Regular Session - March 14, 2018
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1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 14, 2018
11 1:15 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR JOSEPH GRIFFO, Acting President
19 FRANCIS W. PATIENCE, Secretary
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21
22
23
24
25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask all present to please rise
5 and join with me as we recite the Pledge of
6 Allegiance to our Flag.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: In the
10 absence of clergy today, I ask that we all bow
11 our heads in a moment of silent prayer and
12 reflection as we recall Psalm 34:18: "The Lord
13 is close to the brokenhearted and saves those
14 who are crushed in spirit."
15 I ask that we all now bow our heads
16 in a moment of honor and remembrance to those
17 who died at Parkland High School and all others
18 who have suffered the loss of life through
19 violence. Please bow your heads and continue to
20 stand in silent remembrance and tribute.
21 (Whereupon, the assemblage
22 respected a moment of silence.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 reading of the Journal.
25 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
1062
1 Tuesday, March 13th, the Senate met pursuant to
2 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, March 12th,
3 was read and approved. On motion, Senate
4 adjourned.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without
6 objection, the Journal will stand approved as
7 read.
8 Presentation of petitions.
9 Messages from the Assembly.
10 Messages from the Governor.
11 Reports of standing committees.
12 Reports of select committees.
13 Communications and reports from
14 state officers.
15 Motions and resolutions.
16 Senator DeFrancisco.
17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO:
18 Mr. President, on page 19 I offer the following
19 amendments to Calendar 293, Senate Print 5982,
20 by Senator Jacobs, and ask that said bill retain
21 its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 amendments are received, and the bill shall
24 retain its place on third reading.
25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would you
1063
1 recognize Senator Valesky, please.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Valesky.
4 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 On behalf of Senator Hamilton, I
7 offer the following amendments to Calendar 578,
8 Senate Bill 5454A, and ask that said bill retain
9 its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 amendments are received, and the bill shall
12 retain its place on third reading.
13 SENATOR VALESKY: And also on
14 behalf of Senator Hamilton, I move that
15 Bill 7918 be discharged from its respective
16 committee and be recommitted with instructions
17 to strike the enacting clause.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: It is so
19 ordered.
20 Senator DeFrancisco.
21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: If we can
22 stand at ease for -- moments.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 Senate will stand temporarily at ease.
25 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
1064
1 ease at 1:19 p.m.)
2 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at
3 1:22 p.m.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 Senate will come to order.
6 Senator DeFrancisco.
7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, would
8 you please recognize Senator Stewart-Cousins.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Can I
10 have some order in the house, please.
11 Senator Stewart-Cousins.
12 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank
13 you, Mr. President.
14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Excuse me,
15 Senator Stewart-Cousins. I apologize, I should
16 have first called up the resolution.
17 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Okay.
18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Can we please
19 call up the resolution that's on for
20 consideration today.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 Senate is in order, and the Secretary will read.
23 THE SECRETARY: Resolution Number
24 4168, by Senator Flanagan, in response to the
25 2018-2019 Executive Budget submission
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1 (Legislative Bills 7500B, 7503B, 7504B, 7505B,
2 7506A, 7507B, 7508B and 7509B) to be adopted as
3 legislation expressing the position of the
4 New York State Senate relating to the 2018-2019
5 New York State Budget.
6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Now,
7 Mr. President, would you please call up Senator
8 Stewart-Cousins on the resolution.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Stewart-Cousins.
11 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank you
12 again, Mr. President.
13 So we sit here today just about two
14 weeks before our budget is due. And I think we
15 all know that this will be a very long two weeks.
16 The reality is the State Budget has become more
17 than a fiscal document, it has become a policy
18 document. It is the main tool that our state
19 government uses to advance policies.
20 And this document offers a stark
21 contrast between the Democrats and the
22 Republicans. The alternative offered by the
23 Senate Republicans simply does not tackle the
24 issues facing our state and really shows in many
25 ways how out of step with the rest of the state
1066
1 you've become.
2 Mr. President, as we sit here today,
3 just hours after students here in this state and
4 across the nation stood together and said, Enough
5 is enough -- enough with the mass shootings,
6 enough of gun violence. They're demanding from
7 us real solutions. And yet this document does
8 nothing to address the proliferation of guns and
9 the growing numbers of mass shootings. I have to
10 say, frankly, it's mind-boggling and sends the
11 absolute wrong message.
12 Yet again, Albany is rocked by
13 another scandal, and this document does nothing
14 to address ethics. Yet the majority of people as
15 we know and all of us agree, the majority of
16 people in government work, work hard, we do the
17 right thing. But it really doesn't mean that
18 this body can sit back and do nothing.
19 The budget plan also does nothing
20 about our abysmal voting participation rates.
21 The resolution fails to properly address the tax
22 crisis that the Trump administration has created
23 with their crazy tax scheme. The resolution
24 fails to adequately fund our schools and once
25 again favors charter schools over public schools.
1067
1 This plan doesn't include the Child
2 Victims Act and justice for so many survivors.
3 Mr. President, let's be clear. A passing mention
4 is really not enough. We need real action and a
5 real plan.
6 This plan once again leaves our
7 Dreamers behind, and it doesn't include the DREAM
8 Act. The plan doesn't adequately deal with the
9 growing infrastructure crisis, especially our
10 crumbling MTA. The plan doesn't deal with the
11 crisis that's facing NYCHA, doesn't deal with our
12 shrinking affordable housing market across the
13 state. The plan doesn't deal with so many
14 important issues involving women's health and
15 including finally codifying choice in our State
16 Constitution.
17 This plan once again continues to
18 ignore the LGBTQ community and even rejects the
19 proposal to outlaw the use of gay or trans panic
20 as defense for murder.
21 This plan does nothing to fix our
22 criminal justice system. We need to end cash
23 bail. We need to ensure New Yorkers' rights to a
24 speedy trial, to halt the unconstitutional and
25 lengthy incarceration of our citizens while they
1068
1 await justice.
2 This plan doesn't even recognize
3 New York's need to do more to protect our
4 environment and water supply in the face of the
5 president and his allies' deregulations and
6 climate change denial.
7 The stakes for New Yorkers have
8 never been higher. And the Republicans' budget
9 plan simply does not address the many needs of
10 our constituents.
11 We have the ability to pass a sound
12 fiscal document and stand up for New Yorkers and
13 our constituents' rights. I urge all of my
14 colleagues to appreciate that fact and, over the
15 coming weeks, work towards that end. Know that
16 the Senate Democrats will continue to advocate
17 for our plans to be included in the final State
18 Budget, because New Yorkers deserve better than
19 what is being presented and will ultimately, I
20 assume, pass today.
21 Thank you, Mr. President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
23 you, Senator Stewart-Cousins.
24 Senator DeFrancisco.
25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would you
1069
1 please now call on Senator Klein.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Klein.
4 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you,
5 Mr. President. Thank you very much.
6 This is certainly, as was said by
7 Senator Cousins, the start of the budget
8 marathon. This is our ability in the State
9 Senate to put forth a one-house budget resolution
10 which talks about the things that we hope to get
11 into the final budget. And I think the
12 resolution before us is sort of a good place to
13 begin, and it includes a lot of what the
14 Independent Democratic Conference has advocated
15 for for the past several months and sometimes the
16 past several years.
17 First, it recognizes -- finally --
18 that we owe a debt to the 400,000 residents of
19 NYCHA. You know, over the years myself and my
20 colleagues in the IDC have done numerous reports
21 showing that there's problems with lead and mold
22 and faulty boilers. Unfortunately, every time we
23 pass what I think was the real reform that was
24 needed, an independent monitor, unfortunately, it
25 never made it into the budget nor it never passed
1070
1 the Assembly.
2 But I think the time to act is now,
3 because I think what we've seen -- which I think
4 everyone will agree upon -- that NYCHA is truly
5 the worst landlord in the City of New York.
6 So in this document it contains a
7 state independent monitor, which will actually
8 make sure the money is spent quickly and wisely,
9 the over $300 million that we advocated in
10 previous years and was actually put into the
11 budget. We also give the City Council, for the
12 first time, oversight over NYCHA. We open up the
13 311 program in the City of New York to NYCHA
14 tenants to make sure they get their complaints
15 done in an expedited fashion. We also include
16 design-build language to expedite the repairs for
17 NYCHA.
18 We also require a bill that was just
19 passed the other day by Senator Savino to make
20 sure that individuals who are doing mold
21 remediation actually are licensed, like everybody
22 else has to do except if you work for NYCHA.
23 We also make sure that we have a
24 subway system and a mass transit system in the
25 City of New York that actually serves commuters.
1071
1 We all know about the Summer of Hell. We have to
2 make sure that every season afterwards aren't all
3 seasons of hell.
4 We put forth again a solution where
5 we make sure that while the state pays 50 percent
6 of the $840 million plan to make very needed
7 repairs, that the city comes up with their fair
8 share, the other 50 percent. You know, the time
9 for finger pointing and the back-and-forth has to
10 end. Because every day we don't do something for
11 our mass transit system, it's only the commuters
12 that actually suffer.
13 We also for the first time have our
14 Home Stability Support program, which I think is
15 a major step in ending our homeless problem,
16 especially in the City of New York and some of
17 our other large cities.
18 You know, in the City of New York
19 the solution for many, many years has been to
20 turn hotels and motels into homeless shelters.
21 Most of them are in horrible condition. Most of
22 them are paying anywhere from $400 to $500 a
23 night, on average, to house a homeless family --
24 instead of turning around, taking that money and
25 putting it towards increasing the voucher
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1 allowance.
2 You know, the way we end the
3 homeless problem is by keeping people in their
4 homes, making sure they don't get evicted, making
5 sure they have the rent to pay to live in their
6 own homes, not in some seedy motel, not in some
7 homeless shelter that's less than safe. So I
8 think this program is going to go a long way
9 towards really helping to alleviate our homeless
10 problem.
11 We also advance legislation which
12 I've carried for some time, again, making sure
13 that anyone who is actually in a homeless shelter
14 is safe and secure, making sure that dangerous
15 sexual predators aren't living in family
16 shelters. You know, every year we put out a list
17 and every year that list keeps growing. We have
18 dangerous sexual predators living in homeless
19 shelters with families, exposed to their kids
20 each and every day.
21 We all know that we're not doing the
22 same thing when it comes to our schoolkids,
23 because we have a 1,000-foot rule: No dangerous
24 sexual predator can live within a thousand feet
25 of a school. Well, why is that same individual
1073
1 allowed to live in a homeless shelter?
2 I want to also commend Senator
3 Flanagan and the Republican Conference because
4 this is the first time that this house is saying
5 yes, they will discuss moving forward voter
6 reform, things like early voting, no-excuse
7 absentee voting. It also includes language to
8 start the discussion on criminal justice reform,
9 such as bail reform, speedy trial requirements,
10 and automatic discovery.
11 But again, with every document that
12 has so many positives, there's also things that I
13 believe are extremely important that we need to
14 get done. You know, as was said earlier, it's
15 supposed to be a budget document, but over the
16 years this budget has become a policy document.
17 It's okay with me, because I think we got a lot
18 of great policies over the years like paid family
19 leave, like a $15 minimum wage, like marriage
20 equality.
21 But at the same time, I think moving
22 forward it becomes even more important this year
23 that we take care of the 42,000 Dreamers, we make
24 sure that every woman in the state has a right to
25 choose what they want to do with their own
1074
1 bodies. And at the same time I think, even
2 though I think and I believe and I'm very proud
3 of the fact that I was the sponsor of the SAFE
4 Act in the State Senate, the toughest gun law in
5 the nation, which bans assault weapons, bans
6 high-capacity magazines, makes sure to get guns
7 out of the hands of the mentally ill -- we still
8 need to do I think a little more.
9 And Senator Savino has a bill which
10 almost is identical to what the Governor proposed
11 in his budget, which would take weapons out of
12 the hands of those convicted of domestic
13 violence.
14 So again, as I said, we're almost at
15 the finish line, and I hope we get these other
16 things done which are so important to all
17 New Yorkers before we actually go over that
18 finish line.
19 Thank you, Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
21 you, Senator Klein.
22 Senator Young.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
24 Mr. President.
25 I want to thank all of my
1075
1 colleagues. This is a special day. As you know,
2 we are passing the Senate's one-house budget
3 resolution. And our one-house budget is a
4 responsible spending plan that promotes
5 affordability, opportunity and security.
6 Crafted with input from both
7 Republicans and Democrats, it should serve as a
8 blueprint for creation of a better budget and a
9 stronger, safer and more prosperous New York
10 State.
11 We have several categories that we
12 have focused on, and the first has to do,
13 Mr. President, with affordability. We reject
14 every single one of the new taxes and fees
15 proposed by the Governor, totaling $1 billion,
16 including a new tax on Internet purchases and new
17 DMV fees.
18 New Yorkers already pay more than
19 enough in taxes. They're in fact drowning in
20 taxes, in many cases, and they need and deserve
21 to have tax relief. This Senate budget plan does
22 that.
23 We decouple the state and federal
24 tax codes. This is important legislation that
25 Senator Felder put forward previously that we
1076
1 passed. But we decouple the state and federal
2 tax codes to prevent New Yorkers from taking a
3 $1.5 billion state tax hit as a result of the
4 recent federal tax changes.
5 We make the property tax cap
6 permanent to provide certainty for homeowners and
7 seniors, and also to build on the $23 billion
8 that taxpayers have already saved from this
9 historic reform that was won by Senate
10 Republicans.
11 Since property taxes are a top
12 obstacle to affordability, we extend the property
13 tax rebate check and reject the Governor's cap on
14 STAR benefits, so that every taxpayer gets all of
15 the relief that they deserve. And we begin the
16 process of phasing out property taxes altogether
17 for seniors, so that they can afford to live in
18 New York and not have to leave New York.
19 Unlike some in Albany, we recognize
20 you do not balance the budget by raising taxes,
21 you do it by controlling spending. And so with
22 this budget, for the eighth year in a row we
23 adhere to the self-imposed spending cap to
24 maintain fiscal discipline and to protect
25 taxpayers. This has saved taxpayers billions of
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1 dollars since 2011. We believe that it's time to
2 write the spending cap into law so that the state
3 always lives within its means and never again
4 spends more than what the taxpayers can afford.
5 We cut taxes for small businesses so
6 that they can use the savings to grow and create
7 thousands of jobs for workers. And that's what
8 every family needs, Mr. President. Every family
9 needs to have good-paying jobs.
10 We advance a comprehensive
11 regulatory reform package to cut red tape and
12 eliminate regulations that are unnecessary and
13 duplicative and prevent businesses from
14 succeeding and growing. This package curtails
15 the overuse of emergency regulations, makes
16 improvements to job impact assessments of
17 proposed regulations, establishes a small
18 business liaison in each state agency, which is
19 very important, and provides for review of
20 unfunded mandates on local governments, among
21 other reforms.
22 We actually end the START-UP NY
23 program that was created by the Governor, because
24 it has not worked. And we actually, under our
25 plan, redirect $44.5 million in advertising money
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1 to initiatives that we know do work. We need a
2 smarter, more comprehensive economic development
3 strategy that focuses on lower taxes, lower
4 energy costs, less regulation and creation of a
5 more hospitable environment for businesses.
6 We provide record funding for local
7 schools, an increase of $1 billion over last
8 year. And to ensure every child has access to a
9 first-class education and the opportunity that
10 comes with that education, we provide more
11 funding for nonpublic and charter schools.
12 We provide $35 million to reverse a
13 proposed cut to Bundy Aid to colleges in the
14 Executive Budget, so that students can gain
15 access to financial aid, so that they can have
16 the dream of being successful and going to
17 college so that they can be successful in life.
18 We increase capital funding for SUNY
19 by $255 million and CUNY by $55 million, and
20 advance a five-year capital plan for both so that
21 they can make new investments for the future.
22 We increase income thresholds to
23 help more New Yorkers who are struggling with the
24 high cost of higher education, and we protect
25 taxpayer dollars from being used to give free
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1 college tuition to people who are here illegally.
2 We restore more than $10 million of
3 the Governor's proposed agriculture cuts -- very
4 important to our economy across the state -- and
5 provide an additional $5 million to support the
6 state's number-one industry.
7 We also advance key elements of the
8 conference's Growing Strong plan to boost
9 agriculture, protect family farms, and create new
10 jobs.
11 We also have a lot of measures under
12 the category of security. For example, we make
13 new investments to ensure that our schools are as
14 safe as possible so teachers can teach and
15 students can learn, starting with a provision to
16 allow districts to put in place an armed resource
17 officer, fully aidable, at their option.
18 We create a school services mental
19 health coordinator program to identify, address
20 and report issues of mental health before a
21 situation escalates or a tragedy occurs. To
22 increase readiness, we require schools to conduct
23 at least two active shooter drills every year.
24 And we propose the largest-ever
25 state commitment, $265 million, to address the
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1 heroin and opioid crisis and to get individuals
2 the treatment that they need and deserve. Senate
3 Republicans have led on this issue, first
4 creating a joint Senate task force and then
5 delivering record funding to support prevention,
6 expand treatment, and encourage recovery.
7 The spike in the number of overdose
8 deaths called by fentanyl and its analogs is of
9 particular concern, and we are advancing a
10 comprehensive package in the budget to address
11 this problem and other related issues. As long
12 as this need is great, our fight will continue.
13 We provide new funds to accelerate
14 the cleanup and recovery for communities
15 surrounding Lake Ontario. I know this is very
16 important to our members, who have led on this
17 issue. These communities were devastated by last
18 year's flooding, and we take meaningful steps to
19 ensure residents and businesses are better
20 prepared next time. And unfortunately, my
21 colleagues, I do believe there will be a next
22 time.
23 The Senate provides $1.2 million in
24 additional resources, an increase of $800,000
25 over current funding levels, to support
1081
1 initiatives and recommendations of the Senate
2 Task Force on Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease. We
3 have Senator Serino, Senator Amedore, several of
4 our colleagues who have also led on this very,
5 very critical issue that has affected so many
6 people's health across the state.
7 The Senate provides $10 million in
8 funding for 21st-century counterterrorism
9 technology, to secure public areas and air space.
10 And as part of the Senate budget resolution, we
11 affirm our strong support for amendments to both
12 the civil and criminal statutes of limitations to
13 further protect children from dangerous sexual
14 predators.
15 And finally, Mr. President, we
16 include our sweeping sexual harassment
17 legislation that we just passed this week that
18 will protect every New Yorker.
19 When it all boils down, we will have
20 spent a lot of time negotiating, debating,
21 disagreeing, agreeing as we go through this
22 process. And while we do that, we need to always
23 keep at the forefront what this budget is really
24 about. And this budget is about people. It's
25 about the people in the state. It's about making
1082
1 people's lives better.
2 And I look forward to working with
3 all of our colleagues to come to a final budget,
4 on time, that improves the lives of people and
5 gives every New Yorker the opportunity to
6 succeed.
7 Thank you, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
9 you, Senator Young.
10 Senator Krueger.
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
12 Mr. President.
13 If the sponsor would please yield to
14 some questions.
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Young yields.
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
19 In the sponsor's presentation she
20 stated that the Republican one-house budget
21 resolution before us reduces or rejects
22 $1 billion of the Governor's revenue proposals.
23 But I'm looking at the financial plan, and it
24 only shows a reduction of $511 million. So I'm
25 wondering where the other half a billion is.
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1 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
2 Mr. President, we do reject all -- every single
3 tax and fee increase that was proposed by the
4 Governor. There are revenues from, for example,
5 the conversion of Fidelis to Centene. Those are
6 included in there. So we found other revenues or
7 kept some of the revenues that were under the
8 Governor's plan.
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
10 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue to
11 yield.
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I believe the
16 Governor's budget projected a billion from the
17 Fidelis-Centene plan. How much does your
18 proposal project?
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
20 Mr. President. Actually, Senator Krueger, that
21 figure is not correct. The Governor's proposal
22 actually had $750 million included from the
23 conversion.
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Correct. You're
25 right.
1084
1 SENATOR YOUNG: We reduced that by
2 $250 million. Right now I believe that there are
3 discussions underway regarding that issue. They
4 are not concluded yet. So we felt that it would
5 be prudent to still keep the funding in there but
6 reduce it by $250 million.
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay. So through
8 you, Mr. President. You know, there are so many
9 interesting things to discuss. I will just
10 highlight, this package shows tax relief of tax
11 increase rejections of $511 million, not a
12 billion. But it's not as interesting as many of
13 the other issues.
14 Through you, Mr. President, to
15 continue. If the sponsor would yield.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
20 So just to clarify, the Republicans
21 have rejected the possible revenue from carried
22 interest loophole. That's correct?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
24 Mr. President. Yes, as I said, we've rejected
25 every tax and fee increase that was proposed by
1085
1 the Governor.
2 And the reason that we did that is
3 that we want to give taxpayers real relief. And
4 we feel raising taxes in New York State will
5 place a heavier burden on the people of this
6 state, destroy jobs. We already have had too
7 many people leave the state because of the heavy
8 tax burden. We are looking to cut taxes, not
9 increase taxes, because that's the positive thing
10 to do.
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Excuse me,
12 Mr. President. I was just conferring.
13 You know, I want to thank the
14 sponsor for her answers, but I would like to
15 speak on the bill.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Krueger on the bill -- on the resolution.
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: On the
19 resolution, excuse me.
20 So yes, she made a full presentation
21 or a presentation of what is in this resolution.
22 I just want to highlight that from a revenue
23 perspective, imposing Internet fairness is not a
24 new tax. It actually is required already under
25 law that when you buy something on the Internet
1086
1 and you don't pay sales tax at the time of
2 purchase, you're supposed to pay it when you file
3 your state taxes. Unfortunately, that's not what
4 happens. So we have unfairness where
5 bricks-and-mortar stores have to make sure they
6 collect and pay their sales tax, and Internet
7 providers get an unfair advantage.
8 So it would generate revenue we're
9 supposed to be entitled to in this state, and
10 actually the federal data shows it could be
11 billions of dollars, but we just simply don't
12 collect it. That's not a new tax, it's a fair
13 and equitable collection of taxes that we don't
14 yet have.
15 We also -- they reject the changes
16 to ESCOs, both collection of taxes and actually
17 keeping the limitations on these energy service
18 companies that are actually charging us, as
19 consumers, far more than utilities. And so it's
20 tragic, in my opinion, that this resolution
21 rejects the positive changes that have been
22 proposed to protect consumers from the ESCO
23 companies around the state that are in fact
24 draining our bank accounts without our realizing
25 it when we sign up for them. Sometimes we don't
1087
1 even know we signed up, we just see our energy
2 bills going up.
3 There are so many things in this
4 resolution that are bad for New Yorkers. And it
5 is about the people. I completely agree with
6 Senator Young when she talked about this budget,
7 it's about the people.
8 So to highlight, one of the
9 proposals that has been rejected from the
10 Governor's budget is the requirement to license
11 and regulate student loan servicers.
12 For people who don't know, New York
13 State's student loan debt -- alone, just in
14 New York -- has more than doubled during the last
15 decade, growing to $82 billion, $82 billion in
16 student loan debt in our state. And our student
17 loan servicers, the primary links between lenders
18 and borrowers, have the power to either help
19 borrowers remain current on their account or
20 allow them to default.
21 They also can direct what kind of
22 loans you get directed to. And the research
23 shows that they are directing them to the
24 highest-cost loans instead of the lowest-cost
25 loans. So they are helping to create an enormous
1088
1 student debt crisis, and they don't have any
2 obligation to help resolve it or prevent it from
3 happening in the first place.
4 And finally, finally in the
5 Governor's budget proposal he has some excellent
6 language to license and regulate student loan
7 servicers. We license and regulate mortgages
8 after we had a mortgage crisis, and yet we don't
9 recognize we have a student loan debt crisis.
10 But we're choosing not, in this resolution, to
11 offer the same protections to our students facing
12 billions of dollars of debt.
13 We also, just to highlight -- and I
14 know that some of my colleagues will be speaking
15 in more depth, so I'll be just highlighting --
16 that we fail to extend the sunset provision on
17 the state's MWBE program for five years. So it's
18 a fascinating question what happens if we do away
19 with MWBE in the State of New York. And
20 unfortunately, we make the decision in the
21 Republican resolution to allow it to sunset.
22 The Republican resolution has also
23 created new funding streams for charter schools,
24 but it's not exactly clear what the money will go
25 for. So there's a line discussing $150 million
1089
1 more for charter schools to be paid out in April,
2 May, June of 2018, but there's no detail about
3 who gets it or why, and what's the justification
4 for the distribution, or how that decision has
5 been made.
6 It is also eliminating the limit the
7 state has had on the number of charter schools in
8 the State of New York.
9 It also, in this resolution, goes
10 into quite a bit of detail about trying to
11 protect our schools from dangerous firearms, but
12 it almost identically parallels the one-house
13 bills we debated here the other day where, just
14 to point out and refresh our memories, none of
15 the proposal actually reduces the number of guns
16 that are available to young people, and so it's
17 seriously questionable how it's going to help us.
18 In energy, which is one of the
19 crucial issues facing us in the state, both the
20 cost of energy and the kind of energy and
21 environmental conservation we have, it rejects
22 NYSERDA being able to expand renewable energy
23 options. It actually limits whether the state's
24 Power Authority can create cleaner, more
25 renewable sources of energy. And if they -- it's
1090
1 a little confusing, because in one place it says
2 they can't do it at all and in another place it
3 says if they do it, they have to do it at a far
4 lesser cost per kilowatt hour than existing
5 energy that might be dirty energy.
6 That's not how we address the future
7 of our energy needs or our environmental needs.
8 So it actually pushes us backwards on climate
9 change and our carbon footprint. And I just
10 don't understand why anyone in the 21st century
11 would be wanting to go backward on these critical
12 issues.
13 It also accepts, which I do not
14 support, the Governor's sweep of RGGI for
15 $23 million.
16 And while somebody may or may not
17 discuss the changes in hunting law, which do seem
18 a small item in a resolution this large, it
19 allows you to shoot a bow or to hunt across a
20 highway. Just think about it. I am hoping that
21 the language includes you have to aim very high
22 when shooting across a highway. Just a thought.
23 Good government and ethics. It's
24 not here. They took it out. You might agree or
25 disagree with any number of the Governor's
1091
1 proposals -- I know that I have colleagues who
2 are going to speak about that. But it just takes
3 it away.
4 It also rejects the $7 million in
5 funding to assure that we could have early voting
6 in this state. Seven million dollars. It
7 doesn't seem like that much, but it's enough to
8 ensure that our counties actually can implement
9 early voting to increase the possibilities of
10 people being able to vote while it's competing
11 with their need to work and their childcare and,
12 in some areas, having incredibly long lines when
13 you try to vote all at once on one day.
14 In healthcare, it accepts the
15 discontinuance of the cost-of-living adjustments
16 for DOH providers. These are the front-line men
17 and women who do the hardest work in our state,
18 providing care and services for family planning,
19 school-based health programs, chronic disease
20 programs, WIC and maternal and child health
21 programs. They didn't get COLAs when others did,
22 we need to ensure that they do, and this would
23 discontinue that opportunity.
24 It also rejects the extension of
25 Medicaid prescription drug caps, which are
1092
1 expiring in 2019, which can drive up the cost of
2 prescriptions for our poorest residents in
3 New York. That's not good for anyone. When
4 people can't afford their drugs, they get sicker
5 and they can be a public health risk to the rest
6 of us. So I do not understand the decision to
7 make that kind of rejection from the Governor's
8 budget proposal.
9 As I believe was mentioned by my
10 leader, there's a rejection of funding for the
11 DREAM Act for our college students. It also
12 rejects important opportunity program funds that
13 help some of our lowest-income students be our
14 most successful students in our public
15 universities. I know I have a colleague who will
16 be speaking about that.
17 There's a lot to be said about
18 housing and NYCHA. Let me just say we all are
19 concerned enormously. The Senate Democrats
20 proposed a $500 million infusion into NYCHA. The
21 Senate Republicans have proposed zero infusion of
22 money to help NYCHA and NYCHA tenants.
23 They again, as always, reject the
24 funding for the Tenant Protection Unit. Thank
25 goodness it continues anyway each year, even
1093
1 though they always reject that. Gee, it sounds
2 horrible, "protect tenants." I heard someone
3 speak about the importance of ensuring we do
4 something about preventing people from losing
5 their homes and becoming homeless. What a shame
6 that we also fight against having the staff to do
7 exactly that in the state's housing agency.
8 In human services, they reject the
9 Governor's proposal to provide fair treatment for
10 rent supplements for people with HIV/AIDS outside
11 of the City of New York. We already do the right
12 thing in the City of New York. But why, if
13 you're living with AIDS and are low-income,
14 should you have to not be provided the same
15 services and rental assistance outside of the
16 City of New York?
17 To continue, there are so many
18 things that are missing or have been removed from
19 this resolution that were in the Governor's
20 budget proposal.
21 I'm sorry, I'm just -- it rejects
22 the Governor's proposal for civil asset
23 forfeiture, which is a fundamental reform we need
24 in our criminal justice system.
25 It also rejects the Child Victims
1094
1 Act. Yet again, another year we're not going to
2 address the needs of victims of sexual and
3 physical abuse by adults in positions of power.
4 How many decades will New York State be out of
5 the norm of protecting our young people from this
6 kind of abuse? It's just breathtaking to me that
7 we have again removed this proposal for
8 consideration.
9 It also does not address -- in fact,
10 entirely eliminates -- proposals for speedy trial
11 reform, for bail reform, for discovery reform.
12 We all like to talk about why we need to do
13 criminal justice reforms. We all like to talk
14 about wanting to close Rikers sooner than later.
15 None of that happens unless you're doing the
16 kinds of reforms that were cut out of this
17 resolution.
18 We eliminate geriatric parole.
19 Elderly people in our prisons who all the
20 research shows are beyond the age where they will
21 continue to commit crimes, costing the State of
22 New York far, far more than the normal prison
23 costs, but we won't consider geriatric parole.
24 All right, I talked about taxes.
25 Transportation. Oh. So some of us live in the
1095
1 12-county region that the MTA is responsible for
2 mass transit in. And those of who live there
3 have a litany of complaints and problems because
4 of the inadequacy of the MTA. You would think
5 there might be some new money or some new
6 solutions for the MTA within the budget
7 resolution. One might not like some of the
8 Governor's proposals -- I don't actually like all
9 the Governor's proposals -- but you'd think there
10 would be alternative proposals. There are not.
11 The Republican resolution simply basically
12 ignores anything going on in the MTA 12-county
13 region, which is more than a little disturbing
14 for the half of the state's population that live
15 in those counties and need a solution to our mass
16 transit problems.
17 The Women's Agenda of the Governor.
18 It's basically rejecting or ignoring any of the
19 proposals in the Women's Agenda. In fact, it
20 doesn't even include the sexual harassment
21 language that was in Senator Young's bill the
22 other day. And I stood on this floor and
23 explained why that didn't go far enough, but we
24 needed to move forward. But we seem to have
25 dropped out any proposal or language or clarity
1096
1 about what should be done about the very serious
2 problems with sexual harassment.
3 We seem to have thrown out the
4 language to expand and protect reproductive
5 rights for the men and women of this state. I
6 had a discussion with one of my colleagues
7 yesterday who assured me, "We're all protecting
8 women already. There are no problems." Yes, the
9 problems remain. We're not protecting all women,
10 thank you so much.
11 But the Governor's proposals that
12 were rejected in this resolution take a step in
13 the right direction, even if I would like it to
14 go further. But apparently, if I were to vote
15 for this resolution, I would be saying that I'm
16 rejecting any changes for women in our state in
17 policy, and that's completely unacceptable.
18 You know, I'm going to now give many
19 of my colleagues an opportunity to highlight and
20 reinforce issues that they are particularly
21 concerned about. And then, with Mr. President's
22 permission, if there is still time left at the
23 end, I will continue.
24 Thank you, Mr. President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
1097
1 you, Senator Krueger. And we will keep that in
2 mind, based on the time allocations.
3 Senator Kaminsky.
4 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Thank you.
5 Will the resolution sponsor yield
6 for some questions?
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Young?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Young yields.
12 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Through you,
13 Mr. President, can the Senator please tell us
14 what ethics reforms, if any, are in the
15 resolution?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
17 Mr. President, I'd like to read the section that
18 deals with good government and ethics reform.
19 Under the Article VII proposal, the
20 Senate will consider modifications of the
21 Executive Article VII entitled "Good Government
22 and Ethics Reform." The Senate and the Assembly
23 have already acted to amend the constitution to
24 strip corrupt public officials convicted of
25 felonies of their pensions. Voters approved this
1098
1 measure in November, and the Legislature will
2 have to act to pass a law to make this complete.
3 In addition, the Senate and the
4 Assembly have already acted to require any member
5 of the Legislature earning more than $5,000 in
6 income through outside employment to submit a
7 written request for an advisory opinion to the
8 Legislative Ethics Commission to ensure the
9 employment is consistent with the Public Officers
10 Law.
11 The Senate remains opposed to
12 taxpayer-funded campaigns and does not believe
13 that a full-time professional legislature best
14 represents this state. Taxpayers in this state
15 already are overburdened, and we know that
16 taxpayers do not want to pay for politicians'
17 campaigns. The Senate is open to discussing
18 proposals that increase access to voting while
19 ensuring proper compliance with the Election Law.
20 The Senate believes any voter reform
21 proposal must include adequate funding for
22 counties.
23 Further, the Senate denies the
24 Executive proposal to subject the Legislature and
25 the Legislative Ethics Commission to the same
1099
1 Freedom of Information Law provisions to which
2 the executive agencies are subject. The
3 legislative process is inherently open to the
4 public for input, scrutiny and review, and that's
5 how it should be.
6 In contrast, the public is made
7 aware of many executive agency activities only
8 after they occur. As such, for purposes of the
9 Freedom of Information Law, these branches are
10 treated differently. This differentiation is one
11 that is recognized at the federal level as well.
12 In addition, with respect to the
13 Legislative Ethics Commission, confidentiality
14 encourages individuals to proactively seek ethics
15 guidance. Any ethics reform requires balanced
16 and measured actions to ensure that New Yorkers
17 are best served by their public officials.
18 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
19 continue to yield?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 sponsor yields.
23 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Through you,
24 Mr. President. Other than laws that have already
25 been enacted, are there any measures in this
1100
1 resolution that provide ethics reform and
2 specific ethics strictures to members of the
3 Legislature.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: As I just read to
5 you, Senator, we do say that we will be
6 discussing those for the final budget.
7 SENATOR KAMINSKY: And will the
8 sponsor continue to yield?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is there any
13 reason why they're not contained in this
14 document?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Because I think
16 that there are various opinions between the two
17 houses and the Governor, so we'll be discussing
18 those as we go through the process.
19 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
20 continue to yield?
21 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 sponsor yields.
24 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Am I correct
25 that the sponsor started serving in this body in
1101
1 2005?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: That's correct.
3 Actually, on May 10, 2005, to be exact.
4 SENATOR KAMINSKY: And will the
5 sponsor continue to yield?
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is the sponsor
10 aware that since that time, 13 Senate colleagues
11 have been either convicted by a jury or pleaded
12 guilty after being indicted?
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, Mr. President,
14 I am painfully aware of that. And that's why
15 this body has taken very strong action. I
16 believe that stripping corrupt politicians of
17 their pensions will be a deterrent.
18 But we actually have several pages
19 of reforms that we have made since 2005, Senator.
20 And if you would like to see those later today, I
21 would be actually very willing to discuss those
22 with you.
23 But we have passed measure after
24 measure after measure on ethics reform, and I
25 believe that's why these corrupt politicians are
1102
1 getting caught, because we have taken action in
2 the Senate to address this issue, and we will
3 continue to have discussions about what the best
4 next steps are as far as addressing corruption.
5 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
6 continue to yield?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR KAMINSKY: It's the
11 Senator's contention that Senate reforms are
12 leading to increased convictions of elected
13 officials? Am I understanding that correctly?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, I believe that
15 we have made several reforms over the years to
16 address this issue. And like I said, we are open
17 to further reforms as we go along. And I look
18 forward to actually passing the law to make sure
19 that people are actually stripped of their
20 pensions if they are convicted of corruption.
21 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
22 continue to yield?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 sponsor yields.
1103
1 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is there
2 anything in the current resolution that would
3 require political advertisers on social media to
4 have to disclose who paid for such advertising?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
6 Mr. President, I believe that's one of the items
7 that is being discussed at the leaders' table.
8 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
9 continue to yield?
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is there a
14 reason why the Senate one-house resolution is not
15 in favor of such a reform?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Basically I read to
17 you what we cover, and we do say in our
18 resolution that there are several outstanding
19 items that will be discussed as we move toward a
20 final budget.
21 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
22 continue to yield?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 sponsor yields.
1104
1 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Can the sponsor
2 tell us why there are pages and pages of
3 specifics in the resolution about everything from
4 specific items for OTB to specific health
5 centers, but ethics reform or reform of social
6 media is not specifically laid out in this
7 document?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
9 Mr. President. Actually, you know, on our side
10 of the aisle we believe that the budget should be
11 focused on fiscal issues. We need to have a
12 budget that reflects all of the fiscal needs of
13 New Yorkers. A lot of the policy issues we think
14 that the Governor included in his budget proposal
15 can be addressed separately.
16 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
17 continue to yield?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Does the Senator
22 or the conference she represents understand
23 the -- or believe in the benefit to having more
24 transparency in political ads so that voters
25 could know where the information comes from
1105
1 that's being put into their Facebook feed?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
3 Mr. President. As I said, these are outstanding
4 issues. They will be discussed as we move
5 forward. We do not feel, however, that those are
6 budgetary issues.
7 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
8 continue to yield?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Can the sponsor
13 please explain what the appropriation for a
14 million dollars for the OTB broadcast system is
15 for?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
17 Mr. President, I do have the answer for Senator
18 Kaminsky.
19 And basically, that allocation
20 allows the OTBs to upgrade their equipment.
21 Several of the OTBs do not have the proper
22 equipment, especially in broadcasting, to be
23 state-of-the-art. And as you know, that's a
24 revenue source for New York State in the budget
25 process, and a lot of the gaming revenue actually
1106
1 goes toward funding education. So that's what
2 that allocation would be used for.
3 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
4 continue to yield?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 Senator yields.
8 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is the sponsor
9 aware of any reforms to our electoral process,
10 such as early voting, that might be contained in
11 the resolution?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
13 Mr. President, I already read you the section on
14 that, that we are open to discussions on that
15 particular issue.
16 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
17 continue to yield?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is the sponsor
22 aware of the national change in tax policy that
23 limits New Yorkers' ability to deduct state and
24 local taxes?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
1107
1 Mr. President. Yes, we are. And that's why we
2 passed Senator Felder's critical bill earlier
3 this year that decouples the federal from the
4 state taxes. And that will save taxpayers in the
5 state $1.5 billion.
6 In addition, I believe that we will
7 be discussing several other proposals as we move
8 forward.
9 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
10 continue to yield?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 sponsor yields.
14 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is it the
15 sponsor's understanding that despite decoupling,
16 that the federal change to SALT will still raise
17 millions of New Yorkers' taxes.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
19 Mr. President. As I said, these are issues that
20 are outstanding. They are going to be
21 negotiated. And so I look forward to the
22 discussion.
23 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
24 continue to yield?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
1108
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Through you,
4 Mr. President. So the sponsor and I are in --
5 can I say fairly the sponsor and I are in
6 agreement that something else has to be done to
7 ensure, beyond what's in this resolution, to
8 ensure that New Yorkers' taxes aren't going up in
9 light of the SALT change?
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
11 Mr. President, I don't think that's a question.
12 And by the way, we are debating what
13 actually is in the resolution.
14 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
15 continue to yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Okay. Is the
20 sponsor aware of a provision in the resolution
21 that lowers the age for crossbow hunting?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: I'm sorry, would
23 you repeat that? I didn't hear it.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Please
25 repeat.
1109
1 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Is the sponsor
2 aware of a provision in the budget that lowers
3 the age for crossbow hunting?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
5 Mr. President, yes. Lowers the age.
6 SENATOR KAMINSKY: And would the
7 sponsor agree with me that that is a policy
8 provision that has no fiscal impact, such as a
9 number of the ethics or electoral reforms I spoke
10 about earlier?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
12 Mr. President. Yes, there is a fiscal impact,
13 because the state collects license fees.
14 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Will the sponsor
15 continue to yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR KAMINSKY: In the
20 Governor's budget he allocated $7 million for
21 early voting, which would obviously deal with a
22 lot of the impact on local boards of elections.
23 Is there a reason why in this resolution that
24 $7 million was struck?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
1110
1 Mr. President --
2 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Stricken, I
3 should say. Excuse me.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
5 Mr. President, yes. A lot of our county Boards
6 of Elections, county legislators across the
7 state, especially in upstate New York, have deep
8 concerns about another unfunded mandate. And
9 there's concerns about whether that $7 million,
10 even if we decided to do early voting, would be
11 enough money.
12 So this actually warrants further
13 discussion. This state has put too many unfunded
14 mandates on local governments. That's why people
15 are drowning in property taxes. This conference
16 and our side of the aisle has taken leadership
17 actions to address the property tax situation.
18 And so we have the property tax cap, we have the
19 STAR program. We have been working to reduce
20 costs on local government because those costs are
21 passed along to taxpayers.
22 One of the number-one reasons people
23 have left this state is because of the heavy
24 property tax burden. My colleague brings up some
25 of the federal tax actions and whether or not
1111
1 that will affect taxpayers. We need to make sure
2 that we are doing the right thing on behalf of
3 property taxpayers and taxpayers across this
4 state.
5 SENATOR KAMINSKY: On the bill,
6 Mr. President. Excuse me, on the resolution.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
8 Kaminsky on the resolution.
9 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Thank you.
10 As I read through this document, I'm
11 troubled by the games and obfuscations that it
12 represents and the reform that the Long Islanders
13 I represent are calling for.
14 You know, if you live down where I
15 am in Long Island, you recently had your senate
16 senator, your county executive, your speaker of
17 the Assembly all indicted. And I can go on and
18 on with a much larger list. And when you look at
19 a recent Pew poll from May of 2017, 18 percent of
20 Americans trust their government. And we in this
21 body are doing nothing to address that.
22 We talk about what we did last year
23 and what we did the years before that, but we've
24 got a lot to do. There aren't even any ideas
25 proposed in this.
1112
1 And we also know that our electoral
2 process has far too little participation. But we
3 have to call it what it is. Some people benefit
4 from that, and some don't. And so this document
5 says nothing about that except for cutting early
6 voting. And the argument made for cutting it is
7 that it doesn't have enough money. So instead of
8 adding to it, like is done with so many other
9 provisions, it's cut. Which doesn't make a lot
10 of sense.
11 We have to do more along these
12 measures. People want to know that when they're
13 on their Facebook feed and someone sends an ad
14 there, they want to know who paid for it so they
15 can evaluate it. There's no reason not to
16 support that.
17 And importantly, when we move on to
18 the tax question, it's essential that we get it
19 right in this budget. The Long Islanders I
20 represent are at their breaking point. They're
21 paying up to $300-plus to take a railroad that
22 hasn't been working, their property taxes are
23 sky-high, people want to move out of the state,
24 and the federal government's response to New York
25 is drop {clapping hands} dead.
1113
1 And it's up to us in this body to
2 push back on that as hard as we can. And the
3 answer we get in this budget is it's up for
4 discussion. We have to do better than that.
5 And in the next few weeks, I hope we
6 come back with a better answer. I want to
7 support that. I want to be able to say to the
8 Long Islanders I represent that our Senate stood
9 up for them and was able to make it more
10 affordable to live on Long Island and throughout
11 the state than put forth any political document.
12 We've got a lot to do. But the Long
13 Islanders I represent, when they have been voting
14 of late, talk about affordability and they talk
15 about corruption. And unfortunately, on this
16 resolution I feel it falls short in both.
17 I look forward to working on both
18 sides of the aisle with everyone in the next few
19 weeks to try to make it better.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Bailey.
23 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you,
24 Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield for a
25 couple of questions?
1114
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Before I begin,
5 though, I just want to clarify something that was
6 just said by my colleague Senator Kaminsky.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without
8 objection.
9 Senator Young.
10 SENATOR YOUNG: We are focused --
11 we are focused on tax relief in our proposal, as
12 you know. As far as the changes to the federal
13 program and the impact, we passed Senator
14 Felder's bill. We don't know right now whether
15 the federal government would accept some of the
16 Governor's proposals. And I think the worst
17 thing that could happen would be that we pass
18 something and then the federal government --
19 people take advantage of it, and then the federal
20 government pulls the rug on it.
21 So we need to be very deliberative
22 and careful about what we are doing, because we
23 don't want, at the end of the day, to have people
24 impacted in a negative way by this.
25 So thank you.
1115
1 Senator Bailey.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Bailey.
4 SENATOR BAILEY: Through you,
5 Mr. President, is the sponsor aware of the My
6 Brother's Keeper initiative in the State of
7 New York?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
9 Mr. President, yes, I am aware of it.
10 SENATOR BAILEY: Will the sponsor
11 continue to yield?
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 sponsor yields.
14 SENATOR BAILEY: Through you,
15 Mr. President. Can the sponsor explain why
16 $18 million, the entire appropriation, was cut
17 from My Brother's Keeper in the Senate one-house
18 resolution?
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
20 Mr. President, we actually increase Foundation
21 Aid. So those costs could be covered through
22 Foundation Aid.
23 SENATOR BAILEY: Will the sponsor
24 continue to yield?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
1116
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR BAILEY: Is the sponsor
4 aware of lagging graduation rates in black and
5 Latino communities which the My Brother's Keeper
6 initiative is designed to influence?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
8 Mr. President. Basically, through Foundation
9 Aid -- that aid is very flexible. And we want to
10 invest in education. That's the why we increased
11 the Governor's numbers by a billion dollars. And
12 so that funding would be able to be used for such
13 a program, such an endeavor.
14 SENATOR BAILEY: Will the sponsor
15 continue to yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR BAILEY: Would it be
20 accurate to say that the -- in this resolution
21 that initiatives for housing and tenants are
22 included?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: I'm sorry?
24 SENATOR BAILEY: Would it be
25 accurate to state that in this resolution that
1117
1 there are initiatives that include housing
2 initiatives for tenants?
3 SENATOR YOUNG: So there are
4 initiatives for tenants. So for example, there's
5 the TRIE program, the Tenant Rent Increase
6 Exemption, based on the very popular SCRIE
7 program for senior citizens, and also the DRIE
8 for disabled citizens.
9 And basically what it does, it
10 provides relief to people who earn $50,000 a year
11 or less who are paying a very large share of
12 their income toward rent. And we believe that
13 that's the way we should go. We should truly
14 help people who are struggling who don't have the
15 financial resources to pay their rent. That's
16 why we felt very strongly we would put the TRIE
17 program in this bill to help tenants.
18 SENATOR BAILEY: Will the sponsor
19 continue to yield?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 sponsor yields.
23 SENATOR BAILEY: Through you,
24 Mr. President. So if we are looking to ensure
25 that tenants are a focus, why are we cutting the
1118
1 for the Tenant Protection Unit?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
3 Mr. President, actually one of the issues that
4 I'm concerned about has to do with the Office of
5 Rent Administration. And right now there are a
6 lot of tenant-driven complaints that have gone to
7 the Office of Rent Administration. And those are
8 actual problems, those are problems that exist
9 now. Tenants have raised a red flag about
10 certain conditions in their dwellings.
11 And as a result, the Office of Rent
12 Administration is backlogged. It is backlogged
13 on addressing those concerns. I feel that they
14 should focus on addressing actual concerns first.
15 SENATOR BAILEY: Will the sponsor
16 continue to yield, Mr. President?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR BAILEY: Through you,
21 Mr. President. It was mentioned in the text of
22 the resolution that the Majority Conference is
23 willing to negotiate around speedy trial, bail
24 reform, and discovery. Can the sponsor explain
25 why a counterproposal was not introduced if you
1119
1 are willing to negotiate?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Well, through you,
3 Mr. President, we want to look at all options
4 that are on the table.
5 I think it's a lot like the Raise
6 the Age issue, where we negotiated it last year
7 and I believe that we came up with a good
8 product. But there's some questions, open
9 questions. We have been actually approached by
10 district attorneys from across the state who have
11 issues. So we want to work together and actually
12 hear the voices of everybody who is impacted and
13 come up with a final result.
14 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you.
15 On the resolution, Mr. President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Bailey on the resolution.
18 SENATOR BAILEY: I thank the
19 sponsor for yielding to these questions. And as
20 was mentioned previously by many of our
21 colleagues, we will have a long and protracted --
22 hopefully not too protracted -- two weeks here in
23 Albany while we hash out the budgets and do the
24 work for the people we represent on both sides of
25 the aisle.
1120
1 As you know, Mr. President, I'm a
2 huge proponent of music, and this reminds me of a
3 1993 song by Tupac Shakur, "Keep Ya Head Up,"
4 where he said "We got money for war, but can't
5 feed the poor." And quite literally, if you look
6 in this resolution, you have $200 million for
7 expenses that can be used in case of a war, but
8 we cut Breakfast After the Bell, Mr. President.
9 My Brother's Keeper initiatives, we
10 were the first state in the entire nation to take
11 President Obama's challenge on for My Brother's
12 Keeper. And while I understand the sponsor's
13 information about the Foundation Aid, My
14 Brother's Keeper is essential to ensuring that
15 black and brown children have just as large a
16 chance of success.
17 The Tenant Protection Unit is vital
18 in the City of New York. It is vital. It keeps
19 people in their homes, and it penalizes bad
20 landlords. This is something that we need to
21 fund.
22 Many of my colleagues are going to
23 speak about NYCHA, so I will speak briefly on it.
24 I understand that public housing is intended to
25 protect those of us who have the least. And if
1121
1 basic shelter is something that we need and that
2 we require, we have to actually put the money
3 into the budget, as opposed to simply just saying
4 that we're going to do something about it. It's
5 a step, but it's not all the way where we need to
6 be.
7 And concerning criminal justice
8 reform, it's about fairness, Mr. President. We
9 are not looking to have defense-bar-laden work
10 product, nor do we want a prosecutorial-heavy
11 work product. We want criminal justice to be
12 fair in the State of New York. And speedy trial,
13 bail and discovery have to be in this budget.
14 You know, Mr. President, I -- this
15 is my second budget in my first term, and I look
16 at it as a work in progress. And I'm confident
17 that we will continue to work together. But as
18 currently constructed, this is insufficient. And
19 to go back to what Tupac would say, he said that
20 "there ain't no hope for the future." But I
21 believe there is hope. And I hope that we can
22 work across the aisle on this one.
23 Thank you, Mr. President.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
25 Kavanagh.
1122
1 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Thank you,
2 Mr. President. Would the sponsor yield for a
3 question?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure. And --
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Mr. President,
8 before we begin, I just want to address something
9 that my colleague Senator Bailey said.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without
11 objection.
12 Senator Young.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: He's somebody who I
14 respect very much. But I just want to let you
15 know that with the Governor's proposal on the
16 criminal justice pieces, there's a lot of
17 divergent opinion out there. And even advocates
18 who want to have bail reform, speedy trial,
19 discovery, came in today to express their
20 concerns over the Governor's proposal.
21 So I just want to let you know that.
22 I think there has to be more discussion to come
23 up with a final product.
24 Yes, Senator Kavanagh.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
1123
1 Kavanagh.
2 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
3 Mr. President. Am I correct that this resolution
4 includes many provisions that are intended to
5 address gun violence in our state?
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
7 Mr. President. We actually are very willing to
8 discuss gun violence. We do have a lot of school
9 safety issues, and -- but that topic is one of
10 those topics that I think as we go along through
11 the process, the leaders will be talking about it
12 at the table, and so we'll have more to come.
13 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Will the sponsor
14 yield for another question, Mr. President?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 Senator yields.
18 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
19 Mr. President, am I mistaken that the package of
20 bills that were presented in this chamber by the
21 majority very recently as a package of bills to
22 address gun violence are largely incorporated
23 into the documents we're reviewing today?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
25 Mr. President, I'd like to clarify something.
1124
1 We're focused on school safety. And I think
2 that's very important. We have seen failures
3 that occurred in Florida. We have several
4 measures that I think are common-sense, good
5 measures to address safety.
6 And I want to tell you, we have been
7 talking to our school districts, our
8 superintendents, our school boards, our teachers
9 from across the state. They also are very
10 concerned about school safety. And we have
11 resoundingly heard from our own districts, people
12 in our own districts, that they strongly support
13 the school safety measures that we have passed
14 and that we are advocating for in the budget.
15 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
16 I'm new in this chamber, but if the sponsor would
17 yield for additional questions.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR KAVANAGH: I forgot to ask
22 that --
23 SENATOR YOUNG: I won't hold it
24 against you that you're new.
25 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President, I
1125
1 would just note I'm new to this chamber, and this
2 chamber has a lot more restrictions on the amount
3 of time one may spend asking questions than
4 another chamber I've served in. If I would -- I
5 would just appreciate it if I could sort of get
6 direct answers to the questions.
7 Is the -- is there a bill in this
8 package that was part of the majority package
9 that purports to be a school safety and gun
10 violence prevention that includes addressing
11 situations in which people fire a gun, not just
12 in a school but in a business or near a church or
13 near a gathering of 25 or more people?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
15 Mr. President, yes. And that actually is a very
16 good bill that I sponsor, Senator Murphy
17 sponsors.
18 And basically what it would do is
19 classify mass shootings as domestic terrorism.
20 And there actually exists a federally authorized
21 agency set up that was set up after 9/11 that
22 deals with terrorism, foreign terrorism
23 especially, in general. It actually requires
24 coordination by federal law enforcement
25 officials, the FBI, the CIA, state troopers,
1126
1 state law enforcement, and also local law
2 enforcement.
3 One of the big failures that we have
4 seen in other instances is the fact that law
5 enforcement was not communicating about a threat.
6 And we feel very strongly that a lot of these
7 issues could be resolved if law enforcement
8 worked together.
9 What happened in Florida was that
10 that perpetrator had been reported to the FBI, to
11 the local officials, to social services. The
12 school district banned him from coming in the
13 school. And yet nobody did anything to avoid the
14 situation.
15 And I do want to tell you too that
16 we fund several mental health programs through
17 this initiative. And I think that mental health
18 is one of those big issues in this state. And I
19 have said this over and over again, we need to do
20 more for mental health. I brought it up in the
21 hearing when the commissioner came in. We need
22 to do more for mental health services because
23 that is truly an underaddressed need in this
24 state.
25 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
1127
1 if I could just comment momentarily on the bill.
2 We debated the particular provision that the
3 sponsor is speaking of last week. And I would
4 just note that the bill does not characterize
5 mass shooting as terrorism, it characterizes any
6 unlawful discharge of a firearm even if there's
7 no intent to harm any person as an act of
8 terrorism.
9 The reason I raise this --
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Because I would
11 think --
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Young --
14 SENATOR YOUNG: -- I would think
15 any kind of incident --
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Young --
18 SENATOR YOUNG: -- would have to be
19 investigated. I can't believe that my colleague
20 doesn't want it investigated.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Kavanagh on the resolution?
23 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Again, on the
24 bill.
25 The reason I raised this is that it
1128
1 is clear that the majority, in crafting this
2 resolution today, believes that it is appropriate
3 subject of discussion to address the scourge of
4 gun violence we've seen around the country, and
5 they have many proposals that they've put into
6 this bill, some of which are worthy of
7 consideration and many of which colleagues on my
8 side of the aisle voted for just a week ago.
9 My question is -- and if the sponsor
10 would yield for a question.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Does the
12 sponsor yield?
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Young yields.
16 SENATOR KAVANAGH: My question is,
17 is the sponsor aware that the Governor put a
18 proposal in the Executive Budget specifically to
19 remove firearms from people who have been
20 convicted of domestic violence?
21 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
22 Mr. President, that is one of the very important
23 issues that we plan on negotiating and discussing
24 at the leaders' table.
25 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
1129
1 can I -- if the sponsor would yield for another
2 question.
3 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 sponsor yields.
6 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
7 we have been -- to the sponsor, we've been
8 speaking about these issues for many years, we
9 have many proposals. There are laws that have
10 been on the books for many years that are
11 intended explicitly to prevent people from having
12 guns who are likely to harm themselves or others.
13 If the majority believes that the
14 budget is an appropriate document in which to
15 address gun violence, why are there no provisions
16 in the majority's proposal that are intended to
17 remove guns from the hands of people likely to
18 harm themselves or others?
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
20 Mr. President, I would love to address that
21 particular issue that you're raising. Because
22 Kendra's Law is a very strong law that we
23 actually passed in 1999 to get mental health
24 treatment to people who are a danger to
25 themselves or others.
1130
1 And we have worked on this side of
2 the aisle to make Kendra's Law permanent, to
3 actually improve it, and unfortunately there are
4 members on your side of the aisle who vote
5 against it and the Assembly, which you previously
6 served in, actually has blocked many of the
7 reforms and enhancements to Kendra's Law.
8 Currently right now under state law,
9 if somebody was receiving mental health
10 treatment, mental health professionals can make a
11 judgment recommendation about a person's
12 firearms. So that already exists in New York
13 State law.
14 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
15 would the sponsor yield for another question?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Is the sponsor's
18 intent by reviewing current law to assert that
19 there are no additional laws necessary to remove
20 guns from the hands of people who might cause
21 harm to themselves or others?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
23 Mr. President. Yes, I believe that through
24 Kendra's Law there are many measures that we
25 could pass to address the issue.
1131
1 And on top of it, as I previously
2 stated, we will be discussing these issues at the
3 leaders' table.
4 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
5 if the sponsor would yield for another question.
6 SENATOR KLEIN: Sure.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Through you,
10 Mr. President, is there anything in Kendra's Law
11 that causes someone to surrender firearms?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
13 Mr. President, Kendra's Law actually requires
14 someone -- you can go through a court process,
15 which due process is always a very important
16 component under our justice system and our
17 freedom in America. But there's a due process
18 proceeding that occurs under Kendra's Law to
19 determine whether someone is a danger to
20 themselves or others.
21 And if it is determined that they
22 are a danger, they can get assisted outpatient
23 treatment. If they do not comply, then they can
24 be involuntarily committed after 72 hours. So
25 there are provisions in Kendra's Law that would
1132
1 address this.
2 And as I said, we need to do more
3 for mental health. And I would love to have a
4 discussion with you about making improvements to
5 Kendra's Law, because they are there. I spoke
6 with one of the main advocates, D.J. Jaffe, who
7 is an expert in these issues, and he is saying to
8 me the legislation that I sponsored in Kendra's
9 Law is very important, because he sees this every
10 single day and he believes that we should make
11 positive changes to make that law even stronger.
12 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
13 on the bill. Again --
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Kavanagh on the resolution.
16 SENATOR KAVANAGH: There are
17 basically no laws in place that would address
18 situations like we saw in Florida if they were to
19 occur in New York.
20 And again, we have proposals that
21 are supported by members on both sides of the
22 aisle. And I hope that if the sponsor and others
23 on the other side of the aisle are willing to --
24 if this is one of the topics they're willing to
25 have continued discussion on, I would hope that
1133
1 those discussions can include bills that are
2 intended to ensure that people who commit
3 domestic violence, people who can be adjudicated
4 to be a danger to themselves or others, cannot be
5 armed.
6 Because all the school safety in the
7 world is not going to meaningfully reduce the
8 rates of gun deaths in this state without laws
9 that will permit families and law enforcement and
10 others from disarming people who are genuinely
11 dangerous.
12 Would the sponsor yield for a few
13 other questions on other topics?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, Mr. President.
15 And also, through you, I do want to clarify
16 something my colleague just said.
17 He said there's nothing in here that
18 would address what happened in Florida. I
19 strongly disagree. This proposal has 18 parts
20 that deal specifically with those tragic events
21 that occurred in Florida, so that we can avoid
22 the same thing happening in New York State. So
23 what you said, Senator, with all due respect, was
24 not correct.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
1134
1 Kavanagh.
2 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President, I
3 guess just to respond, there will be a transcript
4 of this conversation, and the sponsor
5 mischaracterized what I said.
6 I said that there was nothing in
7 this budget that would allow someone like the
8 person who perpetrated the violence in Parkland,
9 Florida, to have their guns removed. And
10 although there are several provisions, some of
11 which are worthy to address school security, we
12 will not tackle the unique problem of gun
13 violence, which is unique to America, unless we
14 get serious about ensuring that very dangerous
15 people who can be adjudicated to be dangerous or
16 have convictions of crimes that prove them to be
17 dangerous, are not able to arm themselves with
18 guns like the weapon that the shooter in
19 Parkland, Florida, had or the many other weapons
20 that are available in our state and many other
21 states.
22 If I may, the sponsor had previously
23 yielded to question. If I may ask the question
24 now.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
1135
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
2 Young yields.
3 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Thank you,
4 Senator Young.
5 I just want to go back briefly to
6 something that Senator Kaminsky touched on.
7 We've been discussing for many years in this
8 state early voting. There are bills on both
9 sides of the aisle. There's a proposal by the
10 Governor on that. There's a proposal by a member
11 of the majority to implement early voting around
12 the state.
13 Why is it in this budget, if we all
14 recognize that early voting costs money, and if
15 the Assembly is willing to put up some money for
16 that, why is that not something that the majority
17 in this resolution has a proposal on?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
19 Mr. President, if the Senator actually looked
20 into the Governor's proposal, what it does is it
21 raids Aid to Localities from local governments.
22 So it takes that money away from them to fund
23 this. And I don't think that's the right
24 direction to take.
25 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President, a
1136
1 question on another subject.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Thank you.
5 Does the resolution include language
6 authorizing the City of New York to utilize
7 design-build for the reconstruction of the
8 Brooklyn-Queens Expressway?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes. Through you,
10 Mr. President, the answer is yes.
11 SENATOR KAVANAGH: If the sponsor
12 would yield for an additional question.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 sponsor will yield.
16 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Is the sponsor
17 aware that that provision, which would have no
18 cost to the state, would save the taxpayers at
19 least $100 million and speed up a critical
20 transportation project that will affect the
21 entire metropolitan region of New York by two
22 full years?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
24 Mr. President, yes. The city expects that that
25 measure that we include in our proposal would
1137
1 save about $100 million.
2 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
3 another question, if the sponsor would yield.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
5 sponsor yields.
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
7 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Can the sponsor
8 explain why the majority's language for that very
9 sensible cost-free proposal that will prevent
10 traffic from being snarled in the New York City
11 area and save $100 million with no cost to the
12 state, why approval of that in the Senate
13 resolution is conditioned on approving a separate
14 proposal that may be worthy about ensuring that
15 cops -- that is, a police officer in every single
16 school in New York City?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
18 Mr. President, we believe that both proposals are
19 very important, so we will be negotiating those
20 as we move forward.
21 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Mr. President,
22 if the sponsor would yield for another question.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 sponsor yields.
1138
1 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Is it the intent
2 of the majority to reject BQE design-build? The
3 language seems to be written in such a way that
4 you can't accept one without the other, it's
5 conditioned on a deal to put a police officer in
6 every single school.
7 Is this an example of the majority,
8 if they don't get their way on a certain policy
9 issue, however legitimate, suggesting that
10 perhaps it's time for traffic problems in
11 Brooklyn, to borrow a phrase from New Jersey?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
13 Mr. President. No.
14 SENATOR KAVANAGH: So,
15 Mr. President, I have just one more question on
16 this topic.
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 sponsor will yield.
20 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Is it the
21 sponsor's assertion that it is not the intent of
22 the majority to condition design-build for the
23 BQE on an unrelated proposal related to police
24 officers in schools?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
1139
1 Mr. President. They are both, as I previously
2 stated, they're both very important issues and we
3 will be discussing them as we move forward.
4 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Again,
5 Mr. President, just once more, if I can get an
6 answer to this question. Is it the intent -- if
7 the sponsor would yield.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
11 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Is it the intent
12 of the majority to condition the BQE design-build
13 proposal on a separate, unrelated, perhaps worthy
14 proposal that we have additional police officers
15 in schools, or is it the intent of the majority
16 to support BQE design-build on its own merits?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
18 Mr. President, I have answered that question
19 several times, and so I stand by my previous
20 answers.
21 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Okay. Thank
22 you, Mr. President. Thank you to the sponsor.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Hoylman.
25 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you,
1140
1 Mr. President. Would the sponsor yield for some
2 questions?
3 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
4 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you.
5 Through you, Mr. President, what is
6 the cost of the resolution to the taxpayers of
7 New York?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
9 Mr. President, I have those figures right here.
10 Let me find them. Excuse me, Senator, I found
11 it.
12 So our budget is a fiscally
13 responsible one that actually -- state operations
14 fund spending, which excludes capital increases,
15 by 1.8 percent, from $98.1 billion to
16 $99.9 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion from
17 the fiscal year 2018. Which is approximately
18 $51 million less than the spending increase of
19 $1.85 billion, or 1.9 percent, that was proposed
20 by the Executive.
21 So All Funds spending increases from
22 $164.4 billion to $168.5 billion, an increase of
23 $4 billion over 2018.
24 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
25 continue to yield?
1141
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 SENATOR HOYLMAN: And how much
3 revenue are you raising to pay for your budget?
4 Through you, Mr. President.
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
6 Mr. President. We had a good discussion on this
7 earlier, but we are not including any tax
8 increases in our plan.
9 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
10 continue to yield?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
13 sponsor yields.
14 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
15 Mr. President. Could the sponsor describe to me
16 the majority's proposal on addressing the issue
17 of child sexual abuse in Part P of the
18 resolution? The public protection portion.
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
20 Mr. President. That again is going to be
21 discussed at the leaders' table. We are open to
22 discussions about that particular issue. So we
23 look forward to continuing to work on that.
24 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
25 continue to yield?
1142
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Is the sponsor
5 aware that there has been proposals for the
6 better part of a decade on reforming New York's
7 outdated laws on child sexual abuse, which rank
8 New York among the worst states, the most
9 punitive states, in terms of allowing the
10 survivors of child school abuse to file claims
11 either in civil or criminal court?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
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: Is the sponsor
19 aware that approximately 40,000 young people
20 under the age of 18 are sexually abused in the
21 State of New York annually?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
23 Mr. President, what we should stick to are what
24 actually is before us in this resolution. So if
25 you could ask questions about that, that would be
1143
1 appreciated.
2 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
3 continue to yield?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR HOYLMAN: In the resolution
8 preceding this document, you state that "The
9 Senate will consider modifications to the Child
10 Victims Act. The Senate believes that
11 prospective reforms to the criminal and civil
12 statute of limitations would help prevent child
13 sexual abuse in the future."
14 Am I correct to understand that the
15 majority resolution is opposed to a lookback
16 window to allow current survivors to
17 retroactively file claims in civil court?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
19 Mr. President, it is mentioned in our proposal
20 because there will be discussions at the leaders'
21 table about that issue.
22 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
23 continue to yield?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
1144
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Does the sponsor
3 understand -- does the sponsor fully realize the
4 cost to the State of New York for crimes of child
5 sexual abuse, as much as $250 million to the
6 Medicaid budget?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
8 Mr. President. We all agree that child
9 victimization is a very serious and important
10 issue, and we look forward to the discussions at
11 the leaders' table.
12 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
13 continue to yield?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
16 Hoylman, are you asking questions or -- you were
17 seeming to comment on the resolution.
18 SENATOR HOYLMAN: I'm asking
19 questions.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So could
21 you pose a question.
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Great to have him
23 pose, Mr. President, as a question.
24 SENATOR HOYLMAN: I guess my very
25 blunt question is, Why don't we have a proposal
1145
1 before us today on the serious issue of child
2 sexual abuse, which the sponsor has acknowledged
3 to be one in which we have had not just months of
4 discussions, but years?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Again through you,
6 Mr. President, that seems more like a statement
7 than a question.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
9 Hoylman.
10 SENATOR YOUNG: As I said, this
11 issue will be discussed at the leaders' table,
12 and we look forward to those discussions.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
14 Hoylman.
15 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
16 continue to yield?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Through you,
21 Mr. President, could the sponsor explain to me
22 why the Executive proposal to remove a reform of
23 our law that would close a loophole that allows
24 individuals to use the so-called gay and trans
25 panic defense isn't in the resolution?
1146
1 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
2 Mr. President, that actually was included in the
3 Governor's 30-day amendments. And all of those
4 issues will be brought forward during the
5 leaders' discussions.
6 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
7 continue to yield?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Does the sponsor
12 know that this defense is used by individuals who
13 attack another in court to seek the acquittal
14 based on the sexual orientation or gender
15 identity of the victim?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
17 Mr. President. As I stated previously, that
18 these issues will be discussed at the leaders'
19 table.
20 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
21 continue to yield?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 sponsor yields.
25 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
1147
1 explain to me why the conference's resolution
2 removes the Executive's proposals relating to
3 congestion pricing in New York City?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
5 Mr. President, I think that's a very complex
6 issue and -- so we need to continue to have
7 discussions about it, because it is something
8 that will affect a lot of people, obviously. But
9 the leaders will be talking about that issue too.
10 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
11 continue to yield?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Would the sponsor
16 tell me, if she may, how much money is dedicated
17 to the MTA in this resolution?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
19 Mr. President. There's over $5 billion dedicated
20 to the MTA, and that includes operating aid and
21 capital.
22 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
23 continue to yield?
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
1148
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Could the sponsor
3 tell me how much money is committed to the
4 New York City Housing Authority in this
5 resolution?
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
7 Mr. President. This budget actually brings
8 forward and continues a commitment that we made
9 of $300 million for NYCHA. And that allocation
10 that was previously agreed upon by the Assembly,
11 by the Senate and by the Governor extends over
12 five years.
13 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Will the sponsor
14 continue to yield?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR HOYLMAN: So let's be
19 clear, there is no new money dedicated to the
20 New York City Housing Authority in the resolution
21 before the Senate.
22 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
23 Mr. President, actually last year we committed
24 $200 million every year for the next five years.
25 So there's -- I'm sorry. For the next five
1149
1 years. So that money is included in this budget.
2 SENATOR HOYLMAN: On the bill,
3 Mr. President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Hoylman on the resolution.
6 SENATOR HOYLMAN: I thank the
7 sponsor for her answers to my questions.
8 I find this budget resolution
9 incredibly perplexing, mostly because many of the
10 big issues are being -- are to be discussed later
11 at the leaders' table. Well, what about us?
12 What about every member who's here? What about
13 our districts? What about NYCHA? What about
14 LGBT folks? What about survivors of child sexual
15 abuse?
16 It's not enough, Mr. President, to
17 say that we'll be discussing that later. That
18 makes me think that my constituents are a
19 bargaining chip. And my constituents are not a
20 bargaining chip for the Senate majority. We need
21 to know now what the commitment is on the part of
22 the majority for important issues affecting the
23 everyday lives of New Yorkers, whether it's
24 criminal justice, whether it's infrastructure,
25 whether it's public housing.
1150
1 And I'm sorry, but this is a fake
2 budget. This is a budget that is going to be
3 discussed in some smoke-filled room without input
4 from the members of this body.
5 So I'm very disappointed that we are
6 giving a pass to crucial issues like gun reform
7 when today, today, millions of students across
8 this country walked out, young people who seem to
9 have more courage than us, to address head-on the
10 issues of gun violence.
11 I'm very disappointed that this
12 resolution doesn't contain an issue that
13 advocates have been championing for over a
14 decade, to seek justice in the area of child
15 sexual abuse. We had advocates today who last
16 night pulled up the Senate resolution and saw the
17 language -- where it should have been "Child
18 Victims Act," it said "intentionally deleted."
19 It's not good enough, Mr. President,
20 that we are putting these issues off to the
21 leaders' table. So I'll be voting strenuously
22 no. Thank you.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
24 Sanders.
25 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you,
1151
1 Mr. President. Good to see you up there. You're
2 holding out?
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Doing
4 well, Senator Sanders. Thank you for your
5 concern.
6 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you, sir.
7 Will the sponsor yield for several
8 questions?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR SANDERS: Good to see you.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Good to see you
14 too.
15 SENATOR SANDERS: Is the sponsor
16 aware that Article 15A, the MWBE provision, will
17 expire on the 31st of December of this year?
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
19 Mr. President. Actually I'm going to reference
20 Part Q of the resolution. And it says: The
21 Senate is firmly committed to reforms related to
22 minority and women's business development that
23 will reduce barriers to the program, create
24 meaningful opportunities for businesses, and
25 enhance the business climate of the state.
1152
1 "The Senate will thoroughly examine
2 the Executive proposal to extend for five years
3 the provisions of the law relating to minority
4 and women's business development and consider
5 modifications relating to the certification
6 process and requirements, the personal net worth
7 requirement, the availability of certified
8 businesses in our state, enhancements in
9 mentoring, agency reporting and other issues, to
10 ensure its effectiveness.
11 So right now, we want to discuss the
12 program because there are concerns about whether
13 it's as effective as it needs to be. And there
14 may be changes that we need to make to it so that
15 more people, number one, can access the
16 program -- and I will tell you from personal
17 experience, it can take a business up to
18 two years to get certified by the state. I
19 believe that that is far too long a time period
20 to wait.
21 And so there are several changes
22 that I believe need to be made to the program so
23 that, number one, more people can access it and,
24 number two, it doesn't hurt local people from
25 getting jobs.
1153
1 SENATOR SANDERS: Through you,
2 Mr. President. I also read that --
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Sanders, do you want to continue to ask questions
5 or speak on the resolution?
6 SENATOR SANDERS: Oh, no, no, no.
7 I want to ask the sponsor a question.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So the
9 sponsor does yield.
10 And I'm going to continue to ask for
11 some quiet in the house, please, so that members
12 can hear each other during exchange.
13 Senator Sanders.
14 SENATOR SANDERS: I read that same
15 passage. And while I agree with you on some of
16 the positions, I first wanted to know, are you
17 aware that this is going to sunset on the 31st of
18 this year?
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
20 Mr. President, yes. And that's why we put that
21 language in there, because we think it's a very
22 important issue to resolve.
23 SENATOR SANDERS: Will the sponsor
24 yield for a question?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
1154
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR SANDERS: Through you,
4 Mr. President. Is the sponsor aware of the
5 Supreme Court Croson decision which explicitly
6 allows and disallows different provisions,
7 different things that we can do and cannot do and
8 the times that we can do it?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
10 Mr. President, I'm not sure what that has to do
11 with our budget resolution before us.
12 SENATOR SANDERS: Will the sponsor
13 yield for a question?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR SANDERS: To get to my
18 question, if the Supreme Court says that we can't
19 do something in a certain time, it does not
20 matter what our decision does, we've missed our
21 window. We have to start all over again.
22 So my question is, by not
23 authorizing this, are you aware that you are in
24 effect eliminating the program?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
1155
1 Mr. President, I strongly disagree with my
2 colleague. We are not in any shape or form
3 saying that we would eliminate the program. What
4 we want to do is improve the program so that it
5 can be more effective.
6 We are aware that it sunsets in
7 2018. But I'll remind my colleagues, this is a
8 resolution that actually kicks off intense
9 negotiations between both houses and the
10 Governor. So this is on the list of things that
11 will be discussed, because that's how the process
12 works.
13 SENATOR SANDERS: Will the sponsor
14 yield for a question?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR SANDERS: Earlier I heard a
19 motto I believe that you -- that the majority
20 came up with: Affordability, opportunity -- and
21 I did not get the last part. What was the last
22 part of that?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
24 Mr. President. Senator, security.
25 SENATOR SANDERS: Security.
1156
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you.
3 Will the sponsor yield for a
4 question?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR SANDERS: Does
9 affordability, opportunity, and security include
10 the women and minorities of this state?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
12 Mr. President, I believe that it does. And
13 that's why we included this language in our
14 proposal, so that we can strengthen the existing
15 MWBE program and actually make it more workable
16 across the state.
17 SENATOR SANDERS: On the
18 resolution, Mr. President.
19 Thank you. Thank you. First
20 I want to thank the sponsor.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Sanders on the resolution.
23 SENATOR SANDERS: Mr. President,
24 Langston Hughes, one of our great poets, spoke
25 and said that America has to be America for
1157
1 everyone. I would suggest that by deleting 15A
2 or threatening this, we are in effect saying that
3 America, or at least New York State, will not be
4 New York State for everyone.
5 That MWBE is not affirmative action,
6 as worthy as affirmative action may be. While
7 affirmative action speaks and says how a group
8 has been held back and therefore should be moved
9 ahead, MWBE merely says that we will have an open
10 playing field, an even playing field for
11 everyone. And it puts that in effect by law.
12 By us not saying that we uphold that
13 American tradition of an even playing field, we
14 are in effect saying that we're not going to have
15 America be America for everyone.
16 The best that we can say about that,
17 I would argue, is that we are prepared to kick
18 the can down the road. That we're saying that we
19 legislators, having been brought together by the
20 great people of New York State, are not prepared
21 to legislate. We are not prepared to get out
22 there and do the business of the people. We are
23 not prepared.
24 We are prepared to say we're going
25 to send this to some smoke-filled back room where
1158
1 only God knows who's in there, since we're not
2 represented in it. We don't know what's going
3 on, and we don't know -- we legislators don't
4 even know how the sausage will be made on this
5 issue.
6 So I'm really perturbed by that.
7 But I'm not just perturbed by that one. And
8 kicking the can down the road is not what the
9 people of my district sent me up here to do.
10 They said, Grapple with the tough issues of the
11 day. It may be hard, you'll have to work with
12 people across the aisle. They said get out there
13 and come home with something real.
14 They did not tell me to come home
15 saying, Well, I left it for three guys somewhere
16 else to make the decision. They did not send me
17 here saying that I sat by while American values
18 were threatened. I didn't come here for that.
19 Nor did I come here to -- for the issue of NYCHA,
20 where we on one hand give a lot of words of what
21 we need to do with NYCHA, but we're cutting lead
22 protection. My God, do we really hear ourselves?
23 We're cutting lead protection out of the budget,
24 mold remediation.
25 We're not putting our money where
1159
1 our mouths are. We're saying we said that it's
2 going to take at least $500 million of new money,
3 not the same old repurposed money that year after
4 year we say, Okay, it was for that then, it's for
5 this now -- and we never see it. And from my
6 part of town, that's a shell game. You put your
7 something here and you move it here, and the next
8 thing you know, you always have it and you never
9 get it. Everybody on my block knows that you
10 never go near those cards when that shell game is
11 being played.
12 And this is a shell game. We need
13 $500 million of new money to really impact on the
14 people that we say that we're going to do about
15 it. No money for the SNUG program in Queens.
16 Now, the SNUG program is a very effective
17 antiviolence program. I agree that Brooklyn
18 needs it. I agree that all kinds of places need
19 it. We need it in Queens too. We've got
20 violence.
21 Come on. Geriatric parole. This is
22 a no-brainer. When a guy is too old to do any
23 crime and the only way that we're keeping him in
24 jail is -- he's costing the people of our great
25 state way more than it's worth. When a person is
1160
1 infirm or too old, then my God, let him out so at
2 least my taxpayers can save some money.
3 Women's Agenda -- why are we arguing
4 this in the 21st century? We should have already
5 agreed to this long ago and gone on with it.
6 And the same is true with ethics.
7 This week we've had another wake-up call. How
8 many wake-up calls do we need before we wake up
9 to the call?
10 My colleagues will speak on other
11 issues, so I will leave it at that. But my
12 friends, there comes a time when it takes a
13 certain amount of courage to be a legislator.
14 I'm hoping that that time is now. I'm hoping
15 that good people on both sides of the aisle will
16 get out there and say, Well, you know what,
17 there's a certain logic that's missing and we're
18 not going to do this. We're not going to do the
19 old business of kicking the can down the road and
20 let some three guys figure this somewhere.
21 That we all get together and say,
22 You know what? Women can decide things too. And
23 all of us in this room can decide things too.
24 That's what we were sent here for.
25 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
1161
1 I do want to thank the sponsor for yielding to
2 those questions. Thank you, Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
4 Benjamin.
5 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
6 Mr. President, will the sponsor yield for a few
7 questions?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Let's start with
12 design-build. In the resolution, I see that
13 there's design-build for the BQE. Do you specify
14 design-build for NYCHA in this resolution?
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
16 Mr. President. Actually, as I had stated
17 previously, we did make a significant commitment
18 to NYCHA.
19 However, I have to say I am shocked
20 and appalled by the fact that the person leading
21 NYCHA is still there. She should have been fired
22 long ago. Number one, for incompetence and
23 mismanagement and, number two, for --
24 (Reaction from members.)
25 SENATOR YOUNG: -- for forging --
1162
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Order in
2 the house, please. The Senator has the floor.
3 SENATOR YOUNG: -- federal
4 documents on lead exposure for children who live
5 in those buildings.
6 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
7 Mr. President, I'm not sure I heard an answer to
8 my question.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
10 Young, do you yield?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
13 Benjamin, you may pose your question.
14 SENATOR BENJAMIN: So let me
15 re-pose my question, because I think there was a
16 different answer that you gave. That I don't
17 agree with, but let's move on.
18 Does this resolution provide to
19 NYCHA design-build authority? I think that's the
20 question.
21 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay. Through you,
22 Mr. President, that's one of the items that I
23 believe will be discussed moving forward. As I
24 stated previously, this really just kicks off the
25 discussion by passing this resolution. And the
1163
1 different houses, the two houses will be talking
2 on it, and also the Governor.
3 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Will the sponsor
4 continue to yield?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
9 Mr. President, why was the BQE authorized for
10 design-build and NYCHA isn't? Why wasn't that
11 also put into -- for the negotiation and the
12 conversations later?
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay, through you,
14 Mr. President, it may be helpful to the Senator
15 if I read the part about the New York City
16 Housing Authority.
17 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Sure.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Excuse me, I'm
19 losing my voice.
20 The Senate understands that the
21 New York City Housing Authority is in crisis.
22 Tenants are faced with issues of long wait times
23 to repair lead, mold, roofs and boilers. The
24 Senate is open to discussing methods to reduce
25 these long wait times, including but not limited
1164
1 to expanding the use of alternative project
2 delivery methods for the New York City Housing
3 Authority for independently monitored
4 project-specific purposes, which may include the
5 remediation and abatement of lead and mold as
6 well as projects related to the repair,
7 construction or installation of roofs and
8 boilers.
9 So we are looking forward to having
10 those further discussions.
11 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Okay.
12 SENATOR YOUNG: So that's included
13 in there.
14 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Okay. Will the
15 sponsor continue to yield, Mr. President?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Okay. So tied
20 to that piece about the BQE, there was
21 authorization for placement of NYPD officers in
22 every school in New York City. Does the sponsor
23 believe that there's a school officer -- I'm
24 sorry, an NYPD officer needed in every single
25 school in New York City?
1165
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
2 Mr. President. This is optional, I believe.
3 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Was it? Oh.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay. Through you,
5 Mr. President, I stand corrected. Actually, it
6 would allow for a police officer to be stationed
7 in every New York City school.
8 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
9 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to
10 yield?
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
14 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Maybe I read
15 this wrong, but it says it requires placement of
16 NYPD officers at every school.
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
18 Mr. President. Yes, it does in New York City,
19 correct.
20 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Okay. Okay.
21 Will the sponsor continue to yield?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
24 sponsor yields.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: You know what would
1166
1 be helpful to me, Senator? Could you tell me
2 what page you're on?
3 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Oh, sure. I'm
4 on page 56.
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay, thank you.
6 SENATOR BENJAMIN: So the sponsor
7 yields.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR BENJAMIN: So if an NYPD
11 officer is required in every school in New York
12 City, can the sponsor let us know what would be
13 the cost for this proposal?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
15 Mr. President, there already are school safety
16 officers at every school. So basically what this
17 does, it just changes the school safety officer
18 into a police officer. So the costs would be not
19 that much to make this change.
20 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Okay, thank you
21 for that. All right.
22 Will the sponsor continue to yield?
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 sponsor yields.
1167
1 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Okay. Moving on
2 to a question here -- I see -- and this is on
3 page 23, I believe, that you're asking for the
4 City Council to oversee activities of NYCHA and
5 also asking for an office of an independent
6 monitor to oversee NYCHA.
7 Can you explain -- can the sponsor
8 explain what would be the difference in those
9 two -- between those two overseeing roles,
10 between the City Council and this office of an
11 independent monitor?
12 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
13 Mr. President. The way that this proposal would
14 work is that the City Council would have
15 oversight over NYCHA. The state would have a
16 monitor who would also be involved.
17 I think there's a lot of concern,
18 frankly across the state, about the conditions at
19 NYCHA. And something needs to change, because
20 what's happening now just is not working. And we
21 do believe there needs to be more oversight over
22 what's happening at NYCHA. {inaudible} --
23 question.
24 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Sure.
25 Can I make a statement? I don't
1168
1 know how to -- how does that work, I just say
2 something? On the -- I'm sorry, on the -- so on
3 the resolution.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
5 Benjamin on the resolution.
6 SENATOR BENJAMIN: As it relates to
7 NYCHA, I do agree that there are a number of
8 concerns and issues that need to be addressed. I
9 do believe that there are multiple factors at
10 play. I agree with the spirit of oversight. I
11 think the issue is that we are talking about
12 providing oversight without providing the
13 appropriate resources for the majority of the
14 capital needs that are required at NYCHA. We're
15 talking about somewhere around $20 billion of
16 capital improvements.
17 The sponsor was not able to explain
18 to me why design-build for NYCHA is not included
19 in this resolution, while mentioning the fact
20 that there are things that need to be changed.
21 One of the things that needs to change is that
22 NYCHA needs the ability to quickly address some
23 of the issues, and so I'm surprised that that's
24 not in the resolution.
25 Will the sponsor continue to yield,
1169
1 Mr. President?
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
3 Young, do you yield for questions?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Benjamin.
7 SENATOR BENJAMIN: So I see on
8 page 20 that there's $4.5 million cut from the
9 Tenant Protection Unit. Is that correct?
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
11 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
12 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to
13 yield?
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Thank you.
18 Does the sponsor believe that
19 protecting tenants is an important priority of
20 the State of New York?
21 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
22 Mr. President, yes.
23 And so just so the Senator knows --
24 I know he's new to the Senate. But in the past
25 we have proposed language that would clearly
1170
1 outline what the TPU would be authorized to do,
2 and the Governor unfortunately has rejected the
3 language. And so thus we continue to reject the
4 funding.
5 SENATOR BENJAMIN: So through you,
6 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to
7 yield?
8 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR BENJAMIN: I see. So if
12 the Governor had proposed the language that the
13 majority was comfortable with as it relates to
14 TPU, the sponsor would be in favor of the funds
15 for TPU?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
17 Mr. President. Yes, we would consider it.
18 SENATOR BENJAMIN: You'd consider
19 it, okay. Thank you.
20 Next question. On the DREAM Act --
21 turn to page 19, if we may. The language as I
22 see it here -- sorry, excuse me. Give me a
23 second. Oh. The Senate -- I just want to read
24 this real quick. The Senate rejects the
25 Governor's proposal to allow undocumented
1171
1 students' eligibility to receive Tuition
2 Assistance Program funding. This rejection of
3 the DREAM Act results in a $27 million decrease
4 in the total TAP appropriation.
5 The question is, is the sponsor in
6 favor or against the DREAM Act?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
8 Mr. President. What we hear from our
9 constituents from across the state is that they
10 have very deep concerns about American
11 citizens -- their children, their family
12 members -- being able to afford college.
13 And so basically they -- because
14 they have these concerns, giving their
15 hard-earned tax dollars to people who are here
16 illegally, they seem to be overwhelmingly against
17 that. So there are issues that are related to
18 that.
19 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
20 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to
21 yield?
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 sponsor yields.
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
25 SENATOR BENJAMIN: So was that a --
1172
1 was that stating that because some of the
2 taxpayers are concerned with this, as a result
3 the majority is against the DREAM Act?
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
5 Mr. President. As I stated, the people who we
6 represent have deep concerns about the DREAM Act.
7 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
8 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to
9 yield?
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Does the sponsor
14 believe that undocumented students have the right
15 to be educated in the State of New York?
16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
17 Benjamin, could you direct questions directly to
18 items within the resolution, as opposed to the
19 sponsor's opinions?
20 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Oh, I'm sorry.
21 I will rephrase that.
22 Based on page 19, the DREAM Act
23 language, would the -- the undocumented students
24 that are on page 19, as they're referred, does
25 the sponsor believe that they have rights to an
1173
1 education in the State of New York?
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
3 Mr. President, we are discussing the DREAM Act
4 and whether we accept or reject the Governor's
5 proposal. And so the Senate rejects it.
6 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
7 Mr. President. So if the -- so if we reject the
8 money for the students to go to school, then that
9 means we reject them getting educated in the
10 State of New York, is that correct?
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
12 Mr. President. I would like to point out that
13 several years ago there was a law that was passed
14 that provides in-state tuition to undocumented
15 people. That exists. But what we're talking
16 about are people's hard-earned tax dollars going
17 to fund people who are here illegally for a
18 college education.
19 And people have concerns about that,
20 because in many cases these same taxpayers can't
21 afford to send their own children to college.
22 And we believe that this is an issue of fairness.
23 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Fairness, okay.
24 Through you, Mr. President, will the
25 sponsor continue to yield?
1174
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Moving on to
5 criminal justice reform. I'm glad that the
6 sponsor mentioned fairness, because I'd like to
7 start on that -- with that with a question. In
8 the language -- let me see here. I want to make
9 sure on I'm on the right page.
10 On page 41, the Senate majority
11 states that they're open to negotiation on speedy
12 trial, bail, and automatic discovery reform, and
13 this is a matter of a fair criminal justice
14 system. And you don't want to sacrifice public
15 safety.
16 So my question is, does the sponsor
17 believe it's fair that about 65 or so percent of
18 those in Rikers Island right now are awaiting
19 trial and have not yet been convicted of a crime?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
21 Mr. President. The Senator may have missed my
22 previous comments, but we have concerns from both
23 sides of the issue on these criminal justice
24 reforms that the Governor put in his Executive
25 proposal.
1175
1 And as I stated, people who are for
2 bail reform, speedy trial, discovery, all those
3 issues, came in today to see the Senate majority
4 to express their concerns about the Governor's
5 language.
6 So we are working to hear from all
7 stakeholders in this so that we can resolve the
8 concerns. There are concerns on the side that
9 are against these particular proposals, but the
10 people who actually support the ideas in concept
11 also have concerns about what the Governor
12 included in the budget.
13 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Through you,
14 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to
15 yield?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Does the
20 majority have an opinion or position on speedy
21 trial, bail and automatic discovery reform?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
23 Mr. President. So we had a good discussion
24 earlier, I believe with Senator Bailey. But we
25 talked about the fact that last year we had the
1176
1 Raise the Age proposal and there was a lot of
2 intensive work that was done on that through
3 negotiations. And I believe at the end of the
4 day we came up with a good product.
5 And so because so many of the
6 advocates on both sides of the issue have
7 concerns, I believe that we should have similar
8 discussions about the Governor's proposal because
9 nobody supports it right now among the advocacy
10 groups.
11 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Thank you.
12 On the bill -- I mean on the
13 resolution.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
15 Benjamin on the resolution.
16 SENATOR BENJAMIN: I do appreciate
17 the Senator's responses to my questions.
18 I have some serious concerns as it
19 relates to NYCHA, as it relates to criminal
20 justice reform, as it relates to education and
21 other issues. I believe that as a state, when we
22 talk about fairness, we should make sure that
23 we're considering everyone and not just talking
24 about fairness for a few. It is important that
25 we be open-minded and make sure that we try to
1177
1 hear all points of view.
2 And I do thank this body for hearing
3 me, and I will not be in support of this
4 resolution. Thank you.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
6 Montgomery.
7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you,
8 Mr. President. I will just speak on the
9 resolution.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
11 Montgomery on the resolution.
12 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Briefly.
13 Thank you.
14 As some of -- I've heard very often
15 people refer to especially elected officials,
16 that we speak out of both sides of our mouths.
17 So I'm looking at this budget resolution, and it
18 seems to be speaking out of both sides, if you
19 will, and in many ways contradicting itself
20 within the budget document.
21 And I just wanted to point out a
22 couple of instances of that that I see readily
23 and very, very troubling. It is what our
24 statement -- what this document says to what we
25 think about young people in our state,
1178
1 opportunities for young people especially, and
2 moreover, how we're willing to spend on some
3 things but not the young people that we represent
4 and we hope to be our future.
5 For instance, there is -- I'm
6 looking at -- under the -- on page 5, I believe
7 it's for education. There is a proposal that we
8 should have the commissioner create certain
9 programs, curriculum for certain programs,
10 support certain programs. This would be the
11 Commissioner of Education. For instance, we
12 address -- the document says the commissioner
13 should create a youth violence pilot program. So
14 fine. The commissioner should create a
15 prevention of child sexual exploitation program.
16 Okay. The commissioner should create a peace
17 conflict resolution pilot program.
18 So we direct the commissioner to
19 create all of these programs, but then in the
20 next paragraph or the next section we say we
21 limit the Board of Regents' power. Now, it's as
22 if we don't understand that the Board of Regents
23 and the commissioner work together, so many of
24 the proposals for education policy in our state
25 actually come out of the Board of Regents and the
1179
1 commissioner, working together, to propose that
2 we do certain things.
3 But now our document says, this
4 resolution -- not mine, it's yours. Our
5 resolution says, Oh, let's make sure that
6 anything that the Regents -- and I gather we
7 understand, certainly we should understand that
8 when we say Regents, we mean the state education
9 commissioner -- that any decision, any rule,
10 regulation, amendment, anything that they do,
11 that has to go through the Office of the Budget.
12 Okay. If that's the case, then you
13 know I'm interpreting this as you saying even
14 though you've laid out all of these things that
15 you want them to do, you don't really want them
16 to do it. Because you know when it goes through
17 the budget, that's like the dead zone for
18 everything.
19 So the other thing that I'm looking
20 at is while we complain about all of the
21 different things that are wrong with -- as it
22 relates to achievement of young people in our
23 state, we have a resolution which agrees to -- so
24 we all know that we can -- the Governor can
25 propose, and we can have a discussion, and I'm
1180
1 happy to do that. But this says we agree to
2 $31.1 million in cuts to programs, higher
3 education opportunity programs in our state.
4 That means that that's much less funding for
5 young people.
6 And we also propose that programs
7 like the Early College Program, which is not
8 higher ed, but it connects secondary with higher
9 education -- extremely important, has worked very
10 well across the state in all of the school
11 districts, including schools in districts like
12 mine -- My Brother's Keeper, we propose -- you're
13 saying let's not fund that at all, let's just cut
14 out all of the funds for that.
15 So that's why I say this is a total
16 contradiction. It's very sad. I feel very bad
17 about it.
18 And then let me just finally say one
19 other area of contradiction that is very
20 troubling, and that is you want a youth violence
21 pilot program. Okay, fine. You want to study --
22 you want to study some more youth programs. I
23 don't see the funding for it, but I see the study
24 for it. So that's fine.
25 But you say, Oh, by the way, let's
1181
1 cut $40 million out of the City of New York for
2 the Close to Home program. Isn't that supposed
3 to be what we did in relationship to Raise the
4 Age? Yes. But so let's not fund that anymore,
5 or let's let them go off on their own, raise the
6 money as best they can. Forget about them.
7 So we don't want to fund the Close
8 to Home? That is a working program that deals
9 with the whole issue of youth violence.
10 So as I said, very disappointing,
11 contradictions all over the place. We say we
12 care about young people, but we certainly are not
13 willing to put in the resources and even support
14 what we already have and what we know that works.
15 So, Mr. President, I'll be voting no
16 on this resolution. Thank you.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Stavisky.
19 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 As far as higher education goes, I
22 think there's some really good parts but also
23 some parts where we need a little more
24 clarification. So if the sponsor would yield.
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
1182
1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator,
2 do you yield? The Senator yields.
3 Senator Stavisky.
4 SENATOR STAVISKY: On page 7 of the
5 budget resolution, you talk about your support
6 for the ASAP program. It's the last paragraph
7 under "Article VII proposal." You indicate that
8 it's an important component in achieving success,
9 et cetera, and you say the Senate supports the
10 expansion of the program.
11 And yet I don't see it in the list
12 of items to be restored from the Governor's -- to
13 the Executive Budget proposal.
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Okay. So through
15 you, Mr. President, so we have language in
16 there -- you're right, that recognizes the ASAP
17 program is an important component in achieving
18 success. And so by acknowledging that, we
19 would -- you know, what we're saying is that we
20 support that particular program.
21 SENATOR STAVISKY: If the Senator
22 would continue to yield.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 Senator yields.
1183
1 SENATOR STAVISKY: Then why is --
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you, just
3 to finish the second half of that answer, that
4 program has been largely funded by the city, by
5 New York City.
6 SENATOR STAVISKY: If the Senator
7 would continue to yield, there's a $2.5 million
8 cut in the ASAP program in the Governor's
9 Executive Budget, and yet it's not restored in
10 your budget resolution.
11 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
12 Mr. President, there is a $2.5 million cut to the
13 program. And that is a program that the Assembly
14 has been very interested in, so they restored
15 that funding last year and we expect that they
16 will do the same, they will try to do the same in
17 these budget negotiations that are upcoming.
18 SENATOR STAVISKY: Would the
19 Senator continue to yield?
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
22 Senator yields.
23 SENATOR STAVISKY: The ASAP program
24 is a remarkable program. It's in the community
25 colleges at CUNY. And the New York Times, for
1184
1 example, a number of years ago wrote about how
2 successful it was.
3 How it works is because of the fact
4 that the students, the college students, receive
5 special guidance from counselors. They receive a
6 MetroCard -- many of them can't even afford that.
7 They receive a MetroCard. They receive -- their
8 attendance is monitored. They receive this
9 intense counseling, and it works.
10 And I ask why the other programs
11 have not been restored. There's a whole litany
12 of programs, the opportunity programs. Why have
13 you not included the restoration of the other
14 programs or even commented on them the way you
15 did on ASAP?
16 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
17 Mr. President, there are programs that the
18 Governor cut, unfortunately, that the Senate
19 actually supports. And so that's why every year
20 the Assembly wants to restore those programs and
21 have those under their part of the budget. We
22 have programs that we restore as a Senate. And
23 we've always supported, in the final product,
24 those particular programs.
25 So the Assembly feels very strongly
1185
1 that they would like to be the ones that fund
2 those projects and those programs at the table.
3 And -- but we support them also.
4 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you. If
5 the sponsor would continue to yield.
6 SENATOR YOUNG: Sure.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR STAVISKY: The second area
10 I'd like to discuss is on page 56 and 57 of your
11 budget resolution. It deals with maintenance of
12 effort.
13 As you know, both houses passed a
14 maintenance of effort bill. The Governor vetoed
15 it, saying it really belongs as part of the
16 budget, and I happen to agree. And yet
17 unfortunately you have a -- it's Part U of
18 Article VII. This is on the top of page 57.
19 And it says: The Senate advances
20 language amending the maintenance of effort
21 provisions to expand state obligations to SUNY
22 and CUNY.
23 Would you expand upon that and tell
24 us exactly what you have in mind?
25 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Senator,
1186
1 for that question.
2 So in our proposal what we would do
3 is put in $64 million for operating and then
4 restore $78 million to the hospitals.
5 SENATOR STAVISKY: If the Senator
6 will continue to yield.
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
9 Senator yields.
10 SENATOR STAVISKY: The maintenance
11 of effort was used to cover some of the costs
12 that are not really anticipated in parts of the
13 budget negotiations. Part of it is for property
14 rentals, contract obligations, things that have
15 already been negotiated in their contracts. How
16 is this going to be resolved?
17 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
18 Mr. President. As you know, we voted for that
19 bill in this house too, so it's of great concern
20 to us. And frankly it was disappointing that
21 that particular initiative was vetoed by the
22 Governor.
23 So if there are funding sources that
24 we can discuss moving forward so we can continue
25 to help our campuses across the state, we're
1187
1 hoping that we can come up with some solutions.
2 SENATOR STAVISKY: And yet you have
3 not included it in your budget resolution, the
4 amounts.
5 SENATOR YOUNG: So again, we're
6 hoping that we can come up with some solutions in
7 those areas.
8 SENATOR STAVISKY: All right. If
9 the Senator would continue to yield.
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR STAVISKY: Continuing to
14 Part P, it says: The Senate advances language
15 repealing a statute that would implement a new
16 chargeback methodology.
17 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
18 Mr. President, this is actually the chargebacks
19 that go back to the counties, county governments.
20 And so some counties have concerns with it, so I
21 think that it warrants further discussion.
22 SENATOR STAVISKY: If the Senator
23 would continue to yield.
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
1188
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR STAVISKY: A number of the
3 counties at the upstate SUNY institutions have
4 complained about the chargeback. How is this
5 going to affect the other colleges, such as the
6 Fashion Institute of Technology, which is
7 technically a community college and would be
8 affected by this program?
9 SENATOR YOUNG: So through you,
10 Mr. President, actually FIT and those
11 institutions would be treated the same. It
12 doesn't change anything.
13 SENATOR STAVISKY: Doesn't change
14 the --
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Right. Right.
16 SENATOR STAVISKY: Because I know
17 we passed the legislation a number of years ago.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Right.
19 SENATOR STAVISKY: On another
20 subject, if the Senator would yield.
21 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
23 sponsor yields.
24 SENATOR STAVISKY: On page 37, Part
25 W.
1189
1 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
2 SENATOR STAVISKY: You say the
3 Senate advances language allowing for a
4 restructuring of the Higher Education Services
5 Corporation board. How would you restructure the
6 board?
7 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you. Through
8 you, Mr. President. The way we would restructure
9 it, we would allow the Senate and the Assembly to
10 appoint members to that board.
11 SENATOR STAVISKY: And what is the
12 current method?
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
14 Mr. President. So it's my understanding it's all
15 political appointees.
16 SENATOR STAVISKY: Let me rephrase
17 the question. The Governor appoints the members
18 of the board --
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Right. So we felt
20 very strongly that the Legislature, a coequal
21 branch of government, should have input too. And
22 so we would propose that the Senate would appoint
23 a member and the Assembly would have the same
24 opportunity.
25 SENATOR STAVISKY: And if the
1190
1 Senator would continue to yield.
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
3 SENATOR STAVISKY: When was the
4 last time the board met?
5 SENATOR YOUNG: Through you,
6 Mr. President, I think it was May of last year;
7 but I'm not sure that that's in the budget
8 resolution.
9 SENATOR STAVISKY: No, I'm sure
10 it's not.
11 SENATOR YOUNG: Right.
12 SENATOR STAVISKY: But that's my
13 point, that --
14 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes. Okay.
15 SENATOR STAVISKY: -- if the
16 Senator would continue --
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Gotcha.
18 SENATOR STAVISKY: The point,
19 Mr. Chairman, is that the board hasn't met.
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Right. And so I
21 think, you know, if they haven't met -- I think
22 there needs to be more accountability in the
23 system, more transparency. And I feel that our
24 proposal would be able to address some of the
25 concerns that we share.
1191
1 SENATOR STAVISKY: If the Senator
2 would continue to yield.
3 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes.
4 SENATOR STAVISKY: There are many
5 important issues before the HESC board, such as
6 part-time TAP. From what I understand, that has
7 not been -- it's been allocated, but it hasn't
8 been implemented. How do you propose to resolve
9 this?
10 SENATOR YOUNG: Well, through you,
11 Mr. President, I think if we have representation
12 on the board, those questions may be raised
13 through the process.
14 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you. And
15 thank you for your responses.
16 On the bill.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Stavisky on the resolution.
19 SENATOR STAVISKY: I'm sorry, the
20 resolution.
21 The fact that so many opportunity
22 programs were cut is really doing a disservice,
23 and it's providing education for those who can
24 afford it. And that's not really the purpose of
25 public higher education. So we all agree that --
1192
1 or at least this side of the aisle agrees that we
2 must restore those opportunity programs.
3 Secondly, we believe that there are
4 certain other additions, they've been outlined
5 by -- in our announcement. But we believe that
6 -- obviously we support the Bundy Aid
7 restitution, because the $35 million is a
8 terrible cut. It doesn't -- it's really a
9 pass-through where the beneficiaries are the
10 students. Most of that $35 million goes for
11 scholarships.
12 We support increasing TAP. We
13 support your proposal to increase the base aid
14 for the community colleges. We support,
15 certainly, the student loan forgiveness program.
16 That is an extremely important issue.
17 The increase in capital spending for
18 SUNY and CUNY, we agree with the majority on that
19 issue. The restoration of the childcare for the
20 community colleges, extremely important. And we
21 agree with you that that money should be
22 restored. And lastly, we do support the
23 expansion of the STEM programs to the nonpublic
24 colleges.
25 But we balance the good and the bad.
1193
1 And take a look -- unfortunately, I mean, the
2 lady up there in the stained glass window,
3 balancing, standing on the scales. It's not an
4 even scale. And it's balanced, unfortunately,
5 the wrong way, and I intend to vote no on the
6 resolution.
7 Thank you, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
9 you, Senator Stavisky.
10 Senator Krueger, there's a -- on the
11 allocation, still an additional five minutes, and
12 we will recognize you.
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
14 Mr. President.
15 I rise to round up at the end. Oh,
16 I'm sorry, you -- one moment, Mr. President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
18 Krueger, do you yield to Senator Rivera?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes,
20 Mr. President, I yield to Senator Rivera.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
22 Rivera.
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Leave me one
24 minute, Senator Rivera.
25 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
1194
1 Mr. President, I will do just that. Through you,
2 Mr. President, I will leave Senator Krueger one
3 minute.
4 I'm not going to ask questions, so
5 I'll speak on the resolution.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
7 Rivera on the resolution.
8 SENATOR RIVERA: I will not ask
9 questions, one, because many of my colleagues
10 have asked the questions already. And second,
11 because I have noticed that many of the responses
12 have been quite crafty and have kind of ignored
13 the fact that when my colleagues point out that
14 things are not on the resolution, they are
15 pointed out maybe they are, but maybe we'll talk
16 about them later. One of my colleagues mentioned
17 the phrase "kicking the can down the road."
18 Certainly that is accurate.
19 There's so many issues that are
20 either not met, that are not talked about in this
21 resolution, or I think we're going in the wrong
22 direction. Whether it is My Brother's Keeper,
23 $18 million that is not in the resolution.
24 Whether it is the fact that we're not doing
25 anything on protecting young people or any other
1195
1 New Yorkers from guns, we're just talking about
2 school safety in ways -- that's where that
3 "crafty" word comes in again.
4 We talked about design-build, but
5 attached to it was this idea that we would put
6 more police officers in schools, and we talked
7 before, a couple of days ago, about how putting
8 more people with guns in schools is not a good
9 idea. Not even the police officers want to do
10 that themselves.
11 Whether it's the fact that there's
12 no ethics reform in here, the fact that there is
13 no early voting in here. As a matter of fact,
14 there was a conversation about there not being
15 money for early voting. I believe that we all
16 would want people to be more civically engaged.
17 Changing the laws to actually make it easier so
18 people can vote would be a good way to do it.
19 And as far as covering the expenses,
20 I would suggest that perhaps that $1.2 million
21 for the task force on tick-borne illnesses, or
22 the $5 million for the task force on opioid
23 addiction, to which none of our members in the
24 Democratic Conference belong -- so that's
25 $6.2 million for two Senate task forces. That's
1196
1 a lot of money that you folks are using. And
2 it's not that I don't think these issues are
3 important, but certainly we should perhaps be
4 included. And I don't know how much paper you
5 can print for $6.2 million.
6 But in any event, there's no DREAM
7 Act in this resolution. There are changes in --
8 there are some changes in NYCHA but no real
9 commitment to putting real money into NYCHA, not
10 actually helping NYCHA along. And making sure
11 that that money is lockboxed so that it's going
12 to actual capital improvements that will address
13 the concerns that we're talking about -- like
14 mold, for example.
15 There's no rental subsidies for
16 people living with AIDS outside of the City of
17 New York. When we're talking about the fact that
18 this is a communicable disease that people that
19 are on public assistance -- we provide that
20 assistance to people living in the City of
21 New York. That does not happen outside of the
22 city. The Governor proposed that that would be
23 the case, and you folks took it out.
24 There is no Child Victims Act, as
25 was pointed out by one of my conference
1197
1 colleagues.
2 Anything related to criminal justice
3 reform, whether it's speedy trial or bail reform
4 or discovery reform, geriatric parole. Gay and
5 trans panic, we haven't even talked about that,
6 the fact that the original proposal included that
7 so it would not be available as a defense, and
8 you folks took it out.
9 Whether we're talking about -- when
10 we're talking about bail reform, there was
11 actually a change that would expand charitable
12 bail, which is a bill that I passed proudly a few
13 years ago in the Senate. And as opposed to that,
14 we're actually going in the opposite direction as
15 refers to bail reform.
16 Whether we're talking about all the
17 higher education opportunity programs that were
18 not included.
19 Or the prison contraband screening.
20 There's actually a bill we just passed this
21 morning in the Crime Victims, Crime and
22 Corrections Committee which addresses prison
23 contraband but does nothing to change the way
24 that the current process works for employees, so
25 staff members are not going to be checked in any
1198
1 particular way. So if there's any contraband
2 coming that way, it's still going to come.
3 And I know that you mean by that
4 that I've got -- that she's got a minute left. I
5 will just finish by saying that it's unfortunate
6 that this is what we're -- what we've been --
7 what we have to do, right, this kicking the can
8 down the road, which you -- apparently the
9 Republican Conference believes is the way to
10 actually deal with these issues.
11 So this resolution either goes in
12 the wrong direction or takes some issues that we
13 should be talking about and instead says, Oh,
14 we'll talk about it someday. I believe,
15 Mr. President, that this is a resolution that
16 does not really address the issues of this state,
17 and I will be voting in the negative.
18 Thank you, Mr. President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator
20 Krueger for the closing minute.
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
22 Well, I think that my colleague
23 covered a lot of the points. I guess what we've
24 heard here today is it's not soup yet. This is a
25 resolution where so many of the questions are
1199
1 referred to be discussed at another time. So
2 many of the things that are critical for the
3 people of New York are actually pulled out of the
4 budget rather than new alternative proposals
5 submitted.
6 On design-build, which you've heard
7 quite a bit about, the City of New York would
8 save billions of dollars getting the work we want
9 them to do done if we allowed them to do
10 design-build. But instead, just one item in
11 design-build is tied into putting police in our
12 schools, which the city reports, as they listen
13 here, would cost them a billion dollars a year.
14 I know my public schools and my
15 private schools have both told me they do not
16 want police officers in their buildings, thank
17 you very much.
18 We can and we must do better. We
19 have failed MTA. We are actually coming up with
20 proposals to demand more of NYCHA without
21 providing the money. We are tying the hands of
22 our largest local government and taking and
23 requiring that they spend more money than we
24 think they need to, because we're playing
25 politics and games.
1200
1 I guess the good news is this isn't
2 really a budget proposal. As Senator Young
3 explained, much of it is just thrown down the
4 line to be discussed. So good, we can continue
5 discussion. But I see no reason why anyone on
6 either side of the aisle should actually vote for
7 this today.
8 Again, it's not soup yet,
9 Mr. President. I vote no.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
11 you, Senator Krueger.
12 In accordance with the comments from
13 leaders, we will now have an opportunity to also
14 hear from the Senate Majority Leader.
15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Who will be
16 here less than momentarily.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: We have
18 previously heard from Senator Klein and Senator
19 Stewart-Cousins, and now we will hear from Senate
20 Majority Leader Senator John Flanagan.
21 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,
22 Mr. President.
23 I'm sorry for arriving at the last
24 moment. I know we've had a busy day, a busy
25 couple of weeks. And when Senator Klein and
1201
1 Senator Stewart-Cousins were speaking, I happened
2 to be down at the Times Union Center in an
3 intimate gathering of about 8,000 1199 members
4 and nurses here advocating and lobbying for
5 healthcare, which is obviously a critical part of
6 our budget.
7 I did have a chance to listen to a
8 number of the comments that were made by my
9 colleagues. I want to say thank you to everybody
10 for their diligence, for just the respectful
11 nature of the way the discussions took place
12 today. I think they had a much longer discussion
13 in the Assembly, for a variety of reasons.
14 But I want to focus on a couple of
15 basic things, and I want to start by thanking
16 frankly all the members, but the respective
17 members of the Finance Committees. And I heard
18 comments about policy, I heard comments about
19 fiscal policy and about appropriations in the
20 budgetary process. I look at this in a sort of
21 bifurcated way.
22 There's no reason at any given time
23 that we can't engage in substantive policy
24 discussions, but I really do feel that the
25 New York State budget should be far more
1202
1 reflective of simple basic things, like how are
2 we paying for transportation for Medicaid
3 patients? How are we making sure that senior
4 citizens get enhanced exemptions that cost money
5 either to local government or the State of
6 New York? How are we making sure that children
7 have appropriate access not only to elementary
8 and secondary education, but rather to higher
9 education -- which is really an underpinning of
10 what we've advocated from the get-go this year,
11 and that is affordability, opportunity, and
12 security. And I'll repeat: Affordability,
13 opportunity, and security.
14 Now, I digress for a moment. To
15 Senator Krueger, to Senator Young, to both of my
16 colleagues in particular, let's not overlook the
17 fact of the deliberative nature of what we've
18 been doing since the onset. And I'm being, you
19 know, Captain Obvious with some of this. But the
20 Governor comes out and comes up with his State of
21 the State, there's a brief hiatus, then we have
22 the introduction of the budget. And it's been a
23 little bit unconventional in terms of how it's
24 been presented. Sometimes we're here, sometimes
25 we're there. But the documents ultimately get
1203
1 out there.
2 So the Governor comes out with his
3 budget. And as we move into that process, we
4 start the budget hearing process. Now, nobody
5 knows better than the two colleagues I just
6 referenced, who have the patience of saints.
7 Because we had at least 12 different hearings
8 spanning over I think at least three weeks. And
9 there was a hiatus because of the weather, so our
10 last hearing was in the last week of February.
11 Now, why do I say this and frankly,
12 why do I belabor this point? We have an
13 exhaustive process for issues that are budgetary
14 in nature. If Senator Krueger wants to engage in
15 a discussion with Senator Young about economic
16 development money we spend on advertising, how
17 we're providing tax incentives or tax credits no
18 what the area of the state, that's good. That's
19 good. That's the way it's supposed to be.
20 But I also think we have to focus on
21 what is our primary responsibility right now.
22 Right now, today, many people feel like this is
23 the true start of the budget process. I don't
24 agree. I think we've been going at this for
25 quite a while, and the product you see here
1204
1 today, there are some who laud it, some who
2 critique it, but everyone can read it and
3 understand it. And the same process is taking
4 place across the way in the New York State
5 Assembly.
6 Now, not only have our colleagues
7 engaged in these discussions, but so has the
8 public. You know, with the advent of technology
9 and the ever-changing nature of technology --
10 remember when people used to write letters?
11 people used to hand-write letters. And people
12 used to type on a typewriter. And you would
13 expect that you would respond in kind. Now,
14 today, some issue can come up affecting any one
15 of us, you can have 5,000 emails within the space
16 of an hour.
17 So to suggest in some way, shape or
18 form that we don't have public input I think is
19 just inaccurate. So I'm confident that we have a
20 lot of input, not only from the public, not only
21 from our constituents, not only from our
22 not-for-profits, our for-profits, people in the
23 public sector and the private sector, but I
24 believe in the faith of the men and women that
25 work in this chamber.
1205
1 Everyone comes at it from a
2 different angle. I was watching on TV, I saw
3 Senator Montgomery, I saw Senator Comrie, Senator
4 Stavisky, Senator Bailey, Senator Benjamin, a
5 number of our colleagues getting up and talking
6 about their priorities. Which I think is a
7 reflection of their philosophy and what they
8 believe to be the needs of their district.
9 So again, we're going back to
10 affordability, opportunity, and security. And
11 some of these things are actually quite simple.
12 We believe in the taxpayer. I don't care if it's
13 federal government policy, state policy, county,
14 town or village -- whenever we ask people for a
15 fee or a license fee or something like that, or a
16 tax, it's all the same person who pays.
17 So we have to -- whether it's
18 160 billion or 170 billion, we'd better start
19 thinking about the taxpayer. That's why we don't
20 raise taxes. I repeat, we don't raise taxes.
21 People in the State of New York pay too much
22 money already. We have the highest tax burden in
23 the country, even though we've made some strides.
24 So we want to make sure that we're
25 having people move in and not move out. And it's
1206
1 a multifaceted approach. In economic
2 development, we need to review every single
3 program that we have. We need to take a harder,
4 closer look at every dollar that we spend. We
5 need to do simple things like change the
6 regulatory structure -- Senator Jacobs knows
7 this -- in the State of New York to make it
8 easier to do business.
9 And opportunity, I think of
10 opportunity in the context of everybody. Kids:
11 After-school programs, art, music, theater.
12 Adults: Gainful employment, whether you're a
13 teenager or someone who's a millennial, someone
14 who's middle-aged or maybe in the latter part of
15 your career. That opportunity should transcend
16 everything and apply to everybody.
17 So again, affordability, opportunity
18 and security. And I'm going to put this in
19 context and I'm going to share my personal
20 opinion. There's nobody in this chamber -- no
21 matter where you live, no matter who you
22 represent, everybody cares about people.
23 Sometimes we come at it from different angles,
24 but when you talk about security, I don't need to
25 sit and talk to Joe Addabbo and ask him, Joe, do
1207
1 you think we should take care of kids in school?
2 Yeah, everybody believes that.
3 We have a robust package that we
4 think right now addresses some very acute needs
5 in our schools. I just got out of a meeting with
6 people talking about technology, how you can do
7 more things at schools -- and everyone is exposed
8 to this, the changing nature of this. Two or
9 three weeks ago, now -- there were a thousand
10 companies out there before, now there's 1500
11 companies out there looking to help out. And
12 frankly, some of them are looking to make a buck,
13 but they're looking to help out with public
14 safety and security.
15 So when I hear the comments, Well,
16 this policy is not in there, this policy is not
17 in there -- you know, we have, as I said, a
18 deliberative process. But when the Governor
19 comes in and puts a lot of policy proposals, we
20 do actually believe that there should be a
21 differentiation. And I personally believe that,
22 and I've been here for a long time. These are
23 thorny, delicate, substantive issues that require
24 some more extended discussion.
25 Now, imagine -- I know it's not
1208
1 going to happen, but imagine if we just finished
2 the budget and left. If we did it the way the
3 Governor wanted, that's probably what we could
4 do. Because the way the Governor crafted his
5 budget proposal, there really is no necessary
6 function for the Senate or the Assembly. Let us
7 figure it out, let DOB do it, let the agency
8 heads do it.
9 We don't believe that should be the
10 case. We don't want to cede our authority, we
11 don't want to usurp the role of the Executive.
12 So when we talk about issues involving the things
13 that were discussed here today, I don't mind
14 taking time. I don't mind taking time. Because
15 if we're going to do these things, gosh darn it,
16 we need to do them right. We don't have any real
17 room for error, particularly on things like
18 security.
19 So I'll close where I started.
20 Thank you to everybody. Maybe the wrong phrase
21 is let the games begin. Maybe we've been
22 involved in the games already.
23 (Laughter.)
24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: But, you know,
25 look. In reference to the people that I serve
1209
1 with, and that is individually and collectively
2 as a conference, but everybody here -- ladies and
3 gentlemen, there is no reason in the world that
4 we cannot have an on-time budget. There's no
5 reason in the world that we shouldn't have an
6 on-time budget. And every time I talk about
7 this, I say the same thing. We don't deserve
8 accolades, we don't deserve, Oh, hey, you guys
9 did a great job, you passed a budget on time.
10 That's the law. That's the law. Parker's
11 smiling over there; he knows what I mean.
12 But that's a function of helping
13 local governments, not-for-profits, taxpayers to
14 know what our blueprint is. And we can do that
15 by March 29th. There's no reason we can't do
16 that. Is it going to be pretty along the way? I
17 don't think so. I don't think so. It's going to
18 be a little rough. I'm looking at Dave Valesky;
19 he's going to be pushing and, you know, looking
20 for things in Syracuse and his area, as is
21 everybody in this room.
22 So I am confident that we can do
23 this, but we're going to go at it from a
24 different angle. We're going to talk about jobs.
25 We're going to talk about jobs. I don't know
1210
1 about you, but I looked and I read and I
2 listened, whether it was verbally or in writing,
3 there wasn't a lot of discussion about jobs
4 except for what's coming out of this conference.
5 So if we're going to have that
6 affordability, we're going to have that
7 opportunity, and by extension we're going to have
8 that security, whether it's for your adult member
9 or family member who happens to be in a nursing
10 home, or your kid who's on a college campus or
11 your young child who's in a preschool program or
12 something like that, or a childcare program,
13 that's all encompassing.
14 Senator DeFrancisco, he doesn't even
15 have to look at me. It is 4 o'clock. We're
16 done. We're done. I thank everybody.
17 Mr. President, let's get the work of the people
18 of the great State of New York done in a timely
19 fashion, and that means doing our work in earnest
20 so we can finish and be proud on March 29th.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank
22 you. Thank you, Senator Flanagan. It may not be
23 let the games begin, but it is March madness.
24 (Laughter.)
25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Is there any
1211
1 further business --
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Yes,
3 there is, Senator DeFrancisco.
4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: There is?
5 Well, what might that be?
6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: I'm going
7 to ask the Secretary to call the roll on the
8 resolution.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Announce
11 the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 32. Nays,
13 29.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
15 resolution is adopted.
16 Senator DeFrancisco, that completes
17 the business before the desk.
18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, now is
19 there any further business at the desk?
20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There is
21 nothing additionally before the desk.
22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, in that
23 case, I'll move to adjourn until tomorrow,
24 Thursday, March 15th, at 11:00 a.m.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
1212
1 Senate stands adjourned until Thursday,
2 March 15th, the Ides of March, at 11:00 a.m.
3 (Whereupon, at 4:02 p.m., the Senate
4 adjourned.)
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