8 New York. If we had a private landlord who had
9 conditions like NYCHA is doing right now, not
10 only would we fine them, we'd probably take away
11 their buildings by now. But here we are, a
12 government entity that has very little oversight,
13 actually comes to us year after year -- which
14 they should -- and I know last year myself, along
15 with Senator Adriano Espaillat and others,
16 advocated for $100 million. A hundred million
17 dollars, the first time in 15 years. And you
18 know something? Not one penny of that money has
19 been spent.
20 There needs to be a better way. I'm
21 more than happy to continue to advocate for
22 millions and millions of dollars to make sure we
23 repair NYCHA developments, but there needs to be
24 some accountability. So once again, I'm putting
25 forth a program which we call a repair
939
1 certificate, a NYCHA repair certificate. Let the
2 experts, let the people who actually know how to
3 build things and repair things, enjoy some of the
4 benefit, and they in turn have to make repairs,
5 badly needed repairs, to NYCHA developments.
6 That's how we'll finally get these things done.
7 We also once again advocate, along
8 with our Republican colleagues, for a 2 percent
9 property tax for New York City. As you know,
10 New York City is not subject to the property tax.
11 My colleague Tony Avella shined light on this
12 problem where he sees some of his Queens
13 constituents have an increase this year in their
14 tax bills of anywhere up to a thousand dollars
15 for each resident.
16 We also again are redoubling our
17 effort for paid family leave. And I also want to
18 thank Senator Joe Addabbo, Senator Jack Martins.
19 I think the time has finally come for paid family
20 leave. Because if we don't do this, we're really
21 forcing New Yorkers to choose between what their
22 heart is telling them to do and what their bank
23 account allows them to do.
24 The legislation that we fashioned,
25 or I fashioned, has no burden on business. It's
940
1 funded by the employee, a very small amount out
2 of their paycheck establishing sort of an
3 insurance fund to ensure that they can take time
4 off from work to care for an elderly loved one,
5 take care of a sick child, and bond with a
6 newborn. I hope we finally get it done.
7 I also want to thank Senator Valesky
8 for advocating for, I think, a very important new
9 program that we're calling the Manufacturers
10 Intermediary Apprentice Program. We're going to
11 allow small and middle-sized manufacturers to set
12 up these programs. You know, everyone talks
13 about creating jobs, we need to do that. But we
14 need to make sure people are on the path to
15 good-paying jobs. And I think Senator Valesky's
16 program, not only in Central New York but beyond
17 Central New York, in the entire state, will make
18 sure we eliminate the problem of wage stagnation.
19 I also want to say a very special
20 thank you to Senator Carlucci, who's been
21 advocating for so many different programs as far
22 as our senior citizens are concerned, making sure
23 college-age youngsters can afford college. And
24 what we want to do this year -- last year we were
25 influential in increasing what's called the
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1 SCRIE, the Senior Citizen Rent Increase
2 Exemption, to provide a freeze on an individual's
3 rent. We raised the income level to $50,000. We
4 now want to do that for the Senior Homeowner
5 Exemption Program. Homeowners who are really
6 facing high property taxes or high utility costs
7 should be able to benefit from this program as
8 well.
9 So again, I want to say a special
10 thank you to also the IDC staff, the Republican
11 staff, the Democratic staff. Even though this is
12 only a one-house budget resolution, there's a lot
13 of work that goes into this. And I know they
14 have worked long hours and I think they deserve a
15 tremendous round of applause from all of us.
16 (Applause.)
17 SENATOR KLEIN: And again, Madam
18 President, I vote yes on this, I think, very
19 balanced and efficient and effective one-house
20 budget resolution.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Floor Leader.
22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would you
23 please now recognize Majority Leader John
24 Flanagan for remarks.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Majority Leader
942
1 Flanagan.
2 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, Madam
3 President.
4 So I've got a whole bunch of notes
5 here, but I'm going to basically look at them
6 very quickly. And I want to start by thanking
7 the Minority Leader, Senator Andrea
8 Stewart-Cousins, for being a very good colleague
9 and a very easy person to deal with. I think
10 we've worked out a terrific working relationship
11 between the two of us and between our staffs, and
12 that's good for this house and it's good for the
13 people of the State of New York.
14 I also want to add my voice to
15 saying thank you to Senator Klein. Senator Klein
16 and I have known each other for quite a while;
17 now we're knowing each other in a different
18 capacity. And it's -- I think it underscores
19 when you have a resolution that says Flanagan and
20 Klein. I know he wants it to be Klein-Flanagan,
21 but for right now it's Flanagan-Klein.
22 (Laughter.)
23 SENATOR FLANAGAN: So we're in a
24 good spot.
25 But the reality is that we are
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1 working together on behalf of the people of this
2 state.
3 So today represents an opportunity
4 for dialogue, and it represents an opportunity
5 just overall for the budget process. Senator
6 Stewart-Cousins had lamented the fact that there
7 has been less disclosure and less transparency,
8 and I would respectfully offer that in my
9 recollection, that this year there were more
10 hours spent in total on public, and I repeat,
11 public budget hearings than perhaps at any time
12 in the past, upwards of a hundred hours. And a
13 lot of our colleagues who attended those hearings
14 know that there was extraordinary input on so
15 many different levels, whether it was private
16 sector, public sector, not-for-profits, municipal
17 governments, all things like that. So that was
18 Part 1.
19 Today is Part 2. Today is our
20 one-house budget resolution. Certainly the
21 Senate Democrats have their priorities. We
22 respect those. We agree where we can, disagree
23 where we don't. Certainly look forward to
24 working very closely with the IDC on things that
25 are important.
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1 But this is Part 2, because now we
2 put out our blueprint. Now you can see what we
3 think about a lot of the things that the Governor
4 has offered, things that we like, things that we
5 don't like, things we'll embrace, things that
6 we'll reject.
7 Part 3 probably starts tomorrow.
8 And this is part of the budget process which is
9 statutory and governmental, and it allows people
10 to see what we're going to do in our public
11 conference committees. Everyone has heard the
12 term the mothership. The mothership will be
13 meeting. It's not a Star Trek term, for those
14 people who are not listening or don't understand.
15 But in reality, whether it's Senator
16 Marcellino or Senator LaValle or Senator Robach,
17 we are going to have public budget conference
18 committees with our colleagues not only in the
19 Senate Democratic Conference but with the
20 New York State Assembly. So that's Part 3.
21 And then there of course come the
22 negotiations. Some will be public, some will be
23 in our conferences. But I am confident that by
24 March 31st that we will have a budget on time.
25 And I hope the Governor is listening because I
945
1 know, Lieutenant Governor, he cares very deeply
2 about that, as do all of my colleagues who are
3 sitting here today. Five years in a row, we'd
4 like to make it six.
5 And I do say this because I think it
6 is important: It's very good to get the budget
7 done on time. But in reality, that's the law.
8 So I don't know that we should be getting all
9 kinds of hoo-has and accolades for things that we
10 do which are in compliance with the law. But I'm
11 confident that we can get that done.
12 Having said that, we have a variety
13 of different issues. I want to start in that
14 regard by thanking our floor leader, John
15 DeFrancisco, who does fantastic work on behalf of
16 our conference in this house and certainly
17 previously served for a number of years as the
18 distinguished chair of the Senate Finance
19 Committee.
20 And I want to thank Senator Cathy
21 Young for her tireless efforts on behalf of the
22 people of the State of New York.
23 And like Senator Klein and like
24 Senator Stewart-Cousins, I want to thank our
25 staff because we all know we get to stand here
946
1 and while we're away for the weekend attending
2 events, our folks are working tireless, tireless,
3 timeless hours so that we can get here today and
4 make those next steps.
5 So where are our priorities? I
6 think our priorities are pretty straightforward
7 and not inconsistent with what we've advocated
8 for a long time.
9 So we supported the property tax
10 cap. The genesis of the property tax started
11 with people like Ken LaValle and others in our
12 conference who have been talking about this for a
13 long time. It's saved $7.6 billion for taxpayers
14 over the last four years. We extended it in the
15 last year. That's a good thing.
16 Senator Klein spoke about Senator
17 Avella's bill on a property tax cap for the City
18 of New York. I agree with that and have spoken
19 out on that consistently. That would have saved
20 over $4 billion for the City of New York.
21 And I recognize that there are
22 people from the City of New York, from the
23 delegation, who are uncomfortable with that. But
24 I look at it this way. If it's good for the rest
25 of the state, I don't see any reason why it
947
1 shouldn't be good for the City of New York.
2 That's a discussion that we need to have. Where
3 it goes, I don't know. But it's certainly worthy
4 of discussion. Senator Lanza has passed a bill
5 in that regard before.
6 We also believe that there should be
7 a spending cap at the state level. The Senate
8 has been in the forefront on this issue. And
9 while we are all now talking in painstaking
10 detail about the property tax cap, a lot of our
11 local governments, a lot of our school districts
12 are coming to us saying it's 0.12 percent this
13 year, we need relief, we need something from
14 Albany. Well, Albany has lived under the
15 constraints -- self-imposed, not statutorily
16 imposed, but self-imposed -- at 2 percent. We
17 should be having a robust discussion on what the
18 value is around that.
19 We have passed a separate bill on
20 the property tax cap being permanent. We will do
21 so again. That is one of our top priorities.
22 Tax relief. The Governor has a
23 number of things in his budget that are laudable
24 and yet problematic. I don't know about you, but
25 I like the STAR program. And I'm pretty sure my
948
1 constituents and everyone's constituents, by and
2 large, in this room, they like the STAR program.
3 I know Senator LaValle has been outspoken on this
4 about senior citizen property taxes for decades.
5 We don't agree with the Governor's
6 proposal. We don't want to change the nature of
7 the program. It's well over $3 billion. That's
8 tax relief for everyone, and primarily for our
9 seniors. So we disagree with the Governor on
10 that.
11 We disagree about things like rebate
12 checks. And we'll have discussions about that.
13 We should be trying to find every way conceivable
14 to provide tax relief for New Yorkers no matter
15 what their sector may be.
16 So in that vein, we put out a tax
17 proposal last week which many of you heard about:
18 25 By 25. We want to the reduce middle-class
19 taxes by 25 percent by 2025, phased in, fiscally
20 and prudently responsible. That's number one.
21 Number two, Senator Farley talked
22 about eliminating some of the tax on private
23 pensions from $20,000 to $40,000. That will help
24 377,000 senior citizens in the State of New York
25 save an average of $361 million. That hasn't
949
1 been raised in years.
2 We have exemptions for the PIT and
3 small business owners -- which doesn't matter
4 whose community they may be. It could be David
5 Carlucci, it could be George Latimer, it could be
6 Dave Valesky. The reality is that small business
7 is the backbone of our economy. Phased in
8 properly, that's about $500 million.
9 So we're focusing on tax relief.
10 I forgot, on the 25 By 25, that's
11 about $1.5 billion. We make some estate tax
12 changes for our agricultural community; that's
13 another $210 million.
14 So our priorities are in sync with
15 what we're hearing from our constituents. And
16 I'll juxtapose that with what the New York State
17 Assembly has advocated. And they have every
18 right to do so, but we don't have to agree. They
19 say they want to cut taxes in some areas, but
20 they're actually talking about raising taxes. At
21 this time and juncture, we just don't think
22 that's a good idea.
23 So let's shift to other parts of the
24 budget. I want to thank and compliment Senator
25 Patty Ritchie, chair of the Agriculture
950
1 Committee. And I'm going to use this -- quick
2 backtrack. And all of you know this,
3 particularly people who have been here for a
4 little while. We're now in what is probably
5 fairly and loosely described as the budget dance.
6 And in reality, a lot of what we're
7 advocating -- and our Finance staff knows this
8 very well -- we're advocating for a lot of
9 restorations. I think it's about $270 million in
10 restorations to things that are near and dear to
11 everybody in this house. Not just Republican,
12 not just Democrat, but to all of our members.
13 And I get it. We all get it. The Executive
14 comes out and throws some things out, and we have
15 to buy it back at the negotiating table, and
16 that's fine. At the end of the day, if we're
17 doing good things for people across the State of
18 New York, so be it.
19 So let's talk about education. I am
20 very confident and comfortable saying, having
21 chaired the Education Committee for five years
22 and now working very closely with Senator
23 Marcellino, who chairs our committee, the
24 New York State Senate Republican Conference has
25 been out front on the elimination of the GEA from
951
1 the get-go. We didn't support it at its
2 inception, we have been pushing and pushing and
3 pushing and, yes, pushing to make sure we get rid
4 of it. We have advocated in our one-house
5 proposal this year that that will be eliminated,
6 which is very good for taxpayers all across the
7 State of New York.
8 And much to the consternation of
9 many of our colleagues, we had -- I shouldn't say
10 much to the consternation. But we have roughly
11 an over 7 percent increase in aid to education.
12 All of you know when we do that, it makes it
13 harder to fund transportation or the environment
14 or healthcare. But in reality, when you talk
15 about property taxes, quality education and
16 things of that nature, getting rid of the GEA,
17 providing record funding for increases in aid to
18 education should be our primary obligation.
19 We have money for charter schools.
20 Equally as important, we have money for nonpublic
21 schools for issues of public safety, which we
22 believe to be of paramount concern.
23 And let me shift gears to my
24 colleague slightly to my right physically, but
25 not, certainly, governmentally, and that's
952
1 Senator Ken LaValle. You talk about a protector
2 and the quintessential dog on a bone in terms of
3 college affordability, access, opportunity. All
4 of us care about this. I think what we've
5 offered in this budget in terms of TAP, tuition
6 credits and giving money to SUNY to offset any
7 potential tuition increase, that goes to
8 middle-class hardworking families across the
9 State of New York.
10 And we disagree with the Executive
11 about funding taxpayer-funded tuition for illegal
12 immigrants. That $27 million we feel is more
13 appropriately spent on behalf of the people who
14 are here struggling, who are here legally. And
15 all those things are important.
16 On top of that, there are a number
17 of things that Senator Hannon has worked on in
18 conjunction with our colleagues in the area of
19 healthcare, a lot of valuable restorations. We
20 have money for domestic violence, domestic
21 violence registry. That is significantly
22 important for women all across the State of
23 New York in particular.
24 And let me single out not only
25 Senator Ortt, Senator Murphy, Senator Akshar for
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1 their efforts on behalf of opioid addiction and
2 heroin. And every one of us knows this; no
3 matter where you hail from, this is a huge, huge
4 problem in the State of New York. We put
5 $167 million in this budget for a variety of
6 programs that are important to the children and
7 young adults on so many different levels --
8 treatment, prevention, law enforcement. And we
9 will have many more discussions in terms of what
10 those things are and how we should be moving
11 ahead.
12 I mentioned agriculture earlier.
13 Let me just touch on two things very
14 quickly and then, Madam President, I will sit
15 down.
16 We have had discussions about
17 ethics, and they are discussions that need to
18 take place. But we have to go into painstaking
19 detail. And I'll just reiterate that not only by
20 house rule, but by statute, the New York State
21 Senate has passed legislation for term limits for
22 leaders -- again, in the house rules and in
23 statute.
24 We also passed a bill last year
25 which was not passed by the Assembly -- creates
954
1 some consternation, I get it -- but it was agreed
2 upon, in terms of pension forfeiture. So I am
3 comfortable that the New York State Senate has
4 taken great strides to address these issues quite
5 seriously and that as we get into the throes of
6 the budget, we're going to be talking a lot about
7 money.
8 There are certain things that may
9 come outside the budget like that, maybe issues
10 like mayoral control, because Senator Marcellino
11 and my colleagues want to have full hearings on
12 those types of discussions.
13 And I'll close on this because you
14 all know I'm a pain in the neck about this. And
15 if I am, I don't care. Everyone will get used to
16 it. I've got the green bracelet on. Madam
17 President, you have on a lovely green dress today
18 presiding over the New York State Senate.
19 Senator Hannon has properly informed me that
20 there's approximately a million dollars in the
21 budget to do things on behalf of organ donation
22 in the State of New York. I want to raise
23 awareness. I want to work with my colleagues.
24 Whatever we can do to make our citizens' lives
25 better and get out of dead last, being number 50
955
1 in the nation. If we can do it in the budget,
2 great. But every time we talk about it, the
3 feedback we get is extraordinary.
4 So Madam President, I thank you very
5 much for your patience and your indulgence.
6 Thank you.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Floor Leader.
8 (Pause.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 DeFrancisco.
11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, we're on
12 the resolution. I don't know if you have any
13 speakers or we can call for the vote.
14 (Laughter.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: We are on
16 the resolution.
17 The first speaker is Senator Liz
18 Krueger.
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
20 Mr. President. I'm sorry you don't have a lovely
21 green dress like the last president.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: How's a
23 green tie, though?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Oh, it is green.
25 It looks great from here. Thank you.
956
1 If the sponsor would please yield
2 for some questions.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Young, do you yield?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 Senator yields.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. So,
9 Senator Young, we sat through 95 hours, I think,
10 of budget hearings. So I'm looking at your
11 budget, your one-house budget proposal and your
12 financial plan that was given to me today.
13 Can you explain what funds were cut
14 and avails taken to total $979 million cuts from
15 the Governor's proposed budget?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Well, thank you
17 very much, Senator Krueger.
18 And through you, Mr. President, I'd
19 like to actually thank Senator Krueger, because
20 she was there, as was I, for all 95 hours of
21 those hearings.
22 And I also want to compliment our
23 colleagues, because so many of our colleagues
24 showed up to raise very significant, very
25 important issues in regards to the Governor's
957
1 budget proposal.
2 As Senator Flanagan pointed out, it
3 has been an extraordinarily transparent process
4 as we've gone through this journey.
5 And I also want to point out, I know
6 that there was a concern about middle-class New
7 Yorkers, as Senator Flanagan stated. Under our
8 higher education plan, we have significant
9 measures that would help middle-class New
10 Yorkers. But on top of that, in our tax relief
11 plan that we put forward, there is significant
12 relief, 25 By 25. And what that means is the
13 middle-income tax rate would be reduced by
14 25 percent by the year -- and that is actually
15 taking it down to an historic level. And so I
16 want to point those out.
17 As far as Senator Krueger's
18 question -- and by the way, we are adhering to
19 the 2 percent voluntary spending cap. This body
20 has been extraordinarily responsible from a
21 fiscal standpoint, very accountable, where we've
22 actually spent less than 2 percent.
23 This budget proposal that we are
24 putting forward right now increases State
25 Operating Funds by 1.9 percent, which is under
958
1 the cap. The State Operating Fund spending is
2 $96.2 billion. And the way that's broken out,
3 $258 million increase from the Executive
4 recommendation of $95.9 billion; a $1.9 billion
5 increase from fiscal year 2016, which is
6 1.98 percent; and All Funds spending is at
7 $155.1 billion, an increase of 1.96 percent.
8 So our package encourages job
9 growth, provides tax relief, and invests in
10 education.
11 As far as the question by Senator
12 Krueger, you're just wondering how we have been
13 able to do that. We actually have done
14 reestimates in personal services, based -- the
15 Governor overstates spending on salaries and
16 fringe benefits.
17 And so, for example -- and I have it
18 right here -- the reestimates include $35 million
19 from retirement vacancy savings. The Executive
20 books savings from retirement on a full annual
21 basis, when in reality people retire at different
22 times during the year. We were smoothing that
23 out.
24 And as I said, $300 million from a
25 personal services spending base reestimate. In
959
1 our reckoning, the Executive overstates spending
2 projections on personal services by overstating
3 the average salary of employees that work for the
4 Executive-controlled agencies and uses that as a
5 base to inflate overall personal services and
6 general state charges projections in the
7 financial plan.
8 So those are just two examples of
9 how we're able to achieve that.
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
11 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
12 yield.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: So again, your
17 plan cuts $979 million from General Fund cuts and
18 avails. You also cut $928 million from capital
19 funds. But at the same time, in your resolution,
20 you show significant increases over multiple
21 years in capital monies and expenses.
22 So I guess, trying to shorthand,
23 would a five-year plan in fact be able to stay
24 within the target you propose that you were doing
25 this year, which is to stay within the 2 percent?
960
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
3 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
4 yield.
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
9 So, Mr. President, the reason that I
10 am so concerned that the numbers don't appear to
11 add up when you look at the budget resolution and
12 you look at the financial plan is because of the
13 history in this state. Between 1996 and 2008,
14 under Pataki and then Bruno and Skelos, the state
15 budget grew nearly 100 percent from 62 billion to
16 $121 billion. In that same time period, the
17 state debt grew from $31 billion to $54 billion,
18 causing the debt load attributable for each man,
19 woman and child in New York to almost double.
20 Today we are looking at a one-house
21 budget bill -- well, we're actually looking at a
22 resolution, and the resolution doesn't
23 necessarily match the language in the one-house
24 budget bill that tells us we're going to be able
25 to reduce taxes dramatically, which we would all
961
1 love to hear, but apparently increase spending.
2 So it seems to me that means we
3 either are raising our borrowing or something
4 isn't quite adding up, which is one of the things
5 that is triggering my concern here.
6 So if I may, through you,
7 Mr. President, this budget proposal being brought
8 before us today, how much would be the reduced
9 state contributions towards the City of New York
10 in its budget? What's the cut to New York City's
11 budget in this one-house budget bill?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
13 Mr. President. Through you. Maybe my colleague
14 doesn't realize this. Just as part of an answer
15 to the statement that she just made, capital
16 spending is excluded from state operations.
17 And again, I would like to stress
18 that this house has been extraordinarily fiscally
19 prudent over the past few years. We have kept
20 spending of state operations under the 2 percent
21 cap, voluntarily.
22 And also, if my colleague wants to
23 talk about history, we could talk about 2009 and
24 2010, when they were in control of this house and
25 taxes were increased by $14 billion, spending was
962
1 increased by $14 billion, at a time when the
2 economy was tanking and New Yorkers could least
3 afford those types of irresponsible policies.
4 However, we are adding up the answer
5 to the question. And the answer is $867 million.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
7 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
8 yield.
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. This
13 one-house budget bill also proposes a cap of
14 2 percent on the New York City property tax. How
15 much would that cost the City of New York per
16 year or even over the next four years?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
18 Mr. President. As Senator Krueger may know,
19 there is a crisis in New York State as far as the
20 tax burden goes. And it actually has exacerbated
21 the affordable housing crunch that we see. The
22 taxes are too high in New York City. And as a
23 result, it has dampened, in many cases, economic
24 growth. It's really created some problems.
25 We believe that the city actually
963
1 has been raising taxes by gaming the system by
2 changing assessments. And it's created this
3 heavy, heavy burden on middle-class New Yorkers
4 who may own their own homes, but at the same time
5 on businesses that operate in New York City.
6 The 2 percent property tax cap would
7 be the beginning of bringing more of a
8 responsible approach to taxation in New York
9 City. Frankly, the entire structure needs to be
10 overhauled. But this could be a good beginning.
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
12 Mr. President. I'm going to speak on the bill
13 for now, simply because there are so many of my
14 colleagues who have issues to raise and I don't
15 want to use up too much of the time. Perhaps I
16 can come back at the end with some additional
17 questions.
18 I want to thank my colleague for her
19 answers. Again --
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Krueger on the bill.
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. There
23 are things you can like in any given one-house
24 bill, but there are too many things to dislike
25 here.
964
1 My colleague's proposal that somehow
2 putting a cap on property taxes for New York City
3 will address the assessment problem will not, in
4 fact. There is an assessment issue. There is a
5 fundamental problem with how property taxes are
6 calculated throughout the State of New York that
7 I think does require full reform. But just for
8 the record, simply applying a 2 percent property
9 tax cap in New York City -- which is not, by the
10 way, suffering from the same property tax crisis
11 as much of the State of New York -- would lose
12 the City of New York an estimated $8.4 billion in
13 revenue over the next four years.
14 The proposal that my colleagues have
15 put forth today would, as suggested, reduce the
16 state revenue to the City of New York by
17 approximately 800 to 900 million this year, but
18 growing exponentially in the years following.
19 We are proposing in this budget to
20 radically change gambling law in New York State.
21 I heard Senator Flanagan say we should have
22 hearings on mayoral control. I don't think
23 hearings are a bad idea ever. I certainly think
24 before we allow online poker or that we allow
25 fantasy gaming before a court case is even
965
1 decided to suddenly become legal in the State of
2 New York, we ought to have hearings about that
3 rather than slide that in through a budget bill
4 when most New Yorkers don't even know that that's
5 what we are proposing today.
6 I think that the proposal on paid
7 family leave should be exceptionally scrutinized,
8 because while -- if you read the text of the
9 bill, we are accepting the paid family leave
10 proposal of the Governor. But when you read the
11 resolution, there's a big "however" right there
12 in print: The program should also be evaluated
13 for benefit level, duration of program goals, how
14 long you might have to work before you were
15 eligible, how long you might be eligible when
16 there's an interplay with federal nonpaid medical
17 leave, what the sustainability is, what the
18 phase-in should be.
19 For the record, I don't think this
20 is paid family leave the way most people think
21 it's being proposed by the Governor, my
22 conference, the other house.
23 The same is true with minimum wage.
24 There is a reference to exploring minimum wage
25 but no proposal to actually concretely see an
966
1 increase for the millions of New Yorkers who
2 would be moved out of poverty and on their way
3 towards living wages for themselves and their
4 families with an actual living wage bill.
5 There are specific cuts to higher
6 education that I know some of my other colleagues
7 are going to speak about. I just want to go on
8 record right here, Mr. President, the language in
9 the resolution says that because CUNY has had a
10 few anti-Semitic incidents, we should cut funding
11 for higher education for 500,000 students in the
12 City of New York.
13 Well, none of us endorse
14 anti-Semitism, racism, attacks on anyone for
15 gender, sex, race religion, anywhere.
16 Unfortunately, we live in a society where those
17 incidents occasionally happen everywhere. Can
18 you imagine saying we're going to cut our funding
19 to higher education because any specific
20 university had an incident? We'd pretty much not
21 be able to fund any school system, any university
22 system.
23 And so it's exceptionally disturbing
24 that that argument was being made here today.
25 While we all are delighted to see an
967
1 increase in public education K through 12, again,
2 in the absence of seeing the funding runs per
3 district, my understanding is the proposal being
4 raised in this one-house bill would actually
5 reduce the formula for high-needs districts in
6 the basic educational funding formula. That's
7 completely unacceptable.
8 I've received a note saying I'm out
9 of town -- time. I'm not out of things to talk
10 about, but I am out of time, Mr. President.
11 Thank you very much.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: It's good
13 to know that you are in town, Senator Krueger.
14 Senator Peralta.
15 SENATOR PERALTA: Thank you,
16 Mr. President. I don't know how many times I
17 have to get up and say deja vu on this floor.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Peralta, do you want to speak on the bill?
20 SENATOR PERALTA: On the bill,
21 Mr. President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
23 Peralta on the bill.
24 SENATOR PERALTA: Thank you.
25 This is deja vu, Mr. President.
968
1 Another year has passed, and here we go again.
2 We stand here today debating our one-house budget
3 resolution and again, a vital increase in
4 New York's minimum wage is missing from the text.
5 Again, no DREAM Act. But today I'm going to
6 focus my remarks on the minimum wage, because I'm
7 pretty sure I'll get another opportunity to
8 discuss DREAM since this is a one-house
9 resolution.
10 We must act now. For too many years
11 we have continued to kick this can down the road.
12 Don't get me wrong, we've taken a step forward on
13 this issue in the past, bringing the state's
14 minimum wage up to $9 an hour as of this year.
15 But that's the problem here. It's just a step.
16 And while we can continue to take our baby steps
17 on this issue, low-wage workers in New York
18 continue to face economic hardships that destroy
19 not only their own health and welfare but also
20 that of their families.
21 I commend Governor Cuomo for his
22 leadership on the fight for the $15 an hour as
23 part of the budget season. While many are quick
24 to criticize the utility of $15 minimum wage in
25 New York, it should be noted that if a 1970s
969
1 minimum wage were modified based on inflation,
2 today's minimum wage would be just about that
3 amount.
4 I understand that my Senate
5 Republican colleagues are looking for more
6 information on minimum wage, so let me give you
7 some. Official reports indicate that about
8 730,000 New Yorkers are earning wages at or below
9 the current minimum wage of $9 an hour. As much
10 as the rhetoric dictates otherwise, this is not
11 just a New York City issue. For instance, over
12 32,000 New Yorkers in the Department of Labor's
13 Central New York region are living at this income
14 rate, and over 61,000 in the Department of
15 Labor's Western New York region are doing the
16 same.
17 What does living on the minimum wage
18 mean for New Yorkers? Well, it's a bleak picture
19 across the state. It is estimated that
20 statewide, the typical minimum-wage worker earns
21 under $16,000 a year. Erratic and inconsistent
22 work schedules are pervasive in these jobs,
23 making the ability to secure a second line of
24 income impossible in many cases.
25 Sixteen thousand dollars a year
970
1 means individual workers are often at or near
2 official poverty guidelines throughout the state.
3 And in fact, last year's Fast Food Wage Board
4 determined that 60 percent of the state's
5 minimum-wage fast food workers received some sort
6 of public assistance. This is compared to
7 25 percent across all of New York's working
8 families.
9 This isn't simply unjust from the
10 standpoint of being rewarded for hard work, it's
11 also absurd from a fiscal perspective.
12 The negative effect of the current
13 minimum wage on the state's resources is
14 crystal-clear. The minimum wage also fails to
15 meet financial self-sufficiency standards that
16 are set by our own Department of Labor. Take the
17 family of two living in Senator DeFrancisco's
18 district, for instance. The Department of Labor
19 estimates that the family would need to earn
20 $33,000 a year to get by without help.
21 Similarly, let's take the same family in Senator
22 Young's district, which would need $31,974 to do
23 the same.
24 So clearly $16,000 doesn't come
25 close to cutting it, especially when one member
971
1 of that family, that two-person family, is a
2 child who clearly isn't part of the workforce.
3 Well-compensated workers are also
4 stronger consumers in our state's economy. It is
5 common sense that a discount store employee
6 should be able to afford a necessary item of
7 clothing within their employer's own inventory,
8 and that a supermarket cashier should similarly
9 be able to afford a healthy meal. This is just
10 good business for employers.
11 The anecdotal evidence on this is
12 also clear. Take the story of the
13 low-wage-earning mother who testified before the
14 Wage Board last year that she and her infants
15 were forced to share a tightly packed apartment
16 with strangers. Or take the story of the
17 low-wage-earning man who wakes up every morning
18 at 7 a.m. to head to his first job, only to nap
19 for a few hours before heading to his second, and
20 that sometimes starts at midnight. Some would
21 call him lucky to even have two jobs. Frankly, I
22 call the need for this insanity.
23 Research presented to last year's
24 Wage Board also concluded that the current
25 minimum wage is taking its toll on low-wage
972
1 workers physically and emotionally, leading to
2 overcrowded, unsafe living spaces, heavy debt,
3 the inability to cover necessities such as heat
4 and light, lack of sleep and exhaustion,
5 depression, homelessness, inadequate nutrition
6 intake, living in crime-ridden neighborhoods, the
7 inability to afford or attend higher education
8 opportunities, physical ailments such as
9 shortened life expectancy, hypertension,
10 diabetes, obesity and chronic stress.
11 We can and we must do better than
12 this for all New Yorkers. I encourage my
13 colleagues to reconsider their stance on the
14 Fight for 15. It is beyond time to bring this
15 workable, livable minimum wage to our great
16 state.
17 Stats show that raising this wage to
18 $15 would directly benefit 2.3 million people
19 working in New York. This is a quarter of the
20 state's entire workforce. Now, this is real
21 progress.
22 And finally, I will note that the
23 workers to be affected by this increase, 80
24 percent of them are over the age of 25 in the
25 City of New York, and 70 percent of them are over
973
1 the age of 25 in upstate New York. Now, that's a
2 fact.
3 In closing, I encourage all of us
4 here to do the right thing, to do the fiscally
5 smart thing, and to do it now. Let's raise the
6 state wage, statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour
7 and continue to set New York forward as the
8 national standard-bearer and economic leader it
9 has always been.
10 And let's not even get me started on
11 DREAM. Because although you have increased
12 income eligibility from 80,000 to 100,000 a year
13 for middle-class New Yorkers, this resolution
14 creates a fund of $60 million a year for
15 scholarship awards for students who attend SUNY
16 who have a household income eligibility of over
17 $100,000 a year. But there's no language on who
18 qualifies for these scholarships, there's no
19 language on who chooses these students, there's
20 no language on how much is doled out to each
21 individual student, et cetera, et cetera,
22 et cetera.
23 So you can find $60 million for
24 scholarships for well-to-do households, instead
25 of helping Dreamers or households making under
974
1 $100,000 -- which are the bulk of these
2 students -- but you can't find money for those
3 individuals that need it the most.
4 So for this and so many other
5 reasons, I'm going to be voting in the negative,
6 Mr. President. Thank you very much.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
8 you, Senator Peralta.
9 Senator Stavisky.
10 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
11 Mr. President.
12 I have a number of questions if
13 there -- would somebody be kind enough to yield?
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Young?
16 Senator Young yields.
17 SENATOR STAVISKY: To start with,
18 the Republican budget resolution accepts the
19 30 percent shift in CUNY costs to the City of
20 New York. Can you explain the reasoning behind
21 that?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes. Thank you
23 very much, Senator, for that question.
24 Through you, Mr. President, the
25 30 percent figure was determined because the
975
1 mayor of the City of New York currently and has
2 for quite a while had the ability to appoint 30
3 percent of the Board of Trustees for the CUNY
4 system.
5 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
6 Senator continue to yield?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 Senator yields.
10 SENATOR STAVISKY: That was not
11 spelled out in your budget resolution in Part C.
12 There are some other issues that are spelled out
13 in Part C. Would you care to discuss the other
14 reasons for the shift?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Well, that's part
16 of it. I mean, that's -- if you're asking where
17 we came up with the 30 percent figure, that's
18 where we came up with that 30 percent figure.
19 However, you are correct, there have
20 been several very egregious incidents that have
21 occurred on CUNY campuses, anti-Semitic
22 instances. And I can go through those if you'd
23 like; I have a list right here. The feeling is
24 is that the CUNY system has not done enough to
25 address those incidents. And we would like to
976
1 see them corrected.
2 SENATOR STAVISKY: Will the Senator
3 continue to yield?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Would you like for
5 me for read some of them?
6 SENATOR STAVISKY: No.
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay.
8 SENATOR STAVISKY: Well, all
9 right -- no, not necessary. I think we're all
10 familiar with what happened at the CUNY campuses.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
12 Stavisky, do you want to ask a question?
13 SENATOR STAVISKY: I was asked
14 whether I wanted to hear the list, and my answer
15 was no.
16 I would appreciate it if the Senator
17 would continue to yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 Senator yields.
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
21 SENATOR STAVISKY: Are you aware
22 that the Anti-Defamation League, which is
23 considered the preeminent organization, the
24 world's leading opponent of anti-Semitism, on
25 March 4th of this year sent a letter to the City
977
1 University of New York and to Chancellor
2 Milliken, and thanked them for taking steps to
3 renew allegations of anti-Semitism on several of
4 its campuses and for establishing a task force
5 for a more understanding and respectful
6 environment. Are you familiar with that?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
8 Mr. President, we did receive a letter on late
9 Friday from the Anti-Defamation League. However,
10 we still feel that the action that has been taken
11 isn't strong enough, and it was done very late.
12 And we just got that letter.
13 But, you know -- I mean, if you want
14 to go through a list, this list is horrifying as
15 to what has been happening on those campuses.
16 And it's not only happened to the students -- who
17 feel unsafe, by the way -- it actually has
18 happened to some of the faculty. And I believe
19 that the CUNY system has a responsibility, number
20 one, to keep its students safe. And number two,
21 it should support its faculty and staff.
22 SENATOR STAVISKY: Will the Senator
23 continue to yield?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
978
1 Senator yields.
2 SENATOR STAVISKY: Are you familiar
3 with the Academic Engagement Network that sent a
4 letter to the chancellor on March 7th thanking
5 them for what they have done in confronting this
6 ugly issue of anti-Semitism?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Again, that just
8 came to us. It came at the same time as the
9 letter. And so we're reviewing that.
10 But again, these are significant
11 issues that have to be addressed.
12 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
13 Senator continue to yield?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 Senator yields.
17 SENATOR STAVISKY: There's a lengthy
18 article from Truth Revolt, the 10 worst
19 anti-Semitic campuses in the country. And
20 unfortunately, three of them are in New York
21 State: Columbia University, Cornell University,
22 and Vassar. And the things that were written
23 about are just as egregious as what happened on
24 the CUNY campuses.
25 For example, at Vassar apparently
979
1 there was a posting of an anti-Semitic German
2 cartoon dating from the Nazi regime on their
3 Twitter account. At Vassar, the Students for a
4 Just Palestine vandalized a pro-Israel Wall of
5 Truth and harassed students taking a course
6 involving a trip to Israel to study water supply
7 issues.
8 And it goes on. There are incidents
9 at a number of campuses; unfortunately, three in
10 New York State. Are you familiar with that?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: No. But you know,
12 Senator, we would not condone any kind of racist
13 activity anywhere.
14 I would like to ask, however, what
15 is the group Truth Revolt? I've never heard of
16 them. So who is behind them?
17 SENATOR STAVISKY: Well, let me
18 mention -- let me ask you, let me finish. I'll
19 follow up on the question I was asking.
20 Is any Bundy Aid being restricted
21 from these private colleges for anti-Semitic
22 occurrences?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: No.
24 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
25 Senator continue to yield?
980
1 SENATOR YOUNG: But again, you
2 know, that's not the only formulation that we
3 used as far as the CUNY system goes.
4 And by the way, this is the
5 Governor's proposal and -- I would like to
6 clarify, too. So this proposal on CUNY is
7 actually to deal with Operating Aid. The
8 colleges and universities that you reference
9 actually don't receive Operating Aid from
10 New York State government. They do receive Bundy
11 Aid, but it's a totally different funding stream.
12 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
13 Senator continue to --
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Except for Cornell.
15 Which I would like to say that's a land grant
16 college, which I'm very familiar with, as former
17 Agriculture chair in the Senate. So I would
18 clarify that.
19 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
20 Senator continue to yield?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Young, do you yield.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 Senator yields.
981
1 SENATOR STAVISKY: I'm glad you
2 mentioned Cornell, because it's a wonderful
3 institution, particularly the statutory colleges.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: I think you've
5 visited there; right?
6 SENATOR STAVISKY: My father was an
7 alumnus of the College of Agriculture, which is
8 why I care so much about the university. I've
9 been there many times.
10 But the point, I think, and what I
11 would like the Senator to respond to, is the fact
12 that despite Cornell's SJP chapter used open
13 force to intimidate Jewish and pro-Israel
14 students on campus, they've erected mock
15 checkpoints, et cetera -- despite that fact,
16 could you explain the $4 million increase in
17 funding to Cornell?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Senator, you know,
19 you're trying to compare apples and oranges. And
20 I can't --
21 SENATOR STAVISKY: Well, it's
22 agriculture.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: No, you're trying
24 to compare apples and oranges and you're talking
25 about other universities that have had incidents.
982
1 I cannot say off the top of my head
2 without researching those particular instances as
3 to what the response from the university actually
4 was. If you're equating CUNY's response, which
5 was weak up until now, with their responses, I
6 can't compare those because I don't know what
7 they were.
8 But I will tell you that we do not
9 condone any kind of racist activity, any kind of
10 prejudicial activity. But I think that you're
11 trying to compare different incidents which maybe
12 do not equate to the same level, or you're not
13 letting us know what the university's response
14 was, how rapid it was, what exactly they did to
15 address each situation.
16 So until you do that, you know, I
17 can't really comment on what you're putting
18 forward.
19 SENATOR STAVISKY: Let me just ask
20 one --
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: I'm going
22 to request that the Senators --
23 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
24 Senator continue to yield?
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: I'm going
983
1 to request that the members direct through the
2 chair during debate, please.
3 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
4 Senator continue to yield?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes. Through you,
6 Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 Senator yields.
9 SENATOR STAVISKY: Was this
10 reasoning that you outline in your Article VII in
11 Part C, in the Governor's original proposal? Did
12 he cite the anti-Semitism as the cause for the --
13 SENATOR YOUNG: What we're
14 saying -- and I guess -- you know, I guess I will
15 read some of the incidents that have occurred at
16 CUNY campuses, you know, if you really want to go
17 there.
18 At John Jay College, which
19 specializes in criminal justice, Jewish students
20 have been the target of so many slurs that at
21 least three have transferred. One John Jay
22 administrator responded to a Jewish student's
23 concerns by saying, "What are these white kids
24 complaining about?"
25 On November 12th, at Hunter College,
984
1 during a demonstration for free tuition, Jewish
2 students were denounced as racist sons of -- I'm
3 not going to say the word -- fascists and Nazis,
4 and were greeted with comments such as "Jews out
5 of CUNY." One student tweeted at the time
6 "Full-blown anti-Semitism allowed at my college.
7 I witnessed this and froze in fear."
8 At Brooklyn College, the
9 pro-Palestinian group disrupted a faculty meeting
10 last week and called a professor wearing a
11 yarmulke a Zionist pig. At the College of Staten
12 Island a pro-Palestinian demonstrator told a
13 Jewish student last November: "I don't hug
14 murderers." Swastikas also defaced the college's
15 desks and walls.
16 These are the things that have been
17 happening at CUNY. And these are the things that
18 the Senate Republican Conference is saying are
19 intolerable and need to be addressed.
20 SENATOR STAVISKY: On another
21 subject, would the Senator yield?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 Senator yields.
25 SENATOR STAVISKY: Last June we
985
1 passed a maintenance of effort legislation almost
2 unanimously. It included the assumption of
3 fringe benefits and rental, building rental and
4 so forth for both CUNY and SUNY. The Governor
5 vetoed it on the basis of including it in budget
6 negotiations.
7 Have any of those costs been
8 restored in your budget resolution?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes. The language
10 is in there.
11 SENATOR STAVISKY: Which ones?
12 Would you -- would the Senator continue to yield?
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 Senator yields.
16 SENATOR STAVISKY: Which?
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: She's
18 inquiring as to which.
19 SENATOR STAVISKY: Which items have
20 been restored?
21 SENATOR YOUNG: The maintenance of
22 effort all has been restored. So fringe benefit,
23 hospital subsidy, salary increases. And actually
24 it includes other mandatory costs.
25 SENATOR STAVISKY: Let me ask one
986
1 last question because my time is almost up.
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 Senator yields.
5 SENATOR STAVISKY: One of the
6 interesting programs -- if the Senator would
7 yield.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: She does.
9 SENATOR STAVISKY: Okay. One of
10 the serious problems at the CUNY community
11 colleges is the long period it takes for students
12 to graduate. Seventeen percent of the students
13 graduated on the community college level
14 graduated in three years.
15 CUNY had a program called ASAP --
16 $2.5 million was taken out of the budget for the
17 ASAP program. But those students who
18 participated in the ASAP program, their
19 three-year graduation rate was 57 percent.
20 Stories have been written about the program in
21 the New York Times, it's been praised widely.
22 President Obama has cited the ASAP program as a
23 jewel.
24 And yet it will has been eliminated
25 from your budget resolution. Can you explain
987
1 why?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: It wasn't
3 eliminated from our budget resolution. The
4 Executive did not restore it.
5 SENATOR STAVISKY: And you did not
6 restore it.
7 SENATOR YOUNG: The Executive did
8 not restore it.
9 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
10 Senator Young.
11 On the bill very briefly.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Stavisky on the resolution, briefly.
14 SENATOR STAVISKY: On the
15 resolution, I'm sorry.
16 I find this very troubling in terms
17 of penalizing students, because CUNY has been the
18 door to educational opportunity, to economic
19 improvement. It has been such an important
20 aspect, particularly for the immigrant community.
21 City College goes back to 1847, and
22 it was founded in 1847 to educate the sons of
23 immigrants. And that mission really hasn't
24 changed. CUNY has been the steppingstone for so
25 many people. So many of our relatives graduated
988
1 from the City University of New York.
2 And to subject it to a $485 million
3 cut -- and who determines the trustees to me is
4 less important than the effect it's going to have
5 on students looking for a job. And I
6 respectfully request that in final budget
7 negotiations that this cut be restored.
8 Thank you, Mr. President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Squadron.
11 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you,
12 Mr. President. If the sponsor would to yield.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Young, do you yield?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you.
19 I'd like to talk about S6411. This
20 was the Governor's ethics reform package. I
21 notice that in the resolution it says the Senate
22 will consider modification to the Governor's good
23 government ethics reform package. It talks a lot
24 about a full-time Legislature, some other issues.
25 What does the Senate resolution say
989
1 about any changes to campaign finance law?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: I'm sorry, what's
3 the ending of your question, Senator?
4 SENATOR SQUADRON: What does the
5 resolution say about any changes to campaign
6 finance law?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: We reject the
8 taxpayer-funded campaign finance plan that was
9 put forward by the Governor. And the reason that
10 we do is that taxpayers in this state do not want
11 their hard-earned tax dollars going to fund
12 politicians' political campaigns -- paying for
13 robocalls, paying for negative advertising.
14 And frankly, the New York City
15 system that exists right now has had several
16 instances of corruption. Whether it's aides to
17 John Liu, whether it was Anthony Weiner, whether
18 it was Malcolm Smith, there have been several
19 instances that are associated with the public
20 financing of campaigns. And that's why we
21 believe that this is the wrong way to take.
22 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
23 would continue to yield.
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
990
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR SQUADRON: Any other major
3 portions of the Governor's ethics reform proposal
4 that have been rejected by the Senate Majority?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, there is
6 another one that was rejected, and that has to do
7 with outside income and jobs.
8 But I do want to tell you that we
9 have put in several proposals that I think would
10 be very meaningful.
11 And by the way, I do want to remind
12 the Senator that this body has passed forfeiture
13 of pensions for public officials who are
14 convicted of corruption. And unfortunately, the
15 Assembly has chosen not to advance that proposal.
16 We believe that that would go far in addressing
17 much of the unfortunate incidents that have
18 occurred in this state.
19 We also advance a proposal for
20 increased disclosure of sources of funding for
21 lobbyists and clients. We advance reforms to
22 ensure that the Senate Ethics Committee provides
23 meaningful oversight and guidance to members and
24 employees of the Senate related to ethical
25 conduct, best practices, and adherence to Senate
991
1 policies.
2 The Senate also would consider
3 amendments to the Constitution to allow the
4 Legislature to have four-year terms, because
5 there seems to be a concern that's been raised
6 about continuous cycles of campaigning.
7 The Senate will consider whether a
8 political consultant should be permitted to
9 register as a lobbyist. Legislation which would
10 ban such practice has previously passed the
11 Senate.
12 The Senate advances a proposal to
13 require members of the Regional Economic
14 Development Councils to be subject to the code of
15 ethics and financial disclosure requirements in
16 the Public Officers Law. We feel that this is a
17 very important advancement.
18 The Senate denies the Executive
19 proposal to subject the Legislature and
20 Legislative Ethics Commission to the same Freedom
21 of Information Law provisions, which you may ask
22 about that too, which Executive agencies are
23 subject. The legislative process is inherently
24 open to the public for input, scrutiny and
25 review. And in contrast, the public is made
992
1 aware of many Executive agency activities only
2 after they occur. And as such, for purposes of
3 the Freedom of Information Law, these
4 branches are treated differently. And I do want
5 to stress that that's how it's done on the
6 federal level also.
7 The Senate advances a proposal to
8 provide attorney's fees when an agency
9 unreasonably denies a Freedom of Information
10 request.
11 And the Senate advances a proposal
12 that limits the time state agencies would have to
13 appeal Article 78 Supreme Court judgments against
14 them for violations of the Freedom of Information
15 Law.
16 And the Senate believes that
17 comprehensive ethics reform must ensure that the
18 public trust is restored in government.
19 So we have several measures that we
20 are putting forward as far as ethics reforms go.
21 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
22 would continue to yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 sponsor yields.
25 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you for
993
1 reading that last line of the resolution:
2 "Comprehensive ethics reform must ensure that the
3 public trust is restored in government."
4 When you look at things that have
5 led to doubt of the public's trust and have led
6 the public for good reason to wonder who folks in
7 Albany are working for, the two major issues are
8 one that I appreciate the sponsor was clear was
9 left out, which was any limitation on outside
10 income beyond what exists today. And secondly,
11 as I read it, any closure of the LLC loophole or
12 mention of the LLC loophole was also left out.
13 Is that correct?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
15 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
16 would continue to yield.
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: She
19 yields.
20 SENATOR SQUADRON: During last
21 year's LLC debate -- and I know there's a certain
22 Groundhog Day feel, probably, to my standing and
23 talking about this issue, and to the debate we're
24 having -- in last year's debate the Finance chair
25 at the time said: "I don't think it's a
994
1 loophole. It's a way to raise money in a
2 campaign. And if it's in use by everyone, that's
3 not a loophole."
4 Is that the view that the current
5 chair of Finance shares?
6 SENATOR YOUNG: I can't comment on
7 last year's debate, I'm sorry, I didn't -- I'm
8 sorry, I don't remember it from last year.
9 But I will say this, that if we do
10 any reforms along those lines, that it has to be
11 across the board. And it's an uneven playing
12 field otherwise. And so that's what we would
13 have to look toward.
14 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
15 would continue to yield.
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR SQUADRON: So does the
20 sponsor believe that the LLC loophole is in fact
21 a loophole that allows corporate entities to be
22 treated as individuals for purposes of big money
23 contributions to politicians?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
25 Mr. President, I don't believe that it's actually
995
1 a loophole. And it's the law. And so people
2 should adhere to the law.
3 SENATOR SQUADRON: Will the sponsor
4 continue to yield?
5 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR SQUADRON: And just a brief
9 point of fact, I don't in fact believe that it is
10 the current law and am party to a lawsuit to that
11 effect. But it is the current practice.
12 And to move on to my question, does
13 the sponsor feel that since last year's debate,
14 when we talk about restoring public trust in
15 government, there have been any activities or
16 anything that's happened that should cause the
17 Majority Conference to revisit its long-standing
18 unwillingness to close the LLC loophole?
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
20 Mr. President. As I stated previously, we have
21 taken several actions in this house. One has to
22 do with the stripping of pensions from public
23 officials. Unfortunately, the Assembly has
24 failed to do that. That's why we've put together
25 this whole package of ethics reforms that we feel
996
1 would be very relevant to making New York State
2 be able to move ahead on these issues.
3 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
4 would continue to yield.
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR SQUADRON: So from that
9 response, it sounds as though the corruption
10 trials of the leaders of both houses of the
11 Legislature, including the person who was the
12 leader of this house at the time of last year's
13 budget debate, in which outside income and the
14 LLC loophole figured prominently, does not cause
15 the sponsor or the Majority Conference to believe
16 that that long-standing position should be
17 revisited?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
19 Mr. President, I think that we've taken action
20 along those lines. And it not only deals with
21 pension stripping, but it also deals with term
22 limits for legislative leaders.
23 And I think that if we're able to
24 get the other house to agree to those things,
25 that would solve a lot of the issues that, you
997
1 know, have come forward in recent history.
2 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
3 would continue to yield.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you.
8 In the fall, my office put out a
9 report showing over 11,000 LLC contributions to
10 political committees from January 2014 to January
11 2015, totaling more than $20 million, including
12 22 different LLCs contributing nearly $2 million
13 that listed 1200 Union Turnpike in New Hyde Park,
14 New York, as its address.
15 Does the sponsor think that that is
16 an important factor when we talk about restoring
17 the public's faith in our government?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
19 Mr. President, I would have to look at the
20 report. I haven't seen it.
21 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
22 would continue to yield.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 sponsor yields.
998
1 SENATOR SQUADRON: I notice that
2 the Majority Leader said -- and I appreciated
3 hearing this at the opening of today's debate --
4 that conversations have to take place when it
5 comes to ethics reform moving forward. I know we
6 heard the same thing last year. In fact, shortly
7 after Leader Flanagan was elevated to that role,
8 he said the same thing in regard to the LLC
9 loophole. At the time that a committee took up
10 closure of the LLC loophole after the budget,
11 there was some suggestion there would be further
12 conversation about that bill before it was
13 subsequently muzzled.
14 Does the sponsor believe that
15 conversations do have to take place this
16 legislative session, in public, about closing the
17 LLC loophole?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
19 Mr. President, I believe that we will continue to
20 have discussions about ethics reforms. And as I
21 said, we have passed some things so far and will
22 continue to consider other measures.
23 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
24 would continue to yield.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
999
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR SQUADRON: I don't mean to
4 repeat myself, but I just want to be very clear.
5 Should those conversations -- through you,
6 Mr. President, should those conversations include
7 public discussion of closure of the LLC
8 loophole and limits on outside income?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
10 Mr. President. As I said, we will be looking at
11 all different proposals that are out there and
12 having a discussion about those measures.
13 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
14 would continue to yield.
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR SQUADRON: When we talk
19 about ethics reform, it seems that severe and
20 significant consequences for violations of the
21 public trust are important. Pension forfeiture
22 speaks to this. I think that preventing such
23 actions is also important.
24 Does the sponsor feel that we need
25 to be passing provisions urgently this year, in
1000
1 this year's budget, that change the culture of
2 Albany to make wrongdoing less likely?
3 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
4 Mr. President. As I said, we have passed, for
5 example, stripping of pensions for public
6 officials who are corrupt and have been
7 convicted.
8 I think it's those types of measures
9 that go very far in being deterrents. But at the
10 end of the day, if somebody's going to take a
11 bribe, for example, there are already a lot of
12 laws against that. And that's been proven as
13 people have gotten into trouble and been
14 convicted.
15 So we're taking action, we've taken
16 action, we'll continue to take action along those
17 lines. And we want to do commonsense things that
18 are meaningful not only to the process here in
19 Albany, but also to the people in New York State.
20 And I will tell you, when you talk
21 to individuals across the state about wanting the
22 pensions stripped from public officials, that is
23 something that people overwhelmingly support.
24 And that's why I'm so happy that we have taken
25 action along those lines.
1001
1 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
2 would yield for a final question.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Does the
4 sponsor yield to a final question?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
6 SENATOR SQUADRON: I agree about
7 pension forfeiture, which my conference, I
8 believe, has voted in favor of as well.
9 Just to be clear, as conversations
10 happen in the Majority Conference about what
11 folks are hearing around the state, are folks
12 hearing that treating limited liability companies
13 like individuals, so as to allow small numbers of
14 heavily invested interests to contribute
15 unlimited and often anonymous sums, is something
16 that people around the state support?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: I'm sorry, could
18 you repeat that again?
19 SENATOR SQUADRON: Does the
20 Majority Conference hear around the state that
21 allowing limited liability companies to be
22 treated as individuals so that they can
23 contribute unlimited and often anonymous sums is
24 something that people support?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
1002
1 Mr. President, that isn't something that I've
2 heard from one constituent in my district about.
3 But I would like to -- am I allowed
4 to ask him a couple of questions?
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Squadron, do you yield?
7 SENATOR SQUADRON: Of course.
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Senator Squadron,
9 part of our package that we have put forward
10 would actually consider whether a political
11 consultant should be permitted to register as a
12 lobbyist. Legislation which would ban such
13 practice has previously passed the Senate.
14 Now, there are different
15 organizations out there that routinely use firms
16 that do this. Is that something that you
17 support?
18 SENATOR SQUADRON: The sponsor said
19 that that bill has been through the house, so I
20 will look at how I voted on it and let you know.
21 SENATOR YOUNG: But if it's
22 something that, for example, you know,
23 somebody -- maybe you voted on it but you
24 actually are somebody who maybe would utilize
25 that in practice, is that something that should
1003
1 be looked at?
2 SENATOR SQUADRON: If the sponsor
3 would clarify. If I would utilize what in
4 practice?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: So, for example,
6 you know, if that's something that a certain
7 group actually did routinely, is that something
8 that you would be willing to denounce today,
9 then, if that's a measure that you support?
10 SENATOR SQUADRON: I'm sorry, if
11 the sponsor would just describe the activity.
12 SENATOR YOUNG: I'm just saying
13 that that's part of our proposal, that whether a
14 political consultant should be permitted to
15 register as a lobbyist.
16 SENATOR SQUADRON: Whether
17 political consultants should be allowed to
18 register as lobbyists?
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Right. And then
20 whether, you know, certain groups actually use
21 lobbyists and political consultants that do both.
22 SENATOR SQUADRON: I'm having a
23 little trouble understanding the sponsor's
24 question.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay, so I guess
1004
1 you're not going to answer it.
2 SENATOR SQUADRON: I think those
3 who lobby on legislation, resolutions, state
4 action, must register and should register --
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay, so I guess
6 you're not -- that's fine, Senator --
7 SENATOR SQUADRON: -- as well --
8 SENATOR YOUNG: If you're not going
9 to answer, that's fine --
10 SENATOR SQUADRON: -- as well --
11 Mr. President?
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator.
13 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you.
14 As well, I think it's critical that
15 anyone who is exerting influence in those kinds
16 of direct ways register.
17 In the case of this bill, the
18 sponsor said the bill referenced in the
19 resolution has moved through this house. Rather
20 than us sort of trying to find the right words
21 for it, I said I would get my voting record on it
22 and share it with the sponsor.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Young, do you wish to ask Senator Squadron if he
25 continues to yield?
1005
1 SENATOR YOUNG: No, I think I'm
2 done. Thank you, Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Okay.
4 Senator Squadron, then you have the floor.
5 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you. On
6 the bill.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On the
8 resolution, Senator Squadron.
9 SENATOR SQUADRON: The resolution.
10 Thank you, Mr. President. I did that last year
11 as well. Thank you for clarifying two years in a
12 row. I'll see you at the same time, same place,
13 next year. Hopefully a different outcome.
14 (Laughter.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Take a
16 vote on that?
17 (Laughter.)
18 SENATOR SQUADRON: Different
19 places, just to be clear.
20 Mr. President, when you look at this
21 resolution and you look at the Governor's budget
22 proposal, there is a significant spending
23 component. And of course that's a critical
24 portion of what we do up here, critical and
25 related policies. The budget is our opportunity
1006
1 to not just ensure that state spending is
2 effective and efficient and makes the best use of
3 the taxpayers' dollars; it's also an opportunity
4 for us to really get at the core of our state
5 government and how it functions.
6 In fact, approving a spending plan
7 of well over a $100 billion, over 150, to --
8 without also cleaning up state government and
9 creating people's faith or recreating people's
10 faith in state government is an enormous mistake.
11 And that's what this resolution risks doing.
12 We heard repeatedly about the
13 pension forfeiture issue. To be clear, that is
14 something that I have voted for, many members of
15 my conference, my conference as a whole has voted
16 for. We believe that's important. However, that
17 does not get at the core of what we've seen in
18 the most disturbing cases out of this house and
19 the other house in recent years.
20 Since this time last year, this time
21 last year the former chair of Finance and I had a
22 spirited conversation about the destructive
23 influence of the LLC loophole on state politics
24 and government, on the fact that corporate
25 entities should not be treated as individuals,
1007
1 should not have the ability to contribute
2 unlimited sums.
3 Subsequently, a significant
4 corruption trial, federal corruption trial on the
5 former leader of this house and the other house,
6 proceeded. And lo and behold, the LLC loophole
7 figured prominently.
8 And yet when it comes to fixing the
9 LLC loophole, when it comes to doing something
10 about the kind of influence, pernicious influence
11 that it has, we're in the same place we were last
12 year.
13 We're hearing about the very, very
14 weak tea of ethics reform that wasn't rejected
15 from the Governor in this resolution, but we're
16 not hearing even a commitment to have a public
17 conversation about closure of the LLC loophole.
18 We're not hearing even a commitment to have a
19 public conversation about the influences of
20 outside income.
21 You know, if a fire is raging in
22 someone's living room, you don't go into the
23 kitchen and unplug the toaster. You go into the
24 living room and you put out the fire.
25 But that's not what's happening here
1008
1 at all. And the problem is that people's faith
2 in our government has been destroyed. And it
3 will not be able to be rehabilitated until we do
4 something about these core issues.
5 That's why, despite a number of good
6 things and some other things I'm concerned about
7 in this resolution, there is no way I can vote
8 for a resolution that yet again is going to let a
9 status quo that has done so much damage continue
10 in Albany.
11 Thank you, Mr. President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Rivera.
14 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
15 Mr. President. Would the Senator yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 Senator yields.
19 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 I want to -- some of my colleagues
22 have gone to different areas that I might want to
23 come back to when I'm speaking on the bill, but
24 for now I have a couple of questions regarding
25 the health portion of the resolution.
1009
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
2 SENATOR RIVERA: Let's start out --
3 through you, Mr. President -- with the Medicaid
4 growth formula. Could you explain to me what
5 this particular budget resolution does regarding
6 the Medicaid growth formula as it relates to the
7 Governor's proposal?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: It's the same.
9 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you,
10 Mr. President if the sponsor will continue to
11 yield.
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 Could I have some order in the
16 house, please. Could you take conversations of
17 staff outside the chamber, please.
18 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 And what is the fiscal impact that
21 that would have on the city's budget?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
23 Mr. President. I just had to check about the
24 actual figure.
25 The actual figure is $182 million.
1010
1 And it's the Governor's proposal, but the
2 Governor has publicly stated that he would work
3 with the city on this issue.
4 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you,
5 Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to
6 yield.
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR RIVERA: As you stated
11 earlier, Senator, the Senate Majority resolution
12 accepts this. The question that I have is what
13 is the reasoning behind this shift of cost?
14 Through you, Mr. President.
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
16 Mr. President. This actually has to do with the
17 tax cap, because the city gets reimbursed for
18 Medicaid costs at the same -- you know, the same
19 way that counties around the state do. And one
20 of the rationale -- one of the reasonings, I
21 should say, for helping the counties with the
22 Medicaid growth is that they have the property
23 tax cap, as we know, that puts constraints on the
24 growth of counties' budgets. The city is under
25 no such constraint.
1011
1 And as a matter of fact, the taxes
2 that are collected every year in the city
3 continue to skyrocket. The city actually is
4 sitting on a very large reserve fund right now.
5 And so the rationale is that the city should not
6 be getting the same benefit as the counties do
7 upstate when the counties are under property tax
8 caps and the city is not.
9 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you, if
10 the sponsor will continue to yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Will the
12 sponsor yield?
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you. I want
17 to move on to a second issue, and that is the
18 issue of Health Republic. As all of our
19 colleagues are aware of the failure of that
20 particular company, could you tell me what this
21 resolution says about Health Republic as it
22 relates to the Governor's proposal and what the
23 Senate Republican Conference proposes to be done
24 about this particular issue?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
1012
1 Mr. President. This actually is a three-part
2 process that has been identified.
3 First, we would repeal prior
4 approval for future issues to change the system
5 as to how it's structured now.
6 We would also have the Department of
7 Financial Services to expedite the liquidation
8 process to determine the losses, which we need to
9 have an exact figure.
10 And finally, we would require the
11 Governor to identify funds to reimburse the
12 hospitals and the doctors that have been hurt
13 through this ordeal.
14 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you.
15 Mr. President, if the sponsor would yield.
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 Senator yields.
19 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 So there is -- on page 20 of the
22 resolution, there is a paragraph that relates to
23 Health Republic. I'm trying to look to see if
24 there is a corresponding language within the bill
25 language itself.
1013
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, Senator, there
2 is, in Part C.
3 SENATOR RIVERA: Part C.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
5 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you.
6 Through you, Mr. President, if the
7 sponsor will continue to yield.
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR RIVERA: I want to move on
12 to a third issue. Since I don't have that much
13 time, I just want to make sure that I'm clear on
14 some of these things before I speak on the bill.
15 The third issue -- through you,
16 Mr. President -- the New York State of Health.
17 Could you tell me what the resolution does
18 regarding the New York State of Health, or the
19 health exchange in the State of New York?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
21 Mr. President, nothing.
22 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you,
23 Mr. President, if the Senator would continue to
24 yield.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes. Yes.
1014
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you.
4 Since nothing means that it's not
5 funded at all, what happens to the millions of
6 folks that have already used it or the hundreds
7 of thousands of people that could potentially use
8 it. Would it cease to exist? I'm not sure what
9 would happen to the exchange.
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Mr. President, the
11 Governor said it would be self-sustaining when he
12 set it up. And so we're just, you know, going
13 ahead with the Executive proposal.
14 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you,
15 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
16 yield.
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 Senator yields.
20 SENATOR RIVERA: So you're
21 referring to what the Governor said originally as
22 far as over time it would become self-sustaining.
23 Is it self-sustaining now? Does it no longer
24 require funding?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
1015
1 Mr. President, no one has said otherwise.
2 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you,
3 Mr. President, if the Senator would continue to
4 yield.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR RIVERA: "Nobody has said
8 this." I'm trying to understand the phrase.
9 Is the current -- is the New York
10 State of Health self-sustaining so it no longer
11 requires funding? Is that what you're saying?
12 Through you, Mr. President.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
14 Mr. President, it does have funding.
15 SENATOR HANNON: {Inaudible.}
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Wait, wait, wait.
17 Correct?
18 SENATOR RIVERA: I was about to
19 say.
20 SENATOR YOUNG: So I've been given
21 a clarification. The enrollment system for the
22 counties has funding, but there isn't any funding
23 for the exchange.
24 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you,
25 Mr. President, if the Senator would continue to
1016
1 yield.
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR RIVERA: So once again
6 through you, Mr. President, if there is no
7 funding, if this proposal were to be accepted and
8 become law, then the exchange would cease to
9 exist. So that means what happens as far as the
10 ability of people to be able to sign up in the
11 future?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
13 Mr. President, would it be okay with you if
14 Senator Hannon actually discusses this, as chair
15 of the Health Committee?
16 SENATOR RIVERA: We've discussed it
17 many times, I'm sure. It will be perfectly fine.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without
19 objection -- without objection, the chair will
20 recognize Senator Hannon.
21 SENATOR HANNON: I presume the
22 question is what is the future of the exchange.
23 If that's the question --
24 SENATOR RIVERA: That is the
25 question, Mr. President.
1017
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: That is
2 the question.
3 SENATOR HANNON: -- then the
4 proposal --
5 SENATOR RIVERA: That is one
6 question, Mr. President.
7 SENATOR HANNON: The resolution
8 doesn't alter what the Executive has done. The
9 Executive did not propose really funding the
10 exchange. To the extent they might have tried to
11 do that, it was removed.
12 So we would go along with the
13 absolute words, the words per se that the
14 Executive used when they set up the exchange,
15 which was it will be self-sustaining.
16 Now, along the way the computer
17 system for enrollment in the exchange is the same
18 mechanics, the same computer as the enrollment
19 system that takes over enrollment for Medicaid
20 from the counties. So that part of it is funded.
21 But the exchange, there's nothing
22 negative about the exchange. It would continue,
23 as far as we know. If there's anything that has
24 been done to jeopardize the future of the
25 exchange, I believe it is the Basic Essential
1018
1 Health Plan, which took about 200,000 people out
2 of the people covered by the exchange and put
3 them in a separate plan, thereby reducing the
4 total number of people in the exchange. They're
5 still being covered getting their healthcare.
6 But if you have a per unit cost for people,
7 you've just lowered the number of people covered.
8 SENATOR RIVERA: Through you,
9 Mr. President, if either Senator would yield.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Hannon, do you continue to yield?
12 SENATOR HANNON: Yes, Senator
13 Hannon will.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Hannon yields.
16 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 Moving on to one more issue, the End
19 of AIDS Task Force, the end of AIDS or the ending
20 the epidemic report that was put out just a few
21 months ago, there were some -- and obviously it
22 was put together by the Governor, the task force
23 itself and the report was put out by that entity.
24 The proposals were accepted, so to speak. It was
25 agreed that these things need to happen. And it
1019
1 was funded at a particular level in the
2 Governor's proposal.
3 What are the changes, if any, in the
4 Governor's -- I'm sorry, in the resolution before
5 us?
6 SENATOR HANNON: We have left the
7 funding level at what the Governor proposed.
8 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you.
9 Through you, Mr. President, if the
10 Senator would yield for a few more questions.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
12 Hannon, do you yield?
13 SENATOR HANNON: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 Senator yields.
16 SENATOR RIVERA: Actually, I want
17 to go back -- through you, Mr. President, I want
18 to go back to Health Republic to talk about
19 Health Republic for just a couple -- for just a
20 little bit.
21 There is -- related to Part C and
22 then -- and what is in Part C related to Health
23 Republic, as we talked about earlier, there's one
24 part that is in there related to prior approval.
25 But as far as the other two parts that were
1020
1 discussed by Senator Young, where are those? Are
2 they in Part C or are they someplace else?
3 SENATOR HANNON: I'm sorry,
4 Senator, I didn't get the question. They were
5 trying to give me the answer before I got the
6 question.
7 SENATOR RIVERA: Yes,
8 Mr. President, I will ask again.
9 So in Part C there's a reference, as
10 Senator Young referenced earlier, there was part
11 of the -- as far as the proposal to address the
12 heath republic issue. There are two other ones
13 related to DFS determining losses. And the third
14 one, the question is where is that? Is that in
15 Part C as well or --
16 SENATOR HANNON: It's there.
17 There's three things.
18 If you're going to do the getting
19 rid of prior approval, that's designed to make
20 sure in the future that the same type of
21 circumstance and bad political judgment that led
22 to the bankruptcy of Health Republic doesn't
23 occur again, because we have another mechanism
24 called medical loss ratio which ensures that
25 people get their money for medical coverage and
1021
1 that there can be a viable vehicle for going
2 forward. That was one.
3 The second is liquidation. You
4 can't move forward with ascertaining people's
5 claims until there's something for them to file.
6 And unless there's liquidation, there's no way
7 for people to actually file. The hospitals, the
8 nursing homes, the doctors are left surveying
9 their members, and hopefully they get an accurate
10 picture that way. But in terms of legality, you
11 really need to have liquidation so people can
12 file claims.
13 And part of the second, the
14 corollary to that is when they make a filing of
15 claims you assert what is available as assets to
16 that bankrupt individual, the liquidated
17 individual. So you don't know the assets. So
18 that has to be done as a process.
19 And third, the idea was to take one
20 of the settlement funds that we've had through
21 the largesse of the initiative of the Attorney
22 General, and those are one-shot settlement funds,
23 and use one of those as the corpus for the
24 liquidation.
25 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
1022
1 Mr. President. On the resolution.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Rivera on the resolution.
4 SENATOR RIVERA: I thank both
5 Senator Young and Senator Hannon for some of
6 their answers, because I just wanted to clarify.
7 And we could obviously be speaking about this for
8 a very long time, but I have many of my
9 colleagues that want to chime in. So I will only
10 reiterate a few things of the discussion that we
11 just had and actually go back to what some of my
12 colleagues discussed before.
13 First of all, I have to say that
14 ever since I saw the initial Governor's proposal
15 related to Medicaid growth for the City of
16 New York, or the Medicaid growth formula, I was
17 appalled, to say the least. I do not feel that
18 there is an actual reason for this. I cannot
19 find it. I'll speak briefly about CUNY, which I
20 think falls in the same category.
21 To say that we are going to cut --
22 because there's no other way to say it. We can
23 call it shifts in cost, but it's really a cut of
24 $180 million just in the first year to basically
25 institutions that provide basic healthcare to the
1023
1 State of New York, is appalling to me. And we
2 need to -- and I was hoping that my colleagues
3 would both acknowledge that and include it as the
4 Assembly did in their one-house budget
5 resolution. Unfortunately, that was not the
6 case.
7 There was a few more issues that we
8 talked about. We talked about Health Republic
9 just quickly. We would like -- I would like to
10 have a conversation with you later, Senator
11 Hannon, because I've got to tell you, I didn't
12 find it. The things that you're referring to, I
13 do not see them in there. There is -- I see
14 language that refers to the issue but no real
15 solution to it.
16 And I believe, as we've talked about
17 before, that we all agree that there is so much
18 money that -- so many services that have already
19 been provided, so much money that providers are
20 owed, we need to do something in the state to
21 make sure that they stay whole, and that's
22 something that needs to be done.
23 There's a couple of more issues in
24 health, but I'll just -- I do want to make sure
25 that I mention just a couple of more things in
1024
1 other issues because I have the opportunity.
2 I cannot express with more strong --
3 my strong feelings about CUNY. It is hard for me
4 to stand here and be not visibly angry at the
5 idea that we are going to cut $485 million from a
6 set of institutions that provide education to the
7 people that reside in my district, to the people
8 of New York City.
9 Again, I do not see that there is a
10 real reason behind that. And I find it
11 incredible that this is what we're really talking
12 about.
13 And the fact, again, that this
14 resolution does not address that and instead
15 talks about these shifts and tries to look for a
16 reason.
17 Certainly anti-Semitic attacks
18 should not be tolerated. But it seems that if
19 you have institutions or organizations that for a
20 living talk constantly about anti-Semitism and
21 fighting it, and they recognize the efforts of
22 CUNY and they have recognized that CUNY has done
23 a good thing in trying to stop them, and then
24 using that as a reason, seems to me to be
25 disingenuous at best.
1025
1 I also believe that regarding the
2 minimum wage, we need to make sure that we
3 implement it. And my colleague Senator -- my
4 colleague back there spoke about it at length, so
5 I will not go into it too much more.
6 There are a couple of other issues,
7 but -- and certainly everything that was said by
8 Senator Squadron back there regarding ethics
9 reform and what we needed to do in this budget
10 resolution, which is not there.
11 I will just -- and I'm sorry that
12 I'm going over. I will just, again, reiterate
13 that there are way too many things in this budget
14 resolution that strike at the heart of the
15 constituency that I represent. And just -- it
16 was repeated earlier, $867 million cut to the
17 City of New York. It's unconscionable. I could
18 not vote for this resolution in any way, shape or
19 form. I vote in the negative.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Latimer.
23 SENATOR LATIMER: Thank you,
24 Mr. President. Will the Senator yield for some
25 questions on education issues?
1026
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 Senator yields.
4 SENATOR LATIMER: Thank you,
5 Senator.
6 Can you outline in very general
7 terms how the Senate Majority modifies the
8 Executive's budget regarding overall funding for
9 education? Just the skeletal outline of funding.
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly, Senator.
11 In our one-house budget resolution
12 the Senate puts forward a year-to-year increase
13 of $1.6 billion. And basically that is comprised
14 of three major things.
15 First of all, it has been this
16 chamber that has fought so hard to fully get rid
17 of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which members
18 in this house know was passed in 2009 and 2010,
19 and it was something that many of my colleagues
20 on my side of the aisle -- actually, all of
21 them -- voted against. Unfortunately, it was
22 forced through. It's a fiscal gimmick that
23 basically gives funding to our school districts
24 on one hand and on the other hand claws it back,
25 takes it away. It has hurt the learning
1027
1 opportunities for our children across the state
2 ever since it was put into place. And that's why
3 we feel so strongly about getting rid of the gap
4 elimination for good.
5 We include $434 million to fully
6 eliminate the Gap Elimination Adjustment this
7 year. Not over two years, as the Governor would
8 like to do, but fully get rid of it this year.
9 On top of it, we have about $880
10 million put forward for Foundation Aid. That's a
11 significant number. And then the rest of the
12 budget has to do with expense-driven aids.
13 SENATOR LATIMER: Will the Senator
14 continue to yield?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 Senator yields.
18 SENATOR LATIMER: Thank you.
19 The $1.65 billion in the aggregate
20 represents about $700,000 more than the
21 Governor's $991 million. And if that is true and
22 the restoration of GEA -- which I have supported,
23 and the majority of my colleagues on this side of
24 the aisle have voted for when it's come before
25 us -- represents $244 million additional money in
1028
1 order to fully repeal GEA, out of what appears to
2 be, unless I'm mistaken, $700,000 more in
3 spending.
4 So if that is true, if those
5 numbers are accurate, there's about $450 million
6 additional money, and I'd like to see if you can
7 highlight, Senator, how that $450 million is
8 allocated vis-a-vis Foundation Aid.
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly,
10 Mr. President. Through you.
11 And so earlier in the discussion,
12 when Senator Krueger got up and spoke and asked
13 questions, we went over this information. But I
14 don't mind going through it again.
15 Basically, we have been able to do
16 several things in regards to the Executive Budget
17 proposal. And we have cuts that we've put
18 forward in spending that he would like to do, and
19 that's to the tune of $45 million in State
20 Operations. We also implement $484 million in
21 targeted reductions and reprogramming actions.
22 And those include reestimations, too,
23 reestimates, including $35 million from
24 retirement vacancy savings, $300 million from a
25 personal services spending base reestimate.
1029
1 And when you put that with the fact
2 that there was a consensus on the revenue
3 agreement that we just had of $225 million -- and
4 as you know, that was a three-way agreement that
5 there was $225 million extra to spend, and also
6 we would put forward $53 million in settlement
7 funds -- that gives us the ability to fund
8 eliminating the Gap Elimination Adjustment this
9 year and actually add to Foundation Aid.
10 SENATOR LATIMER: Thank you. Will
11 the Senator continue to yield?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 Senator yields.
15 SENATOR LATIMER: Thank you.
16 One of the repurposings that appears
17 to be in this is elimination of $100 million for
18 community schools. What was the Senate
19 Majority's rationale for that elimination?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
21 Mr. President. Actually, we don't eliminate it.
22 It's still within the Foundation Aid formula.
23 SENATOR LATIMER: If the Senator
24 will continue to yield.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
1030
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR LATIMER: So within that
4 Foundation formula addition there is already
5 actually $100 million that would be used for
6 community schools. Is that officially targeted
7 as such, or will that be something that will
8 reduce what non-targeted community school
9 Foundation Aid would be?
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
11 Mr. President, Foundation Aid is Operating Aid.
12 So to establish a community school, for example,
13 there's $100 million that could be part of the
14 Foundation Aid formula. And those are all local
15 decisions.
16 SENATOR LATIMER: Thank you.
17 There's other questions to be asked,
18 but I'm afraid, time being of the essence, I'll
19 just ask one more question with the indulgence of
20 the President and the Senator.
21 The changes to charter school
22 operations in the Senate Majority's resolution is
23 rather dramatic. Can you explain what the
24 structure and the function of those changes are?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
1031
1 Mr. President. Through you.
2 Basically what the budget resolution
3 would do would be to allow charter schools to
4 continue to operate at a high level and service,
5 as public schools, children across the state.
6 SENATOR LATIMER: Well, if the
7 Senator will yield.
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Certainly.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 sponsor yields to an additional question.
11 SENATOR LATIMER: I think we'll try
12 to get a little more specificity on that as we go
13 to the conference committees. It's a very
14 important policy issue.
15 Another important policy issue is
16 whether or not there are any resources targeted
17 to districts that have an increase in ELL
18 students. Does the Senate Majority make any
19 provision in this resolution for that purpose?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
21 Mr. President, that actually is accounted for in
22 the Foundation Aid.
23 SENATOR LATIMER: Mr. President,
24 Madam Senator, thank you very much for your time.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you.
1032
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
2 you, Senator Latimer.
3 Senator Hoylman.
4 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you,
5 Mr. President. Would the sponsor yield to a few
6 questions?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Of course, for you.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you. Thank
11 you. And she's been working hard this afternoon.
12 My specific question, Mr. President,
13 initially concerns the capital budget, the
14 Environmental Protection Fund. Could the sponsor
15 explain the difference between the one-house
16 resolution and the Executive's budget proposal in
17 the area of climate change mitigation and
18 adaptation programming?
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you. Through
20 you, Mr. President. And the type is small, so
21 I'm glad I have my glasses on.
22 We made a couple of minor
23 adjustments. Probably the most significant is
24 through adaptive infrastructure, where we took it
25 from 23 down to 72.5. And what we were able to
1033
1 do is shift that money to other priorities that
2 have to do with protecting the environment.
3 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
4 continue to yield, Mr. President?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you.
9 Would the sponsor acknowledge -- it
10 seems to me that the climate change mitigation
11 and adaptation program goes from 32.5 million in
12 the Governor's programming to about half that
13 under your one-house bill, $16.750 million. Do
14 you see those figures?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, that's
16 correct.
17 And as I said, that money isn't
18 taken out of the environmental budget, it
19 actually is just used for other priorities that
20 protect and clean the environment.
21 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
22 continue to yield, Mr. President?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 sponsor yields.
1034
1 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
2 acknowledge that in fact while the sponsor says
3 this money is going back into environmental
4 programs, it is in fact being taken out of the
5 climate change mitigation programming?
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
7 Mr. President. You know, I do want to say there
8 are so many things that are still included under
9 this whole mitigation and adaptation.
10 I think I already answered the
11 question as to where the bulk of the money came
12 out of; it was actually out of the adaptive
13 infrastructure line. And that money is being
14 used, under our plan, to protect the environment.
15 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
16 continue to yield, Mr. President?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
21 Mr. President, is it the sponsor's position and
22 the conference's position that it supports the
23 validity of human-induced climate change?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
25 Mr. President. We do support the whole notion of
1035
1 climate change because the weather is changing
2 all the time. What we have questions about is
3 whether it's human-induced or not.
4 But with that being said, we do feel
5 very strongly and have always prioritized
6 protecting the environment. And that's why you
7 see so many initiatives under our budget plan
8 that works for clean water, clean air, all the
9 things that are important to the citizens of this
10 state. We have initiatives included in our
11 one-house proposal that affects all of those very
12 vital endeavors.
13 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
14 continue to yield?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
19 Mr. President. So the sponsor has stated that
20 the conference -- the one-house budget does not
21 support the validity, the scientific validity of
22 human-induced climate change.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
24 Mr. President, that is not what I said. So I
25 would appreciate the Senator not putting words in
1036
1 my mouth. What we're saying is is that we
2 believe there's climate change. At the same
3 time, we are putting forward very many
4 initiatives that protect clean air, clean water,
5 protect the environment, clean up brownfields,
6 for example. All of those initiatives are
7 included in our one-house budget proposal.
8 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
9 continue to yield, Mr. President?
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you. I
14 just -- I really have to drive this point home,
15 Mr. President.
16 I have yet to hear from the sponsor
17 whether the one-house budget and her conference
18 in fact support the validity, the scientific
19 validity of human-induced climate change -- not
20 climate change that may have occurred due to the
21 expiration of natural gases without man's
22 contribution to that scientific phenomenon.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
24 Mr. President. If you look at our one-house
25 budget resolution, we have several initiatives,
1037
1 including under the Governor's climate change
2 mitigation and adaptation, that are included in
3 our one-house budget resolution. They're here.
4 They're here in black and white. And that's my
5 answer.
6 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
7 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to
8 yield?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR HOYLMAN: So the sponsor
13 refuses to acknowledge that their budget actually
14 supports the acknowledgement of manmade or
15 human-induced climate change. But I want to turn
16 to --
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Hoylman, are you on the resolution?
19 SENATOR HOYLMAN: -- another --
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Hoylman, are you on the resolution?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
23 Mr. President, I --
24 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
25 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
1038
1 yield.
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
3 Mr. President. Again, I would appreciate the
4 Senator not putting words in my mouth or actually
5 putting forward something that is not something
6 that I said. So if we could stick to the facts.
7 As I said, we have included many
8 vital environmental programs for clean air, clean
9 water, reducing greenhouse gases, cleaning up the
10 environment. Those are in here.
11 Now, whether he wants to parse words
12 on his side or not is his problem. But I will
13 say that we are strong supporters of protecting
14 the environment, and the proof is in the pudding,
15 the proof is in our one-house budget resolution.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Young has answered the question. Senator
18 Hoylman, do you want to continue to ask questions
19 or do --
20 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
21 continue to yield?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: No.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: -- you
24 want to speak on the resolution?
25 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
1039
1 continue to yield?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: No.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Hoylman.
5 SENATOR HOYLMAN: I perhaps have
6 touched a nerve. But I'll continue.
7 On the bill, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On the
9 resolution, Senator Hoylman.
10 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Mr. President,
11 would the sponsor yield to questions about
12 another area, the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act?
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you,
17 Mr. President. And thank you to the sponsor.
18 The Senate one-house budget
19 resolution delays implementation of the Diesel
20 Emissions Reduction Act -- DERA, as we've called
21 it -- until 2018. Can the sponsor explain what
22 the requirements of DERA are, for the benefit of
23 the chamber?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you, I
25 don't have everything in front of me. I do know
1040
1 that there are ramifications. So, for example,
2 vehicles I believe have to be retrofitted with
3 very expensive systems that cost anywhere between
4 $15,000 and $60,000.
5 One of the things I would like to
6 point out is that this would be on the private
7 sector. However, under the Governor's budget
8 proposal, there is nothing that would address our
9 state vehicles -- for DEC, for DOT, for the MTA,
10 for all the state agencies. And so what I would
11 think should happen or what I would hope the
12 Governor would do at some point is start to work
13 on the state vehicle fleet.
14 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
15 continue to yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you.
20 Through you, Mr. President.
21 Can the sponsor tell us when DERA
22 was originally passed by this Legislature?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
24 Mr. President. Actually, I'm looking at my
25 information, and it was 2009.
1041
1 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
2 continue to yield?
3 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 sponsor yields.
6 SENATOR HOYLMAN: I believe it was
7 2006.
8 But can the sponsor tell us --
9 Mr. President, through you -- what the original
10 implementation date for DERA was?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
12 Mr. President, it was December 31, 2010.
13 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
14 Mr. President, would the sponsor continue to
15 yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Is the sponsor
20 aware that the EPA recognizes and warns that fine
21 particulates and diesel exhaust post a
22 significant health risk and can aggravate a whole
23 host of respiratory conditions -- asthma,
24 bronchitis -- cause lung damage and even
25 premature death?
1042
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Mr. President,
3 would the sponsor continue to yield?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
5 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you.
6 Through you, Mr. President.
7 Is the sponsor familiar with -- the
8 original legislation back in 2006, the fiscal
9 impact of the bill was described on the sponsor's
10 memo as follows: Any fiscal implications of
11 retrofitting vehicles will be offset by savings
12 in health costs attributable to reductions in
13 airborne fine particulate matter and ozone. Is
14 the sponsor familiar with that original memo?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: No, I'm not. I
16 don't have it in front of me. I don't have it
17 available.
18 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
19 continue to yield, Mr. President?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 sponsor yields.
23 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you.
24 Through you.
25 Does the sponsor -- now that we've
1043
1 established that that was the original memo, does
2 the sponsor no longer agree with the assessment
3 or does the sponsor feel that the negative health
4 impacts caused by diesel emissions are secondary
5 to the costs of implementing the law?
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
7 Mr. President. I don't have that report in front
8 of me, I don't have that information in front of
9 me. I would say, however, that I believe that we
10 need to move ahead in working on clean air
11 initiatives, and that's why we have some included
12 in the state budget.
13 At the same time, however, we should
14 be realistic about implementing these types of
15 initiatives. And again, as I said, I believe
16 that the state should lead by example.
17 So, for example, currently DOT has
18 847 vehicles still needing retrofits. That is a
19 significant number. The MTA has 218 vehicles
20 that are noncompliant.
21 And as I said, there are several
22 state agencies -- DEC, DOT, the Thruway, Office
23 of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation --
24 that all have vehicles that are not retrofitted.
25 So I believe that I would like to
1044
1 have the Governor actually put forward
2 initiatives to do so first so that we can make
3 progress on this issue.
4 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
5 continue to yield?
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
10 Mr. President. In terms of being realistic, is
11 the sponsor aware that the Clean Air Task Force,
12 in a comprehensive analysis of health impacts of
13 diesel emissions found that in Monroe County the
14 risk of cancer from diesel soot is 89 times
15 higher than the EPA's acceptable level? In
16 Suffolk County, it's 153 times higher than the
17 EPA's acceptable risk level. In Nassau County,
18 it's 263 times higher than the EPA's acceptable
19 risk level. And most importantly to me, in
20 Manhattan, where my Senate district is located,
21 the average lifetime diesel soot cancer risk for
22 a resident is one in 893, the worst in the entire
23 country.
24 Is the sponsor familiar with these
25 facts?
1045
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
2 Mr. President, I'm not familiar with what task
3 force that is. If the Senator could explain
4 that.
5 SENATOR HOYLMAN: It's the Clean
6 Air Task Force. It was a comprehensive analysis
7 of diesel emissions across the State of New York.
8 It's a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Hoylman, you have the floor still.
11 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
12 continue to yield?
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Young, do you continue to yield?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
16 Mr. President. Actually, by taking these trucks
17 off the road, it would have a negligible impact
18 on emissions.
19 And the other thing to point out is
20 that aren't enough retrofits available to do
21 these trucks. And so it would have a severe
22 economic impact because you'd have to take all
23 these trucks off the road and you wouldn't be
24 able to have the retrofits available to make them
25 be in service.
1046
1 SENATOR HOYLMAN: On the bill,
2 Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Hoylman on the resolution.
5 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Mr. President, I
6 think we've heard this afternoon that this bill,
7 the Senate one-house, actually in fact questions
8 the validity, the validity of billions of
9 measurements by scientific experts on the
10 validity of manmade climate change.
11 I heard the sponsor say,
12 Mr. President, quote, We believe there is climate
13 change but we have questions about the human
14 component. That is counter to the vast majority
15 of scientific evidence, and it causes me great
16 concern to hear that coming from this conference
17 this afternoon.
18 I feel similarly about the Diesel
19 Emissions Reduction Act, a bill that this chamber
20 has continued to delay. And the impact has
21 continued to be extremely harmful to not just my
22 constituents but to constituents all across the
23 State of New York.
24 The tenth anniversary of the delay
25 of DERA occurs today. Senator Marcellino
1047
1 originally sponsored the bill, and he, I'm sure,
2 knows about the real-life consequences in his
3 district. In 2010 it was found that delay of
4 implementation of DERA has resulted in 179,000
5 workdays lost, over 39,000 asthma attacks, over
6 2,000 heart attacks, 1,159 premature deaths, and
7 health impacts costing a total of nearly
8 $9.6 billion.
9 I say, Mr. President, that this is a
10 measure that we cannot afford to delay further
11 due to the health impacts. And I urge this
12 chamber to embrace the scientific validity of
13 human-induced climate change and, as a result,
14 support the Governor's climate change mitigation
15 and adaptation program to its full amount.
16 So I'll be voting no. Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Hamilton.
20 SENATOR HAMILTON: Yes,
21 Mr. Chairman. I'd like to talk on the one-house
22 bill, please.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Hamilton on the resolution.
25 SENATOR HAMILTON: The resolution,
1048
1 yes.
2 Education is a vital component to
3 the viability of this state. We must educate our
4 children and give them the resources they need to
5 be successful young men and women in our great
6 State of New York.
7 This bill is not addressing the
8 failing schools that we have throughout the
9 state. We are called the Empire State, but our
10 educational system is ranked 34th in the
11 United States. That is something that is
12 unacceptable.
13 The Department of Education is not
14 educating our kids. Only 20 percent of our young
15 men and women of color are ready for college.
16 I see nothing in this one-house
17 resolution on technology. Technology is the
18 moving engine in this country and in the world,
19 and we're not investing more money in STEM
20 programs, we're not putting more money in hiring
21 teachers who can teach our kids how to code and
22 computer technology.
23 In my district we've had three
24 workshops already for young children on how to
25 code, how to be web designers, and they should
1049
1 avail themselves of technology and how it can be
2 a step forward in living the American dream.
3 Right now with a coding degree --
4 certificate, rather -- you can have a high school
5 diploma and make $80,000 a year.
6 In my district I'm truly upset with
7 some of the schools and the reading scores. In
8 Public School 327 the reading scores are 7.4
9 percent of kids reading at grade level. In
10 Public School 323, 10.3 percent of the children
11 are reading at grade level. At Public School
12 165, 8.7 percent of the children are reading at
13 grade level. In Public School 284, it's only
14 2.1 percent of the children are reading at grade
15 level.
16 That is criminal in this great
17 country that we have one school where only 2.1
18 percent of the kids are reading at grade level.
19 What future do they have if our educational
20 system is not delivering the best that it can be?
21 In Public School 298, only
22 5.9 percent of our children are reading at grade
23 level.
24 So I'm concerned about the community
25 schools and what we're going to do in the State
1050
1 of New York in this great chamber on making sure
2 all kids have equal access to a quality
3 education. Every child in this state should have
4 equal access to quality education. No child
5 should be left behind. All children should be
6 moving together.
7 So in this great chamber of the
8 State Senate, it's not a Republican issue, it's
9 not a Democratic issue, it's a human issue for
10 the viability of our young children in our great
11 state.
12 So, Mr. Chairman, I'd like the
13 sponsor to please yield to a question.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Young, do you yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure, Senator.
17 SENATOR HAMILTON: Thank you,
18 Senator. I'll be brief.
19 But I just want to find out,
20 Senator, the Governor has allocated $100 million
21 for our low-performing schools. In the Senate
22 one-house bill --
23 SENATOR YOUNG: I'm sorry, for our
24 local what?
25 SENATOR HAMILTON: The Governor
1051
1 has, in the Executive Budget, provided $100
2 million for community schools. And community
3 schools provide wraparound resources as far as
4 after-school programing, psychologists,
5 psychiatrists, training for parents.
6 And I want to know what can we do or
7 what can the Senate Republicans do to make sure
8 that this money that has not been allocated can
9 in some way get back into the community schools?
10 And I know that you mentioned that the money is
11 going to be put into the foundation -- is it
12 foundation? The --
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you. Through
14 you, Mr. President.
15 SENATOR HAMILTON: -- yes.
16 SENATOR YOUNG: So as I stated
17 previously, the community schools have not been
18 taken out. But they're included under the
19 Foundation Aid. So that if a local community, a
20 local school district wanted to create a
21 community school, that ability still is there
22 under our plan.
23 SENATOR HAMILTON: Yes. Would the
24 sponsor please answer a question?
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
1052
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR HAMILTON: Thank you for
3 that information. I just want to make sure that
4 the children in our district do receive the
5 funding. I just mentioned we have six schools
6 where children only -- the maximum, 10 percent
7 are reading at grade level, down to 2.1 percent
8 is reading at grade level.
9 And also I want to make sure we have
10 technology in our schools. We are hiring people
11 from other countries to come into our state and
12 work, but we don't have a strong technology
13 component in our state so our children can
14 compete for the jobs that are being televised on
15 TV as far as the Nano Research Center, as far as
16 the Solar Panel Center. In my district, a lot of
17 the kids who are being educated now cannot apply
18 for these jobs.
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you. Through
20 you, Mr. President. Senator, as you may recall,
21 last year the voters of this state, in a
22 referendum, approved the $2 billion Smart Schools
23 Act, which is $2 billion in infrastructure for
24 technology. And as you know, the people in this
25 chamber passed the resolution so that we could
1053
1 have that referendum.
2 So there is money there that has
3 been passed, and basically what the city would
4 have to do would be to apply for some of those
5 funds to fund technology.
6 But I agree with you, it's very
7 important.
8 SENATOR HAMILTON: Thank you.
9 May the sponsor please yield to a
10 question.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
14 SENATOR HAMILTON: Thank you,
15 Senator, for answering my questions. I greatly
16 appreciate it.
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Oh. Thank you.
18 Thanks, Senator.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Panepinto.
21 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Yes,
22 Mr. Chairman, will the sponsor yield for a
23 question?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
1054
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Mr. Chairman,
3 the Senate resolution has language to provide
4 money for nuclear plant closures. And as Senator
5 Young knows and is well aware, Mr. Chairman, her
6 district and mine are adversely affected by the
7 closures of NRG coal plants.
8 I'd like to know why is it that the
9 Senate one-house bill doesn't include any money
10 for those coal plant closures, but accommodates
11 nuclear closures.
12 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
13 Mr. President, there are actually two separate
14 issues there. So Senator Panepinto referenced
15 funding for nuclear plants. And that isn't
16 anything to do with a closure, necessarily, it
17 just would allow it to be able to continue to
18 operate.
19 I think what you're referencing in
20 regards to NRG is to have funding available to
21 communities that are impacted by the closure of
22 plants, power plants. And so in our language we
23 just say that fund would be increased.
24 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Will the
25 sponsor continue to yield?
1055
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Where is that
5 language in the one-house resolution, that the
6 plant closure, the coal plant closures will be
7 addressed?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
9 Mr. President, it's actually included under local
10 governments.
11 SENATOR PANEPINTO: It is.
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
13 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Thank you very
14 much.
15 Will the sponsor continue to yield?
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
19 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Mr. President,
20 I have some questions for the sponsor on AIM
21 funding. It looks, from the one-house
22 resolution, that there is not a significant
23 increase in AIM funding. I'd like to know if the
24 majority in the house took AIM funding into
25 consideration in putting forth their one-house
1056
1 budget resolution.
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
3 Mr. President. There is -- the Senator is
4 correct, there is no increase in AIM, with the
5 exception of the village per capita, which is a
6 $2 million allocation.
7 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Will the
8 sponsor continue to yield?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Mr. President,
13 the tax cap has been a popular but controversial
14 issue. And I want to know from the sponsor if
15 there was any consideration given to capital
16 expenditures for municipalities across the state
17 who are running into great difficulty with a
18 property tax cap set at .12 percent in many
19 municipalities.
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
21 Mr. President, the property tax cap has put the
22 brakes on runaway property tax hikes in New York
23 State. That's why it's so popular with taxpayers
24 across the state. And there is nothing in our
25 one-house budget resolution along those lines to
1057
1 alter the property tax cap.
2 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Thank you.
3 That's all I have, Mr. President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Serrano.
6 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you very
7 much, Mr. President.
8 I actually don't have any questions
9 for the sponsor; I will just speak on the
10 resolution.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
12 Serrano on the resolution.
13 SENATOR SERRANO: And this is an
14 issue that is very easy for everyone here in this
15 chamber, it's one that has universal support.
16 And that has to do with our state parks. Our
17 state park system is the envy of any other
18 state's here in the nation. We have an amazing
19 state park system. And it is supported in a very
20 bipartisan manner in this chamber as well as on
21 the other side of the building.
22 I recall back in 2009 when I was at
23 that time chair of the committee that oversaw
24 parks, there was a proposal that would seek to
25 close about 91 state parks throughout the State
1058
1 of New York. And there was a major pushback by
2 many members who are still here, who are still
3 part of this chamber. And it was a really
4 beautiful moment, I believe, for the Senate
5 because it was one in which there was no partisan
6 divide at all. We all agreed that our parks are
7 extremely important.
8 So we have Governor Cuomo, who has
9 been an outspoken proponent of our state parks
10 and has really done a great job to find
11 additional funds for the many improvements that
12 are needed. While I said earlier we have an
13 amazing state park system, it's a very old one.
14 It's aging. The infrastructure is in much need
15 of repair. So the needed capital funds to make
16 our parks not only viable but safe is one that I
17 would hope remain in the budget as it was
18 proposed by the Executive.
19 However, in this resolution I see an
20 elimination of the $92.5 million that would have
21 gone a long way for capital projects for our
22 state parks.
23 So I know that, again, we're still
24 early on in the negotiating season, and I really
25 hope that this money finds its way back into the
1059
1 enacted budget. I don't really need to explain
2 to anyone here, I think we're all -- you know,
3 I'd be preaching to the converted. We all
4 believe wholeheartedly how important our parks
5 are, not only to recreational and exercise
6 opportunities, but to the health of all New
7 Yorkers, especially the youth in our communities.
8 So unfortunately, with this
9 elimination from the resolution, I'll be voting
10 no. But I hope going forward we will see a
11 restoration of these funds.
12 Thank you.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Krueger.
15 SENATOR YOUNG: May I just clarify
16 on the Senator's last point?
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Sure.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: As we know, in the
19 Senate we strongly support our state parks. The
20 reason that we took the Executive proposal out as
21 far as capital goes is that there is no detail as
22 to how that money will be spent. And what we're
23 basically saying to the Governor is we strongly
24 support our parks, we want this capital funding
25 to go forward, but at the same time we need to
1060
1 know how the money is going to be spent.
2 And we're very hopeful that the
3 Governor will cooperate and get that detail to us
4 very shortly.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
6 you, Senator Young.
7 Senator Krueger.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 I think to close for my conference,
11 I want to thank all of my colleagues for their
12 contributions to the discussion today.
13 I want to thank very much Senator
14 Young for her strong support for a resolution
15 that frankly doesn't really have that much to
16 support it. So good try, but I don't think
17 you're actually convincing too many of us.
18 I just want to go over a few of the
19 things that make it so clear to me why people
20 should be voting no today on this one-house
21 resolution.
22 I suppose, just to start, the
23 discussion we just had about the New York Works
24 funding for New York State parks. If in fact the
25 Governor's proposal didn't lay it out well
1061
1 enough, surely the right answer is lay out the
2 details of how to spend the $92 million for our
3 parks that they so woefully need our help. Don't
4 say we didn't think it was a really good answer,
5 so we're cutting the money out for them.
6 We're very concerned about rejecting
7 the modified design/build proposals for Penn
8 Station and Javits. We're very concerned that --
9 while we are glad to see increases in public
10 education funding, the concept that we are being
11 told there will be some changes in the Foundation
12 Aid formula but we won't really know what it is
13 until afterwards, we won't know whether
14 high-needs districts are actually going to see a
15 reduction compared to low-needs districts -- that
16 is a serious concern for us.
17 Again, as my colleagues said, we
18 certainly support increased funding for education
19 and doing away with the GEA at this point in
20 time. But we want the details of how that money
21 is going to be spent.
22 We're very concerned, frankly, that
23 we would reject a continuation of mayoral control
24 without any explanation of what would happen if
25 mayoral control sunsetted after going through
1062
1 this exact exercise a year ago and eventually
2 ending up with a one-year extension.
3 We're very concerned that our
4 colleagues saw fit to reduce oversight in PSC's
5 proposal to review municipal and investor-owned
6 utility rate requests. We are paying some of the
7 highest energy rates in the country. We should
8 be doing more oversight, more questioning, not
9 less.
10 We are concerned that we're sweeping
11 RGGI and then we're using the money for things
12 that perhaps we shouldn't be subsidizing,
13 particularly unclean energy.
14 We're concerned that we are yet
15 again pushing -- I guess you're kicking the can
16 of energy efficiency and diesel cleaning down the
17 road. We've been kicking it down the road for
18 too many years.
19 My colleague Senator Squadron waxed
20 poetic about all the things we're not doing with
21 ethics reform. I think it's really hard for any
22 of us to go home and explain to our constituents
23 why we wouldn't be doing ethics reform this year
24 now.
25 As I say often to people, if we're
1063
1 not going to do things now, are we ever going to
2 do them? I don't think so. And so to stand here
3 today and say you're supporting a budget bill
4 with none of the ethics reforms being called for,
5 I just don't know how any of us could go home and
6 explain that we voted yes on this without those
7 things.
8 I find it completely unacceptable
9 that yet again we are not increasing AIM funding
10 to our localities, who are so desperately in
11 need -- even as more and more of our school
12 districts end up falling into the high-risk
13 categories because of the 2 percent cap.
14 We have to reevaluate that action,
15 but we certainly can't pretend it's all working
16 fine. And we certainly can't pretend that
17 applying a model to New York of a 2 percent cap
18 on its property taxes would do anything but
19 continue the loss of revenue for the City of
20 New York -- which, for the record, sends more
21 money to Albany than it gets back. But despite
22 that, we are attempting to cut a radical amount
23 out of state funding for the City of New York for
24 this year.
25 Albany is also facing this problem
1064
1 in this package. And again, AIM funding, which
2 desperately needs rational distribution and a
3 significant increase, sees none here.
4 We see a shift of new Medicaid cost
5 growths to New York City -- not every other
6 locality, just New York City. And the
7 argument -- and well pointed out by my colleagues
8 this was the Governor's proposal -- simply
9 stating you're going to cut funding for specific
10 localities but they'll figure it out doesn't mean
11 they figure it out. It just means you're cutting
12 the money.
13 We are concerned that -- we're very
14 concerned, as you heard, about cutting
15 $485 million out of the CUNY system, 500,000
16 low-income students struggling to get the higher
17 education they need to be taxpayers, be our
18 future. I can't imagine any justification for
19 it. I truly can't imagine that my colleagues
20 here on the floor want to argue it's because
21 there are some anti-Semitic incidents.
22 I was looking up racist incidents,
23 anti-Semitic instances, rape cases on SUNY and
24 CUNY campuses throughout our state. Bad things
25 happen. If we chose to cut 30 percent of the
1065
1 college's budget every time an incident like that
2 happened, I can guarantee you nothing but a worse
3 outcome. And that's exactly what will happen for
4 the CUNY system if this cut is allowed to take
5 place.
6 As my colleagues pointed out, many
7 of us are so disturbed that yet again we're
8 rejecting DREAM Act funding, which is a small
9 amount of money that will have an enormous impact
10 for young people who are just trying to get a
11 college education so they can get good jobs in
12 our communities. How can that be such an evil
13 idea?
14 I'm concerned that we're cutting a
15 hundred million out of affordable housing -- I'm
16 sorry, Mr. President?
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Excuse
18 me. Can I have some order in the chamber,
19 please.
20 Thank you, Senator Krueger.
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
22 Mr. President.
23 I'm very concerned that this
24 resolution proposes cutting $100 million out of
25 homeless housing and supportive housing, and
1066
1 another $50 million out of the support services
2 for the same programs.
3 I'm very concerned that yet again,
4 people here seem to have an enormous problem with
5 the Tenant Protection Unit in the housing agency.
6 What's a housing agency supposed to do? Protect
7 people in housing. It's not radical. And yet
8 here we constantly have to fight just to continue
9 that program.
10 There's so many things to be
11 concerned about. I don't even know if every one
12 got raised or not. I raised the concerns about
13 paid family leave. You say you support it, but
14 then you have a whole section on ifs, ands or
15 buts.
16 We're cutting the Urban Youth Job
17 Tax Credit by $50 million. We are rejecting yet
18 again the Raise the Age proposal in criminal
19 justice reform, for the second year in a row.
20 Many of us understand why that is so important to
21 the young people in this state, and yet, yet
22 again, we're rejecting this proposal.
23 In revenue, you know, we have some
24 good things. I'll say that. And yet we're
25 proposing to increase a tax deduction for college
1067
1 -- who would be opposed to that? -- but it starts
2 at people who earn $100,000 and it goes up
3 without a cap. That means we could be giving
4 Donald Trump's family a new scholarship tax
5 credit. Why would we be doing that? We could be
6 giving people who go to Trump University a tax
7 credit. It's even scarier, either side.
8 So the concept of an uncapped new
9 tax deduction or credit that starts at $100,000
10 and just keeps going up -- please stop. Start
11 lower, stop lower. Don't do it this way.
12 Some of us have differing opinions
13 on the Educational Income Tax Credit, EITC. I
14 personally don't like any of the proposals, but
15 this proposal, as opposed to the Governor's,
16 would do away with the grants to low-income
17 families, would allow LLCs to be able to take up
18 to a million-dollar tax deduction. Why do we
19 keep allowing LLCs to run the State of New York
20 and take all of our tax money on top of
21 everything else?
22 It would allow charters back into
23 the program. It would take the funding out of
24 the poorer schools. It's a bad model of a bad
25 proposal.
1068
1 To continue, we also -- we actually
2 take New York's refinancing money away as well.
3 I'm not sure if that got included in the
4 $870 million estimate from earlier in my
5 discussion with my colleague.
6 I really think when you're
7 dramatically increasing gambling, through fantasy
8 sports and online poker, there should be a
9 serious discussion, there should be debate. My
10 colleague Senator Bonacic, the chair of that
11 committee, pointed out there was one hearing on
12 one of the topics in his committee, and one
13 hearing in the Assembly on one of the topics. I
14 don't really think that meets my test. But thank
15 you for pointing that out to me.
16 We should be asking hard questions
17 before we go down those roads in New York State.
18 MTA and transportation bond money
19 for roads, bridges, the MTA, rail. We all talk a
20 good line, but you sort of get back to that
21 point, where's the beef? There's not the actual
22 money there.
23 So we all say we're very concerned
24 about this, but where's the beef? When are we
25 going to finally actually address the real
1069
1 capital needs of roads, bridges, rail, the MTA's
2 needs?
3 I'm just checking to see what else I
4 might have left out.
5 SENATOR HANNON: {Inaudible.}
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Excuse me? The
7 Valley Girl?
8 I'm sorry, Mr. President, I don't --
9 if through you, Mr. President, Senator Kemp
10 Hannon would yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
12 Hannon, do you yield?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: I couldn't hear
14 you, Senator. Could you please say what you
15 said?
16 SENATOR HANNON: Yeah, after your
17 fourth sigh, I said "You're our version of the
18 Valley Girl."
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Ah. Thank you.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Krueger, you may continue.
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: I don't speak
23 Valley Girl, so that's why I didn't get the
24 reference.
25 (Inaudible comment.)
1070
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: This -- don't
2 feel compelled.
3 I don't know, Mr. President, people
4 are getting a little rude down here on the floor.
5 Although I think one of our reporters tweeted
6 that he liked the off-the-record comments more
7 than the on-the-record comments. So hopefully he
8 might tweet away, Mr. Vielkind.
9 So in closing, there are so many
10 reasons to vote no on this resolution that even
11 though we could each find things we like in this
12 one-house resolution, I certainly hope that in
13 the weeks to come we will be negotiating to a
14 much better place for the people of New York
15 State.
16 Because we can get there,
17 Mr. President. We can actually get to a budget,
18 a package of budget bills that do make sense and
19 are justified and that we could all possibly vote
20 yes on.
21 I vote no, Mr. President. And I
22 hope my colleagues will join me in voting no.
23 Thank you very much.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
25 you, Senator Krueger.
1071
1 The resolution is before the house.
2 I will ask the Secretary to call the roll on the
3 resolution.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: I'm going
6 to recognize some members who would like to
7 explain votes, but I'm going to ask everyone to
8 keep it within the two minutes. I will be very
9 strict in invoking Rule 10-E.
10 Senator Espaillat to explain his
11 vote.
12 SENATOR HAMILTON: Thank you,
13 Mr. President. I rise to explain my vote on this
14 resolution.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Excuse
16 me, Senator Espaillat. Can I have some order in
17 the house, please.
18 Senator Espaillat.
19 SENATOR ESPAILLAT: Yes. NYCHA
20 for the first time got $100 million last year.
21 That complex of city-owned property is really
22 deteriorating. It's wear and tear. It's like
23 your pads on the brakes; every so often you need
24 to fix them, you need to change them.
25 And so having no funding in the
1072
1 budget for NYCHA again this year is really a
2 travesty.
3 The Tenant Protection Unit, which
4 has helped us recuperate thousands of units
5 illegally taken off the rolls as rent-stabilized
6 apartments is also not funded by this budget, and
7 that is also a terrible thing.
8 The House NY homeless housing
9 program is also a program that lost, in this
10 resolution, $100 million.
11 The DREAM Act, which is one that was
12 included by the Governor to provide thousands of
13 students the opportunity to access higher
14 education, those that can prove that they were
15 students in a New York State high school, is also
16 not in this bill.
17 CUNY, as we know, $485 million in
18 state operations for the senior colleges, that
19 was also not included in this particular
20 resolution.
21 Rent regulation, there's a back-door
22 way to circumvent the $2700 threshold, the limit
23 for rent-stabilization apartments. That's
24 included in this resolution. That's a bad thing
25 for the million -- over a million tenants in
1073
1 New York City.
2 And of course there is a provision
3 that does away with unemployment insurance for
4 farmworkers, while we continue not to provide the
5 rights and privileges to farmworkers that every
6 other worker gets in the State of New York.
7 For those reasons, Mr. President, I
8 will be voting in the negative.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
10 you. Senator Espaillat is recorded in the
11 negative.
12 Senator Dilan to explain his vote.
13 SENATOR DILAN: Yes, Mr. President,
14 I rise to explain my vote.
15 And I just find it unconscionable
16 that the Tenant Protection Unit has received no
17 funding. With so many unscrupulous landlords
18 destroying rent-stabilized units and making them
19 uninhabitable so they can increase their rents is
20 really not acceptable. And this is just a cost
21 of them doing business when they should be
22 charged with a felony for doing so.
23 I also find it unconscionable that
24 there is no funding for CUNY or Medicaids and
25 that these costs are being shifted to the City of
1074
1 New York.
2 And also, I find it very interesting
3 that New York Works, for parks, has received zero
4 funding for the lack of a project list. However,
5 the Department of Transportation, who also failed
6 to have a project list, was funded and is in this
7 resolution.
8 So for those reasons, I will vote no
9 on this resolution.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Dilan is recorded in the negative.
12 Senator LaValle to explain his vote.
13 SENATOR LaVALLE: First I want to
14 compliment our chair of Finance for the job that
15 she did today in explaining this budget.
16 I think the higher ed budget that
17 was put forth protected students from tuition,
18 made sure that the word "affordability"
19 throughout was defined, and the TAP program,
20 increased tax credits and deductions. And one of
21 the important things that actually came from the
22 members, is to allow individuals to deduct their
23 student loan payments, the interest payments, on
24 their state taxes.
25 One other thing that was done in
1075
1 this budget which I think is very, very
2 appropriate is to use the budget to send a
3 message to the City University to say that
4 discrimination cannot be tolerated. When we look
5 at what is happening, the City University, it can
6 escalate to a point beyond discrimination -- of
7 people's feelings -- to physical harm being done.
8 And so time is of the essence. Time
9 is of the essence. And this is an issue where
10 the Governor and the Mayor need to get together.
11 The Governor certainly has spoken out; the Mayor
12 has to speak out, and we have to put this behind
13 us.
14 So I think we have put forth a great
15 budget in terms of its tax relief, a great budget
16 in terms of education, higher education, and in
17 the other areas are very, very clearly defined.
18 I vote aye.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Panepinto.
21 SENATOR PANEPINTO: Yes, I rise to
22 explain my vote on this budget resolution.
23 There are some good things in this
24 budget resolution: 1.65 billion in education is
25 much overdue. Paid family leave, you know, I'm
1076
1 proud that, you know, this body is putting forth
2 paid family leave. Upstate DOT parity, TAP
3 increases, those are all good things.
4 But, you know, we left out what I
5 think is the most important thing, and that is an
6 increase in the minimum wage.
7 You know, millions of people in this
8 state, you know, work for poverty wages, and we
9 subsidize corporations like Walmart, Target and
10 McDonald's, by Medicaid. And we should not be
11 subsidizing in the form of corporate welfare
12 these multi-billion-dollar corporations. We
13 should be paying people a living wage so they get
14 off of those rolls. And we as taxpayers should
15 not be subsidizing those corporations.
16 So mainly for the failure of the
17 budget resolution to support and increase the
18 minimum wage, I'll be voting against the
19 resolution.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
21 Panepinto in the negative.
22 Senator Breslin.
23 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you,
24 Mr. President.
25 At the risk of being
1077
1 semi-repetitive, there were many good things in
2 this budget, many things that all of us as a body
3 can agree with. But there were just too many
4 items that were not addressed properly, in my
5 opinion, or not addressed at all, including but
6 not limited to LLCs, which are long overdue;
7 campaign finance reform -- again, long overdue;
8 mayoral control in New York City, the minimum
9 wage not addressed, the DREAM Act, Raise the Age,
10 and on and on.
11 And locally the $12.5 million spin
12 up for the great City of Albany, which was in the
13 Governor's presentation, a city that spends --
14 does not receive taxation for over 30 percent of
15 its properties, which are just state by
16 themselves, and upwards of 70 percent nontaxable
17 property. And it's imperative, with all the
18 services they provide to state workers, including
19 but not limited to people who work in this
20 building.
21 So with all of those and in
22 particular the local situation, I accordingly
23 vote no.
24 Thank you, Mr. President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
1078
1 Breslin in the negative.
2 Senator Stavisky to explain her
3 vote.
4 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 I'm very troubled by the
7 $485 million hit that New York City has to take
8 in terms of the CUNY budget. Because everybody
9 here agrees that anti-Semitism is wrong, but the
10 way you fight it is not by hurting the students.
11 You fight it with truth, you fight it with --
12 through the courts. You fight it by condemning
13 it. You don't punish the students. And they're
14 the ones who are going to suffer with that
15 $485 million cut.
16 Secondly, the ASAP program and the
17 other cuts to the CUNY community colleges -- a
18 very serious issue, because the program works.
19 The program works, and yet you don't restore the
20 two and a half million dollars that it cost.
21 The maintenance of effort
22 legislation that we passed, it's got to be
23 enacted. There ought to be parity between SUNY
24 and CUNY. What you do for SUNY, you should do
25 for CUNY, and vice versa.
1079
1 And lastly, I too am concerned about
2 some other issues that are not in the budget,
3 whether it be campaign finance reform,
4 particularly ethics legislation, mayoral control
5 of schools.
6 All of these issues compel me to
7 vote no, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
9 Stavisky in the negative.
10 Senator Rivera to explain his vote.
11 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
12 Mr. President.
13 I realize that I had more than a few
14 minutes before, but I felt compelled to stand up
15 again and just reiterate what my colleagues have
16 said, particularly Senator Stavisky just now.
17 It doesn't matter how many times you
18 say it, this whole idea that you are punishing or
19 that there have been anti-Semitic attacks in CUNY
20 and therefore this is the solution -- it doesn't
21 matter how many times you say it, it does not
22 make it a real reason.
23 Particularly when the students that
24 are going to be impacted are students that we
25 serve and are students that very likely would be
1080
1 as appalled at these attacks as any of the folks
2 in this body.
3 Thirty-eight percent of the students
4 in CUNY are immigrants. Three-quarters of them
5 are people of color. Forty-two percent of them
6 represent the first generation of their family
7 going to college. And we are saying -- yes, we
8 are sending a message to the City University of
9 New York. We're sending a message to those
10 students that we don't care about them. Four
11 hundred and eighty-five million dollars is not
12 chump change. And the impact that that's going
13 to have on these facilities, on these
14 universities, is -- I'll say it again,
15 Mr. President, it is appalling.
16 I'm voting in the negative on this
17 resolution. Thank you.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
19 Rivera in the negative.
20 Senator Peralta to explain his vote.
21 SENATOR PERALTA: Thank you,
22 Mr. President.
23 I too rise to say that this
24 resolution has no mayoral control, no DREAM Act,
25 no minimum wage. And let's stop the nonsense
1081
1 about anti-Semitism on the property of CUNY.
2 Let's stop that. Because as it was mentioned
3 here, no one is anti-Semitic here. But that's
4 like equivalent to saying that if there's a
5 racist attack or there's a gender attack or
6 there's an anti-Semitic attack on hospital
7 property, on public school property, then we're
8 going to take money away from those properties
9 because we need to hear more from the hospital,
10 we need to hear more from the public school, we
11 need to hear more from the entity that's getting
12 funded on a city level, on a state level.
13 Let's stop that argument. That is
14 not real. That is not a real argument. You're
15 going to punish the kids, the students, by taking
16 away more than $485 million, and you're using
17 this argument? Come on, please. The members of
18 the media present today, let's stop this. That
19 is not a real argument. Because CUNY is not
20 anti-Semitic. So what you're telling me is if
21 there's any, any attack that happens in SUNY --
22 which, by the way, this is only towards CUNY.
23 But if it happened in SUNY then you would stop
24 funding SUNY because it happened on their
25 property? You wouldn't do that. Let's not do
1082
1 that to CUNY. Please, let's stop the nonsense.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Peralta in the negative.
4 Senator DeFrancisco to close.
5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: One of the
6 comments that was just made in the closing
7 explanation of a vote is the truest comment that
8 was said today. By saying things over and over
9 and over and over doesn't make it true.
10 Three quick points.
11 The ethics legislation that is not
12 sufficient, according to some people today. The
13 fact that it's not in here may just mean it's a
14 bad idea and the Senate thinks it's a bad idea.
15 There are many people in this
16 house that have certain businesses or professions
17 and would never have run if there was a
18 restriction on outside income.
19 So what we would do with that reform
20 would effectively mean that only -- we would have
21 a full politician house. This would be a house
22 of politicians with no varied backgrounds that
23 don't have any other information to provide other
24 than what may be politically proper at the time.
25 Well, that's not a reform, that's a
1083
1 regression. I would think some people that were
2 relying totally on their salaries here, rather
3 than earning independent income, would be more
4 susceptible to make sure they collect as much
5 money as possible or whatever else they might do,
6 to ensure every two years they're going to have
7 their political career.
8 I was reminded that $30,000 would be
9 what the $15 minimum wage would be in Syracuse.
10 Well, I know that. But we're talking not
11 about -- we're confusing, no matter how many
12 times you say it, we're confusing living wage
13 with minimum wage.
14 And you might not know the person
15 who said that about $30,000, that a
16 non-for-profit organization that cares for the
17 toughest kids in our community and gives them
18 tough love and makes sure that they become
19 productive will be paying $2 million more if the
20 minimum wage went into effect. Are those the
21 greedy people?
22 A daycare center that came in at a
23 news conference I had said that a woman of two --
24 because I can't limit people, because I've got to
25 have a certain number of people for the kids -- a
1084
1 woman of two that has two people in her daycare
2 center would pay $6,000 more a year. That's not
3 one of these greedy 1 percenters. So no matter
4 how much you say it, it's going to raise the
5 cost.
6 The best one, one of the Senators
7 asked about the gaming, we should have more
8 hearings. Well, what our budget says about
9 minimum wage is we should analyze it, we should
10 get a study. Oh, you don't want a study of this,
11 you just want to grab it?
12 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Gianaris, why do you rise?
15 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President, I
16 remind you that you said you would be strictly
17 enforcing the two-minute rule. We are well
18 beyond two minutes with this explanation.
19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, last --
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: He's not
21 done with the two minutes yet, Senator Gianaris,
22 according to our clock --
23 SENATOR GIANARIS: That's not true.
24 I was timing it myself, Mr. President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: This
1085
1 clock here, Senator Gianaris, is what I go by.
2 Senator -- Senator Gianaris --
3 SENATOR GIANARIS: Who controls
4 that clock, Mr. President?
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Please be
6 seated, Senator Gianaris.
7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I -- I -- I
8 will --
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 DeFrancisco, conclude your comments.
11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I will -- I
12 will stop. It's kind of interesting that we were
13 asked to provide a little more time for the
14 Minority, but a little more time here doesn't --
15 is not appropriate.
16 So I'll stop with this. We talked
17 about the high cost of education, but we want to
18 impose the minimum wage on the schools. The
19 schools. So give them a raise and let the
20 schools pay more money so they don't really have
21 a raise in their -- the higher education. Read
22 an article -- and this is the last thing I'll
23 say -- read an article about Oregon's new minimum
24 wage and how tuition went up.
25 But I guess the way we would solve
1086
1 that is simply to pay the loans of kids because
2 their tuitions went up.
3 So just because you say it and you
4 say it loudly doesn't mean it's true. This is a
5 good budget, it's a fair budget, it's a balanced
6 budget. I vote aye.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Announce
8 the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
10 Resolution 4330, those recorded in the negative
11 are Senators Breslin, Comrie, Díaz, Dilan,
12 Espaillat, Gianaris, Hamilton, Hassell-Thompson,
13 Hoylman, Krueger, Montgomery, Panepinto, Peralta,
14 Perkins, Persaud, Rivera, Serrano, Squadron,
15 Stavisky and Stewart-Cousins.
16 Ayes, 39. Nays, 20.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 resolution is passed and adopted.
19 Senator DeFrancisco.
20 Senator DeFrancisco, the resolution
21 has passed and is adopted. That concludes the
22 business before the desk.
23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Not quite,
24 because we have to say happy birthday to Andrew
25 Lanza, whose birthday was this weekend, from what
1087
1 I understand.
2 (Applause.)
3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: There being
4 no further business, I move to adjourn until
5 Tuesday, March 15th, at 3:00 p.m.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On
7 motion, with no further business before the desk,
8 the Senate will stand adjourned until Tuesday,
9 March 15th, at 3:00 p.m.
10 The Senate is adjourned.
11 (Whereupon, at 6:17 p.m., the Senate
12 adjourned.)
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