Regular Session - March 30, 2021
1887
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 30, 2021
11 3:32 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18
19 SENATOR BRIAN A. BENJAMIN, Acting President
20 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
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22
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25
1888
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: In the
9 absence of clergy, let us bow our heads in a
10 moment of silent reflection or prayer.
11 (Whereupon, the assemblage respected
12 a moment of silence.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Reading
14 of the Journal.
15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Monday,
16 March 29, 2021, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, March 28,
18 2021, was read and approved. On motion, Senate
19 adjourned.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Without
21 objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
22 Presentation of petitions.
23 Messages from the Assembly.
24 The Secretary will read.
25 THE SECRETARY: Senator Gaughran
1889
1 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Local
2 Government, Assembly Bill Number 2580 and
3 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 1090,
4 Third Reading Calendar 157.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
6 Substitution so ordered.
7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Benjamin
8 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
9 Children and Families, Assembly Bill Number 1860
10 and substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
11 5081, Third Reading Calendar 553.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
13 substitution is so ordered.
14 THE SECRETARY: Senator Rivera
15 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Health,
16 Assembly Bill Number 228 and substitute it for
17 the identical Senate Bill 2119, Third Reading
18 Calendar 577.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
20 substitution is so ordered.
21 Messages from the Governor.
22 Reports of standing committees.
23 Reports of select committees.
24 Communications and reports from
25 state officers.
1890
1 Motions and resolutions.
2 Senator Gianaris.
3 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President, I
4 move that the following bills retain their -- oh,
5 I'm sorry, amendments are offered to the
6 following Third Reading Calendar bills:
7 By Senator Brouk, on page 13,
8 Calendar 380, Senate Print 4478;
9 By Senator Sanders, page 27,
10 Calendar 585, Senate Print 4095A;
11 By Senator Mayer, page 30,
12 Calendar 618, Senate Print 5576A;
13 And by Senator May, page 32,
14 Calendar 640, Senate Print 5267.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 amendments are received, and the bills shall
17 retain their place on the Third Reading Calendar.
18 Senator Gianaris.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: On behalf of
20 Senator Hinchey, I wish to call up Senate Print
21 2135, recalled from the Assembly, which is now at
22 the desk.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
24 Secretary will read.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1891
1 178, Senate Print 2135, by Senator Hinchey, an
2 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law.
3 SENATOR GIANARIS: I move to
4 reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 Secretary will call the roll on reconsideration.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 bill is restored to its place on the
11 Third Reading Calendar.
12 SENATOR GIANARIS: I offer the
13 following amendments.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
15 amendments are received.
16 SENATOR GIANARIS: On behalf of
17 Senator Jackson, I wish to call up Senate 2008,
18 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at the
19 desk.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
21 Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 570, Senate Print 2008, by Senator Jackson, an
24 act to amend the Insurance Law.
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to
1892
1 reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 Secretary will call the roll on reconsideration.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
7 bill is restored to its place on the
8 Third Reading Calendar.
9 SENATOR GIANARIS: I offer the
10 following amendments.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
12 amendments are received.
13 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
14 there will be an immediate meeting of the
15 Rules Committee in Room 332.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: There
17 will be an immediate meeting of the
18 Rules Committee in Room 332.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: The Senate
20 stands at ease.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
22 Senate will stand at ease.
23 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease
24 at 3:35 p.m.)
25 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at
1893
1 3:42 p.m.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 Senate will return to order.
4 Senator Gianaris.
5 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
6 let's take up the report of the Rules Committee
7 which is at the desk.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 Secretary will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Senator
11 Stewart-Cousins, from the Committee on Rules,
12 reports the following bills:
13 Senate Print 854A, by
14 Senator Krueger, an act in relation to
15 constituting Chapter 7-A of the Consolidated
16 Laws;
17 Senate Print 558, by Senator Kaplan,
18 an act to authorize the Manhasset Union Free
19 School District and Manhasset Public Library to
20 take certain actions; and
21 Senate Print 5943, by Senator
22 Reichlin-Melnick, an act in relation to
23 permitting the Suffern Central School District to
24 move the date of their annual meeting.
25 All bills reported direct to third
1894
1 reading.
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to accept
3 the report of the Rules Committee.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: All
5 those in favor of accepting the report of the
6 Rules Committee signify by saying aye.
7 (Response of "Aye.")
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
9 Opposed, nay.
10 (No response.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
12 Rules Committee report is accepted.
13 Senator Gianaris.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's take up
15 the reading of the calendar, please.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
17 Secretary will read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 91,
19 Senate Print 1416, by Senator Harckham, an act to
20 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect on the 30th day after it
25 shall have become a law.
1895
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
5 Harckham to explain his vote.
6 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 When people in early recovery --
9 either just out of treatment or perhaps in a day
10 program -- are moving on with their recovery,
11 they have a need for safe housing. Either
12 they've lost their housing due to circumstances,
13 or they're living in facilities that may not be
14 safe for their recovery.
15 So there are very few housing
16 options for people in early recovery. And
17 recovery residences run the gamut from very good
18 and very qualified to downright criminal.
19 And there's no way that patients can
20 be reimbursed for their stays, and oftentimes
21 families reach into their pockets for hundreds of
22 thousands of dollars, because there is no set of
23 standards that allows them to do this.
24 And groups like EAP, the Employee
25 Assistance Program, are looking for ways to
1896
1 reimburse those stays. Perhaps insurance, one
2 day, and Medicaid, can reimburse.
3 So this legislation is a first step
4 at that. It empowers OASAS to create a set of
5 standards that people would voluntarily comply
6 for that they can be certified for. This gives
7 families and patients the knowledge that a
8 facility that they're going to is safe and secure
9 and will be a good place for their loved one in
10 early recovery.
11 And it also begins to build a body
12 of knowledge and a set of standards whereby EAP
13 and insurance and others can be billed to
14 reimburse for a sustainable funding stream.
15 So it's a simple piece of
16 legislation, long overdue, just the beginning. I
17 thank colleagues for their support, and I'll be
18 voting aye.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
20 Harckham to be recorded in the affirmative.
21 Announce the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1897
1 116, Senate Print 1453B, by Senator Parker, an
2 act to amend Chapter 108 of the Laws of 2020.
3 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Lay it
5 aside.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 157, Assembly Print 2580, substituted earlier by
8 Assemblymember Thiele, an act to amend
9 Chapter 308 of the Laws of 2012.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
18 Announce the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 467, Senate Print 1827, by Senator Skoufis, an
24 act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
1898
1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
8 Announce the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
10 Calendar 467, voting in the negative:
11 Senator Weik.
12 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 512, Senate Print 482A, by Senator Persaud, an
17 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
21 act shall take effect on the 90th day after it
22 shall have become a law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
1899
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 530, Senate Print 4165A, by Senator Bailey, an
8 act to amend the Executive Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect on the 60th day after it
13 shall have become a law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
18 Announce the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 553, Assembly Print 1860, substituted earlier by
24 Assemblymember Jean-Pierre, an act to amend the
25 Social Services Law.
1900
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
2 the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
9 Announce the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 577, Assembly Print 228, substituted earlier by
15 Assemblymember Gottfried, an act to amend the
16 Public Health Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
20 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
21 shall have become a law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
1901
1 Announce the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 616, Senate Print 1925, by Senator Jackson, an
7 act to amend the Education Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 617, Senate Print 5545, by Senator Mayer, an act
22 to amend the Education Law.
23 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Lay it
25 aside.
1902
1 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
2 reading of today's calendar.
3 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
4 can we now move to the controversial calendar,
5 please, starting with Calendar 617.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
7 Secretary will ring the bell.
8 The Secretary will read.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 617, Senate Print 5545, by Senator Mayer, an act
11 to amend the Education Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
13 Lanza, why do you rise?
14 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President, I
15 believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
16 waive the reading of that amendment and ask that
17 you recognize Senator Palumbo to be heard.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
19 you, Senator Lanza.
20 Upon review of the amendment, in
21 accordance with Rule 6, Section 4B, I rule it
22 nongermane and out of order at this time.
23 SENATOR LANZA: Accordingly,
24 Mr. President, I appeal the chair's ruling and
25 ask that Senator Palumbo be recognized.
1903
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 appeal has been made and recognized, and
3 Senator Palumbo may be heard.
4 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 With respect to germaneness, this
7 bill is germane to the bill-in-chief because over
8 the past year the Governor has made numerous
9 executive orders and directives relating to the
10 education laws and the election process
11 procedures in our state.
12 Today is the 34th time my colleagues
13 and I have brought this amendment to the floor,
14 in the hopes that this chamber will show some
15 courage to get back to business.
16 But we ultimately know what's going
17 to happen. And, as we've seen the previous
18 33 times, that we're unfortunately not getting
19 back to work.
20 Now, the -- in the interests of
21 clawing back the Governor's emergency powers, we
22 have seen numerous other distractions that have
23 ultimately been occupying the Governor's time.
24 But what's important to remember, we've also seen
25 15,000 nursing home deaths as a result of his
1904
1 unilateral decisions.
2 And as we sit here today we also
3 have a directive for the Office for People with
4 Developmental Disabilities that is identical to
5 the March 25 COVID order for nursing homes.
6 Group homes, as we sit here today, are required
7 to take COVID-positive patients.
8 Now, of course they have to observe
9 certain protocols, but it's been disclosed -- and
10 I think we can all agree -- that a hospital
11 setting is the best place for someone who's
12 positive with COVID-19.
13 However, I called for this a few
14 weeks ago, introduced legislation last week to
15 repeal that directive, and unfortunately there
16 has been no action. And quite frankly, I think
17 that has a lot to do with the fact that the
18 Governor has many other things on his plate and
19 many other issues that he's dealing with. But
20 most importantly, he's refusing to even
21 acknowledge something as serious as that.
22 By the way, people with intellectual
23 and developmental disabilities are three times
24 more likely to die than the general population
25 from COVID-19.
1905
1 So my friends, as we sit here and
2 watch the world go by, it's time to get back to
3 work, and I urge an affirmative vote on this
4 amendment.
5 Thank you, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
7 you, Senator Palumbo.
8 I want to remind the house that the
9 vote is on the procedures of the house and the
10 ruling of the chair.
11 Those in favor of overruling the
12 chair signify by saying aye.
13 SENATOR LANZA: Request a show of
14 hands.
15 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
16 we've agreed to waive the showing of hands and
17 record each member of the Minority in the
18 affirmative.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Without
20 objection, so ordered.
21 Announce the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 20.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
24 ruling of the chair stands and the bill-in-chief
25 is before the house.
1906
1 Are there any other Senators wishing
2 to be heard?
3 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
4 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
5 Read the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
9 the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
12 Announce the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
14 Calendar 617, those Senators voting in the
15 negative are Senators Helming and Oberacker.
16 Ayes, 61. Nays, 2.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
18 bill is passed.
19 The Secretary will read.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 116, Senate Print 1453B, by Senator Parker, an
22 act to amend Chapter 108 of the Laws of 2020.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
24 Oberacker.
25 SENATOR OBERACKER: Thank you,
1907
1 Mr. President.
2 Through you, Mr. President, would
3 the sponsor yield for a few questions?
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
5 the sponsor yield?
6 SENATOR PARKER: Yes,
7 Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR OBERACKER: Thank you. And
11 thank you, Senator.
12 This bill places a burden on
13 broadband service providers, as it forces them
14 to provide free service without the ability to
15 assess late payment fees, penalties, or to
16 require a deposit to all residential and small
17 business customers with fewer than 25 employees
18 who do not pay their bill during the entirety of
19 a declared emergency.
20 Through you, Mr. President. How are
21 companies supposed to know which businesses have
22 25 employees?
23 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President,
24 through you.
25 I'd like to inform the Senator, if
1908
1 he wasn't aware, that we're actually in the
2 middle of a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic. And
3 so this bill is really an extension of a bill
4 that we've actually already done creating a
5 utility moratorium for utility customers all over
6 the State of New York.
7 This particular bill, what we
8 recognize is that people were forced to sometimes
9 leave their jobs, sometimes separated from their
10 jobs because of no fault of their own and because
11 of the pandemic, did not have income and thus
12 were not only not able to pay their rent -- which
13 we've had lots of conversations and passed
14 legislation to address that -- but have not been
15 able to pay, thus, then, their utilities,
16 including gas, electric, water and what we
17 acknowledge in this legislation is internet,
18 phone service and wireless.
19 Why do we do that? We would not put
20 anybody in a house or an apartment in the State
21 of New York without water, electric and gas. I
22 argue that in fact now broadband and cable have
23 become as essential as water, electric and gas.
24 In the midst of a pandemic in which
25 we now started rolling out a vaccine, the only
1909
1 way for seniors to actually sign up for it was to
2 get onto the internet. If we in fact cut it off
3 because they didn't have income, how do they even
4 sign up for a vaccine?
5 People who have lost their jobs
6 because of no fault of their own, how would they
7 be able to even get a new job to pay their bill
8 if in fact they had no broadband? Right?
9 And so, you know, the news, all
10 these things now come through internet, cable,
11 wireless, and so that becomes as necessary as
12 water, gas and electric.
13 In the particular case that the
14 Senator is asking about vis-a-vis small
15 businesses -- which, again, we're trying to
16 help -- it really just takes some outreach by the
17 companies to figure out what their customer base
18 is, understanding who their customers are, and
19 asking them about the information that they need
20 relevant to this legislation.
21 SENATOR OBERACKER: Through you,
22 Mr. President, would the sponsor continue to
23 yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
25 the sponsor yield?
1910
1 SENATOR PARKER: Yes,
2 Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR OBERACKER: Thank you.
6 How would companies know if a small
7 business customer is either seasonal, short term,
8 or a temporary customer?
9 SENATOR PARKER: Through you,
10 Mr. President, ditto. I mean, the reality is --
11 is, again, the same kind of outreach that is
12 required.
13 Again, these are not like arbitrary
14 relationships or casual relationships. This is a
15 utility provider. You should know what the needs
16 are and what the usage rates of your customers
17 are. It's simple information. If they don't
18 have it, they have an army of people that in fact
19 can address the issue with the individual
20 customers and figure out which ones apply to this
21 particular legislation.
22 SENATOR OBERACKER: Through you,
23 Mr. President, would the sponsor continue to
24 yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
1911
1 the sponsor yield? Does the sponsor yield?
2 Sponsor?
3 SENATOR PARKER: Oh, yes. Sorry.
4 Yes, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR OBERACKER: Thank you.
8 How are companies supposed to
9 determine whether the customer has the resources
10 to pay the bill?
11 SENATOR PARKER: So, again,
12 companies have relationships with their -- with
13 their -- companies, these utilities, have a
14 relationship with their customers. It is --
15 should not be a major problem for these same
16 companies that talk to these companies' customers
17 all of the time, to ascertain all of the
18 information they need in order to have themselves
19 be compliant with the law.
20 SENATOR OBERACKER: Through you,
21 Mr. President, would the sponsor continue to
22 yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
24 the sponsor yield?
25 SENATOR PARKER: Yes,
1912
1 Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR OBERACKER: Thank you.
5 Broadband providers in New York
6 State have instituted numerous voluntary programs
7 to help those who have experienced financial
8 hardship during the pandemic, particularly for
9 work and education purposes.
10 Additionally, the federal emergency
11 broadband benefit slated to roll out this spring
12 would provide low-income households with a $50
13 per month benefit for broadband service as well
14 as a $100 benefit for the purpose and purchase of
15 a connected device.
16 Through you, Mr. President, my
17 question. The original bill had an end date of
18 December 31, 2021, but the new amended version
19 now before us extends the sunset date until
20 July 20, 2022. Why is this bill being extended
21 now for over two years past the start of the
22 pandemic?
23 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President,
24 through you.
25 Again, we understand that we're in
1913
1 the middle of a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic.
2 People have been fighting for both their lives
3 and their livelihoods. We have no less of a
4 burden in this body but to protect our residents
5 of this great state and to make sure that they
6 are protected from the cataclysm that is
7 befalling them.
8 They were told to stay at home.
9 Many of them subsequently lost their jobs. Many
10 of them lost other income. Many of them got
11 sick. Many died. Many lost family members
12 during this.
13 And in the midst of this, my friends
14 on the other side of the aisle would say:
15 Despite all the things that you have gone
16 through, through no fault of your own, pay your
17 bill. Pay your bill. I don't care whether you
18 don't have a job. I don't care whether you don't
19 have any income. I don't care that you lost the
20 primary breadwinner in your family. Pay your
21 bill.
22 And we're simply saying give
23 New Yorkers a chance to get back on their feet.
24 Give them a chance to heal. Give them a chance
25 to find new employment. Give them a chance to
1914
1 get the vaccine. Give them a chance for their
2 kids to get out of distance learning back into
3 in-person learning. Just give the people a
4 chance.
5 And so we have created a timetable
6 in which the bill essentially ends on
7 December 31st of 2021, but then if you are
8 someone who still is having a hard time, you can
9 make a declaration that COVID has
10 disproportionately affected you and you in fact
11 get a little bit more time to get yourself back
12 on your feet.
13 It's the least that we can do for a
14 group of people who have fought so hard to make
15 this state so great and have been struck by this
16 awful pandemic.
17 And so we think that this
18 legislation is not just reasonable, it is proper,
19 it is the right thing to do, it provides the
20 much-needed relief to every single New Yorker
21 across the state that they need.
22 It also does not discriminate
23 against people on whether you lost all your
24 income or some of your income. It doesn't
25 discriminate whether you're in the city or in a
1915
1 rural area. It says all of us deserve some
2 time -- and if you are having a hard time.
3 Now, if you have been, you know,
4 somebody who -- you know, like the Senator across
5 the aisle who's asking the questions -- had a
6 job, had, you know, his health insurance, was
7 able to pay his bills, by all means you should be
8 paying your bill.
9 But if you're somebody who's been
10 struck hard economically by this pandemic, you
11 certainly need some relief, you certainly need
12 some protection from the State of New York.
13 That's what you pay your taxes for. And we
14 certainly should give them the time that they
15 need in order to get themselves back on their
16 feet, both literally and economically.
17 SENATOR OBERACKER: Through you,
18 Mr. President, would the sponsor continue to
19 yield.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
21 the sponsor yield?
22 SENATOR PARKER: Yes,
23 Mr. President.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
25 sponsor yields.
1916
1 SENATOR OBERACKER: Other states,
2 including Vermont, have a disconnection
3 moratorium on utilities but did not expand to the
4 nonregulated competitive companies.
5 They've also established a special
6 fund with state and federal dollars to provide
7 eligible households and businesses with a grant
8 to pay for past-due balances for utilities.
9 Could New York do something similar
10 instead of a proposal like this that is preempted
11 by federal law?
12 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President,
13 first of all, Vermont? Really? We're comparing
14 the great State of New York to Vermont?
15 I represent more people in my
16 district than they have in Vermont. Why are we
17 having a conversation about what they did with
18 the -- the -- the -- I mean, people -- great
19 folks in Vermont, but this is apples and oranges.
20 Right? Or in this particular case, you know a
21 grape and a grape fruit.
22 We really should be doing something
23 that's proportional to the 20 million people who
24 live in this great state, many of who have been
25 disproportionately sick. We had more deaths here
1917
1 than any -- than Vermont. We had more people who
2 lost their jobs than Vermont. And so the amount
3 of money that it would take in order for us to do
4 it in the way that Vermont does just simply does
5 not exist in this moment.
6 And again, we're not saying that
7 anybody should never pay their bill and that they
8 should -- you know, and that these arrears should
9 be stacked up and never paid.
10 In fact, the next thing that we're
11 working on -- and I invite the Senator to come
12 and commune with me on this issue -- is the issue
13 of, you know, utility arrears and how we in fact
14 deal with those arrears.
15 But in this moment, in this moment
16 we're still in the midst of the pandemic. Just
17 yesterday we were talking about how the numbers
18 are spiking in the State of New York. This
19 pandemic is not over. People still not back to
20 work, people still not present in in-person
21 learning -- there is so much to do to get this
22 great state back on its feet. We need to
23 continue to protect the State of New York.
24 I am happy to stand on that wall and
25 wield the sword in the night, the shield that
1918
1 protects the realms of people here in this great
2 state. And we'll continue to pass legislation
3 that we believe does look ahead and does say
4 we're not going to wait for the federal
5 government, we're not going to wait for somebody
6 to tell us what to do, we're not going to wait
7 for a catastrophe of millions of people being cut
8 off and not having access to broadband or gas or
9 water or electric.
10 We're going to do the right thing
11 because we know what has to be done, we see what
12 has to be done, and we're going to address it
13 head on.
14 SENATOR OBERACKER: Mr. President,
15 on the bill.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
17 Oberacker on the bill.
18 SENATOR OBERACKER: I appreciate my
19 sponsor's answers and believe he has good
20 intentions with this bill.
21 And the analogy between Vermont and
22 New York may seem appropriate. You know, we have
23 a saying in our company -- we do product
24 development and research development for
25 companies, and our saying is "You find something
1919
1 successful and you copy it." And I would suggest
2 to my colleague that we find something successful
3 and copy it.
4 You know, federal law explicitly
5 bars state regulation of mobile wireless rates
6 and entry and precludes a state from mandating a
7 particular rate for wireless service, including
8 any requirement that wireless providers offer
9 service month to month during a global pandemic
10 without payment for services and without the
11 ability to assess or collect late payment fees.
12 Connectivity is crucial, a lesson I
13 know full well, representing a rural region of
14 the State of New York where many, where many are
15 without broadband or cellphone service.
16 Additional mandates that will leave
17 broadband providers -- especially many of the
18 smaller community-based companies that I
19 represent -- in dire financial straits will not
20 help reach our overall goal of providing
21 affordable, reliable broadband to all.
22 This bill goes just a bit too far,
23 and for that reason I will be voting no.
24 Thank you, Mr. President. And thank
25 you, Senator.
1920
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Are
2 there any other Senators wishing to be heard?
3 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
4 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
5 Read the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
9 the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
12 Brisport to explain his vote.
13 SENATOR BRISPORT: Thank you,
14 Mr. President.
15 I rise to thank you for presiding
16 over this chamber and for my colleague,
17 Senator Parker, for his impassioned defense of
18 this bill. It's a good bill.
19 I stand here today to say we're
20 passing this legislation because we know how
21 serious utility shutoffs are and because we know
22 that utility companies are willing to risk the
23 safety and well-being of our constituents in an
24 attempt to protect their bottom line.
25 We recognize this as a crisis today
1921
1 because the pandemic has put so many New Yorkers
2 at risk of a shutoff. But this was a crisis
3 before it started happening to middle-class
4 people. This was a crisis before the pandemic
5 when it was happening to low-income people, when
6 it was happening disproportionately to Black and
7 Brown people.
8 It will continue to be a crisis for
9 those families long after this new moratorium has
10 expired, because private companies are
11 fundamentally designed to prioritize profit over
12 providing consistent access to basic necessities.
13 As we acknowledge the absolute
14 necessity of utilities, we must also acknowledge
15 that a system that fails to make them reliably
16 accessible to everyone, regardless of income, is
17 not a functional system.
18 I am voting yes today in the sincere
19 hope that we will promptly not wait to address
20 the underlying cause of this crisis. Without
21 publicly owned and operated utilities, many of
22 our constituents will face this crisis again the
23 moment this bill sunsets.
24 Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
1922
1 Brisport to be recorded in the affirmative.
2 Senator Lanza to explain his vote.
3 SENATOR LANZA: Yes, Mr. President,
4 to explain my vote.
5 You know, I heard on the radio this
6 morning that Game of Thrones was coming to
7 Broadway. I'm glad it stopped first here in the
8 Senate.
9 (Laughter.)
10 SENATOR LANZA: I thank my good
11 friend Senator Parker for that.
12 And I want to respond to some of the
13 comments.
14 First of all, I want to assure you,
15 Mr. President, we on this side of the aisle care.
16 We care deeply about the way this pandemic has
17 affected, really ravaged our state. And it's why
18 we have been so vocal in trying to push back on
19 these arbitrary and unilateral emergency powers
20 that this Governor has enjoyed now for more than
21 a year.
22 It's why we have stood up for small
23 businesses and families across the State of
24 New York. It is why we have decried the
25 arbitrary nature of so many of these policies
1923
1 that have been enacted by this government here in
2 New York.
3 You know, I voted in the negative on
4 this bill the last time, in its earlier version.
5 One of the reasons I did so, Mr. President, was
6 because it excluded small businesses. And I
7 thought that was wrong, because really they were
8 the first to go, if you will, because of the
9 edicts here in the state. They were closed down
10 a lot of times without rhyme and reason.
11 This time the sponsor has included
12 small businesses. I'm going to be voting in the
13 affirmative.
14 But I share Senator Oberacker's
15 concerns here with respect to the bill, and I
16 associate myself with his comments.
17 Yeah, it is true, if you've been put
18 out of work by the government of the State of
19 New York, there ought to be relief. I happen to
20 believe, though, and we on this side of the aisle
21 happen to believe the relief ought to be coming
22 from the government. So if you were put out of
23 work because of the edicts, the shutdowns here in
24 New York, you have some time to pay your water,
25 gas and electric.
1924
1 I would say, Mr. President, what
2 about small businesses in my district and every
3 district across the State of New York who were
4 shut down, again, without rhyme or reason? And
5 the theory was we're going to do these lockdowns
6 and these shutdowns because we're going to save
7 lives.
8 Well, you know, if you look at the
9 science, you look at the results, you look at the
10 statistics, it seems not to have worked here,
11 Mr. President. Because in spite of those
12 shutdowns, the State of New York has suffered the
13 second-highest death rate in America, closely
14 behind New Jersey, our neighbor. Far worse, far
15 many more people died here in New York than in
16 states where they didn't have these lockdowns and
17 shutdowns.
18 But again, the theory here, as I
19 understand it, was that we're going to have these
20 lockdowns and these shutdowns because they're
21 going to be good for the public good. It's going
22 to be good for all the people of the State of
23 New York.
24 But we really only have presented
25 the bill to a select few. We shut businesses
1925
1 down, they're paying the whole tab, the theory
2 being we're going to help everyone. I think
3 that's wrong. If it was for everyone, then
4 everyone ought to be paying, and that means the
5 government ought to be paying.
6 I have small businesses,
7 Mr. President -- I'm going to wrap up here -- in
8 my district that have been shut down by this
9 Governor, arbitrary and capricious -- there are
10 restaurants open on one side of the street,
11 closed on the other side of the street. And yet
12 that business owner, he or she is still required
13 to pay their property bill, their rent, their
14 water bill in New York City, and many of them
15 have already shuttered their doors, never to
16 return.
17 So I'm going to be voting in the
18 affirmative here. I understand the spirit of
19 this legislation, for my colleague and good
20 friend Senator Parker. I don't think it goes far
21 enough. I'm still waiting for relief for those
22 small businesses that were shut down by
23 ineffective edicts from this government.
24 I vote in the affirmative.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
1926
1 Lanza to be recorded in the affirmative.
2 Senator Parker to close.
3 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you,
4 Mr. President.
5 I actually rise to vote in the
6 affirmative on this legislation. This is
7 something that we have spent a lot of time
8 working on.
9 I want to thank my colleagues in the
10 Assembly and certainly the staff here in the
11 Senate who have really done a yeoman's job at,
12 you know, making sure that we address all of the
13 issues for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
14 Again, as I've indicated, this state
15 has been ravaged by this -- you know, by
16 COVID-19, a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic.
17 People have been fighting for both their lives
18 and their livelihoods. And the least that we
19 could do is protect them from the economic stress
20 of having to pay bills when they have no income
21 through no fault of their own.
22 When people at the Senator's company
23 are talking about find a good idea and copy it,
24 this is the good idea that people are copying
25 nationwide. So by the way, we were the first
1927
1 state, right, because we're the Empire State,
2 right, and so we don't lead, right, unless -- as
3 my father used to tell me, you either lead, you
4 follow, or you get the hell out of the way.
5 Right? We decided to lead.
6 And so we were the first state to do
7 a moratorium. It is the most comprehensive
8 moratorium. This one goes even further and will
9 continue to be a model for what other states do
10 around the country.
11 As we talk about why it has ravaged
12 places like New York and New Jersey, let me tell
13 my good friend from Staten Island, the gentleman
14 and my friend from Staten Island, I've got three
15 words on why it's hit us harder than other
16 places: den-si-ty. Right? Yeah, den-si-ty.
17 Right? Like we are just a much denser community,
18 both here in New York and in New Jersey, which is
19 why you've seen it in -- more so than even in
20 places likes California, which has a larger
21 population but a lot more area for people to
22 spread. Right?
23 And so when you talk about a place
24 like New York City -- well, the State of New York
25 and then New York City, where 50 percent of the
1928
1 population literally lives in one city, you know,
2 it creates a dynamic.
3 And then you add on top of that, you
4 know, social determinants of health, you know,
5 comorbidities. Right? We actually -- one of the
6 first bills that we passed in this body was a
7 bill I sponsored that directed the Office of
8 Health Disparities to look at the impact of
9 COVID-19 on Black and Latino communities, exactly
10 because we were hit harder because of those other
11 dynamics.
12 And we can -- so there's a lot of
13 conversation I think to have it about this. But
14 in this particular case, we really just want to
15 make sure that our seniors who need vaccines
16 don't have their internet cut off. We want to
17 make sure our students who have to do their
18 homework don't have their internet cut off. We
19 want to make sure that that mother who's taking
20 care of her family doesn't have her water shut
21 off because the breadwinner got COVID and passed
22 away and she's now alone, trying to figure out
23 how she's going to make ends meet.
24 That's what we're doing here. And
25 frankly, we're not saying that these bills never
1929
1 get paid. That is a conversation and a piece of
2 legislation for another day.
3 In this moment we're simply
4 saying -- and part of the reason why we also are
5 saying this is because the courts are not even in
6 session. So even if they cut you off, you can't
7 even adjudicate the case because -- because
8 they're -- because the courts are not meeting.
9 And so we think this legislation is
10 the right thing to do. We think it's timely, we
11 think it's appropriate. I want to thank my
12 colleagues who voted for it. And again, I vote
13 aye.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
15 Senator Parker to be recorded in the affirmative.
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 116, those Senators voting in the
19 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Helming,
20 Jordan, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Rath and Stec.
21 Ayes, 54. Nays, 9.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 bill is passed.
24 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
25 reading of the controversial calendar.
1930
1 SENATOR GIANARIS: Can we now move
2 to the reading of the supplemental calendar,
3 please.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 Secretary will read.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 641, Senate Print 854A, by Senator Krueger, an
8 act in relation to constituting Chapter 7-A of
9 the Consolidated Laws.
10 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Lay it
12 aside.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 642, Senate Print 5558, by Senator Kaplan, an act
15 to authorize the Manhasset Union Free School
16 District and Manhasset Public Library to take
17 certain actions to correct an understatement in
18 the certification of the 2020-2021 tax levy.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: Lay it aside for
20 the day.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
22 bill will be laid aside for the day.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 643, Senate Print 5943, by Senator
25 Reichlin-Melnick, an act in relation to
1931
1 permitting the Suffern Central School District to
2 move the date of their annual meeting.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
11 Announce the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 bill is passed.
15 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
16 reading of today's supplemental calendar.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: Can we now move
18 to the reading of the controversial supplemental
19 calendar.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
21 Secretary will ring the bell.
22 The Secretary will read.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 641, Senate Print 854A, by Senator Krueger, an
25 act in relation to constituting Chapter 7-A of
1932
1 the Consolidated Laws.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
3 Senator Akshar.
4 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
5 good afternoon. Through you, would the sponsor
6 yield for a few questions.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
8 the sponsor yield?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Happily,
10 Mr. President.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR AKSHAR: Senator Krueger,
14 it's good to see you. It's the first time this
15 legislative session. Good to see you. I thank
16 you in advance for answering a few of my
17 questions.
18 Mr. President, through you, I would
19 direct the sponsor's attention to page 2, lines
20 31 and 32 of the bill, in which it states, in
21 part, that this bill will "reduce violent crime."
22 Would the sponsor of the bill tell
23 me exactly how this bill intends to reduce
24 violent crime?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
1933
1 Mr. President, right now we have an enormous
2 system of drug distribution in this state that is
3 controlled by cartels. And they have taken
4 control of marijuana as well as much more
5 dangerous drugs. There are often guns involved.
6 When people go to buy their marijuana, they don't
7 know who it is they're buying from; there's no
8 licensing. They don't know if they are organized
9 crime. They don't know if that same person is
10 selling other, much more dangerous drugs.
11 And the fact is, to have a legalized
12 system, which is the proposal of this
13 legislation, ensures that the drug is safe from
14 seed to sale, the people who are handling the
15 drug, marijuana, growing it to transporting it to
16 distributing it to retail sites, to the stores
17 themselves, are all licensed, where the state can
18 keep track of exactly who's been involved in any
19 level of the business and can make sure that
20 dangerous cartel players are not involved in
21 legal marijuana in New York State.
22 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
23 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
24 yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
1934
1 the sponsor yield?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR AKSHAR: Is the sponsor
6 asserting that the Sinaloa or the Medellín Cartel
7 is really going to abide by the language in this
8 128-page bill?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, I don't think
10 cartel dangerous people are going to follow our
11 laws. They don't now.
12 But I do think that people will
13 choose within two options -- an illegal,
14 dangerous option and a legal, regulated option --
15 to buy their marijuana through our legal,
16 regulated options. That is what they've been
17 finding in other states that have already
18 legalized.
19 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
20 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
21 yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
23 the sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
1935
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR AKSHAR: Just in that vein,
3 if I could follow up with the last point you
4 made, is there anecdotal data or statistical data
5 that proves, in fact, that this illegal drug
6 trade, or at least in which cartels are part and
7 parcel to, that that activity has been reduced?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we believe
9 that the illicit market has actually been shrunk
10 everywhere that has gone into a legal market.
11 But we know that Colorado has carefully been
12 tracking the reduction in their illegal market
13 over the course of time that they have had a
14 legal program. And they've been up and running
15 now for over five years? Maybe 10 years.
16 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
17 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
18 yield.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
20 the sponsor yield?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 sponsor yields.
24 SENATOR AKSHAR: Does the sponsor
25 believe that in fact the cartels will find
1936
1 another place to do business, rather than the
2 State of New York, after this bill is signed into
3 law?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Well, that would
5 be lovely. I don't know.
6 I do know what's interesting, when
7 you change your drug laws -- and we've seen it in
8 a variety of states now -- when you take away
9 criminal law for low-hanging fruit like teenagers
10 with marijuana in their pockets, you end up
11 freeing up your police and your DAs and your
12 courts to go after the more serious criminals.
13 And that is an absolute plus.
14 Because in fact people talk about -- not that you
15 asked me yet -- but people asked about how much
16 money we could make in a legalized, regulated
17 system. But I think one of the really important
18 things to understand from the research, we expect
19 to actually save about $500 million in our
20 criminal justice system simply because we have
21 legalized marijuana.
22 So we won't be using our police to
23 pick up kids; we won't be using our police to
24 transfer them to the precinct houses and process
25 them. We won't be clogging up our courts with
1937
1 these low-level offenses. And that's a win for
2 everybody, because that means our criminal
3 justice system has those resources available to
4 go after actual bad guys.
5 And I do believe that from the
6 perspective of cartels or criminal justice or
7 criminal behavior, that having more money freed
8 up for our police and our courts and our DAs to
9 use to go after actual criminals is a win for
10 everyone.
11 SENATOR AKSHAR: For whatever it's
12 worth, I happen to agree with the sponsor on that
13 particular point.
14 Mr. President, through you, if the
15 sponsor will continue to yield.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
17 the sponsor yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR AKSHAR: Did the sponsor
22 actually negotiate the final language of the
23 bill?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Our staffs did,
25 with three-way discussions between the Assembly,
1938
1 the Senate, the Governor.
2 Was I in the room per se? Not for
3 most of it. Did I answer phone calls and texts
4 all times of day and night? Yes, I did, sir.
5 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
6 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
7 yield.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
9 the sponsor yield?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR AKSHAR: I thank the
14 sponsor for that answer.
15 So those that were actually in the
16 room negotiating the final language, is it your
17 understanding that any of them conferred with
18 mental health professionals, substance use
19 disorder professionals, parent-teacher
20 associations, school leaders, police officers, in
21 coming up with the final language of the bill?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: So the answer is
23 yes, Mr. President. And it was me, sometimes,
24 and it was staff.
25 This bill has been percolating and
1939
1 morphing into a bigger and bigger and changed
2 and, I believe, better bill for over seven years.
3 When I first introduced it, everyone said I was
4 crazy. They may have been right then; they may
5 be right now.
6 But the fact is we had hearings, we
7 took meetings -- endless, endless meetings with
8 anyone who asked us. We met at the local level.
9 I would go out to people's communities if they
10 invited me there to talk about their concerns.
11 So in truthfulness, I'm not sure I
12 have ever met with as diverse a group of people
13 as I did over the seven years that my chief of
14 staff and I were working on this bill.
15 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
16 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
17 yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
19 the sponsor yield?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, of course.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
22 sponsor yields.
23 SENATOR AKSHAR: During the course
24 of that seven years and the evolution of this
25 bill to where we finally land today, did you take
1940
1 into account some of the suggestions that maybe
2 groups that were opposed to this legislation put
3 forth? And were any of those implemented in the
4 final bill language?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes. I think --
6 I think many different people who had concerns,
7 their concerns were factored into this bill.
8 I'm trying to think is there a way
9 to almost isolate it to even one set of topics.
10 Again, it's a 160-page bill at the end.
11 (Pause.) I don't read lips very
12 well through the mask, so it takes me extra time.
13 So -- thank you. Great. So some examples.
14 After speaking to PTAs and parents
15 about concerns about marijuana and children --
16 even though, again, to reemphasize, this isn't a
17 program for children. This is a program to make
18 marijuana legal for age 21 and up. But we heard
19 from parents, so we wanted to make sure that we
20 factored in that you are not going to be able to
21 have a delivery system that children will be able
22 to get access to.
23 That we're putting things in
24 resealable, child-resistant packages that are
25 appropriately labeled and are not targeted to be
1941
1 attractive to people under the age of 21. No
2 candy-type cannabis products or products that
3 would be confused by children with being
4 children's candy.
5 We put very strict advertising
6 limitations on the product so that you cannot be
7 targeting, through advertising campaigns,
8 children using the product. It's actually
9 exceptionally difficult to advertise this. There
10 will be regulations, but we very much started
11 where I think we've ended with tobacco in this
12 state, where it's just pretty hard to do tobacco
13 advertisements because of the recognition about
14 tobacco and the concerns for children.
15 We have invested in public education
16 funds to educate children and their families
17 about the dangers of drugs, including marijuana,
18 for young people. We have established all kinds
19 of traffic safety issues within the bill based on
20 discussions with DAs and police. In fact, that
21 took up a huge amount of time in working through
22 this bill to get here today.
23 We factored in concerns about
24 communities perhaps just not wanting the product
25 being sold at all because of concerns. And we
1942
1 built in opt-out options so that localities can
2 decide they don't want dispensaries in their
3 locations. Or they might not want a location
4 where you can use the product in a social
5 bar-type of situation.
6 So all of those things came out of
7 meeting with groups, hearing what their concerns
8 were. And there's much more, but those are the
9 examples for now.
10 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you very
11 much for that -- those explanations.
12 Mr. President, through you, if the
13 sponsor would continue to yield.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
15 the sponsor yield?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR AKSHAR: I just want to
20 make sure I understood something that you just
21 said in terms of the packaging and then what
22 these edibles look like. It's not your
23 suggestion that there will not be marijuana-type
24 gummy candy.
25 And then in terms of the
1943
1 packaging -- a two-part question. In terms of
2 the packaging, is the packaging going to be such
3 that a 16, 17 or 18 year old couldn't open that
4 package and ingest whatever is in it?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, I don't think
6 there's a model for teenagers not being able to
7 open products. But there is a standard among the
8 drug community, over the counter and
9 prescription, that you sell drugs in a way that
10 younger children cannot open them and get their
11 hands on them.
12 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you.
13 Mr. President -- I'm sorry, I interrupted.
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, that's okay.
15 You also asked about the gummies and the child
16 candy.
17 So a gummy people think of as it's
18 chewable and it's edible, and that will certainly
19 be an option in adult-use marijuana. But no,
20 they won't be little red bears or little squishy
21 fish or all those other things that people
22 identify as chewable candies today.
23 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
24 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
25 yield.
1944
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
2 the sponsor yield?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 sponsor yields.
6 SENATOR AKSHAR: Just as a
7 follow-up to that point. So is there a provision
8 in the statute that precludes one that is in the
9 business of manufacturing these gummy-type
10 candies, of manufacturing it to look like a
11 Swedish fish or a gummy bear?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: (Reading.)
13 "Packaging labels and shapes and products shall
14 not be made to be attractive to or target persons
15 under the age of 21."
16 I would argue that turning it into a
17 colorful squishy fish or spider or all these
18 weird things that children seem to like to eat
19 would meet the standard of not being okay.
20 SENATOR AKSHAR: But they could
21 look like a dot, you know, the candy dots?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: I think they
23 could look like a dot. I think that would be a
24 little harder to argue.
25 Although we could have that
1945
1 discussion because, you know, if it was a rainbow
2 of dots on a piece of paper, not unlike a
3 specific children's candy I remember eating, I
4 could see arguing that that didn't meet the
5 standard.
6 And we will have an agency who will
7 be writing regulations and can address exactly
8 those kinds of questions. And I think that if
9 the argument could be made that that's too
10 identified as a children's candy product, I think
11 it would be fine to say then it can't be a
12 marijuana product.
13 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you.
14 Mr. President, through you, if the
15 sponsor would continue to yield.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
17 the sponsor yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR AKSHAR: So you had noted
22 Colorado a few minutes ago. In Colorado,
23 marijuana-related traffic deaths increased by
24 48 percent after legalization for recreational
25 purposes. In the State of Washington, those
1946
1 fatalities in which the drivers tested positive
2 for THC doubled.
3 Are you concerned that we will see a
4 similar type death or traffic-related deaths like
5 Colorado and the State of Washington have?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: So there are
7 actually many different studies that people are
8 referencing. And I can pull out quite a few
9 studies that show there was no real change in
10 fatalities once there was legal marijuana.
11 What we do know is once there's
12 legal marijuana, when there is a fatality,
13 they've gone and tracked are they checking
14 whether it was marijuana or not, or some other
15 drug in someone's system.
16 But I think there's actually far
17 more research showing that there has been minimal
18 changes in fatality rates after marijuana
19 legalization in Washington and Colorado. And
20 that actually some of the original studies done,
21 the authors asked people to stop citing their
22 research as showing the growth, because they
23 said, That's not what our research showed, and
24 that's not what the intent of the reports or the
25 findings were.
1947
1 So "Crash Fatality Rates After
2 Recreational Marijuana Legalization in Washington
3 and Colorado," the Journal of Public Health.
4 "Driving While Stoned," Journal of Drug Policy
5 Analysis. The American Journal of Public Health.
6 So there are quite a few studies
7 that I'd be happy to give you after the debate
8 showing that people are conflating different
9 things and that they have not been a problem.
10 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
11 through you, it's safe to assume that the sponsor
12 is not concerned with the question.
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry, I
14 didn't hear that. Can you repeat that?
15 SENATOR AKSHAR: Yeah.
16 Mr. President, through you. I'm just trying --
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
18 the sponsor yield? Do you yield for a question?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, I asked him
20 to repeat what he said because I didn't hear him.
21 SENATOR AKSHAR: I just want to
22 make sure I understand that you and I may differ
23 on this, but you -- where we stand today, you're
24 not concerned about the statistical data that I
25 suggested because you have studies that show the
1948
1 opposite.
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
3 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you.
4 Mr. President, through you, if the
5 sponsor would continue to yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
7 the sponsor yield?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry. Yes,
9 of course I yield.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR AKSHAR: I just want to
13 make sure your counsel is done.
14 So do you believe that there's any
15 correlation between the legalizing a drug that
16 impairs drivers and an increase in accidents?
17 Fatal or otherwise.
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Overall, yes, I
19 do not want people to use vehicles when they are
20 under the influence of any products that make
21 them worse drivers.
22 So I think it's a national problem
23 that we know we have with drinking and driving.
24 I think it's a national problem we know we have
25 with people using marijuana today, whether it's
1949
1 legal or not, and sometimes driving. And I think
2 we know that there are other drugs that people
3 are prescribed or not prescribed that really
4 should stop them from being behind the wheel of a
5 car.
6 And that is actually why there is
7 quite a significant amount of resources committed
8 to in this law to make sure we have more trained
9 officers, local police, State Troopers who are
10 trained in the skills to evaluate intoxicated
11 drivers and get them off the roads.
12 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you.
13 Mr. President, through you, if the
14 sponsor would continue to yield.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
16 the sponsor yield?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR AKSHAR: Is there a readily
21 available Breathalyzer for marijuana like there
22 is alcohol?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Wouldn't that be
24 great if there was? But -- and that's one of the
25 things that held us up, because there's not yet.
1950
1 There will be soon, is what we keep being told.
2 There are pilots taking -- being used in a
3 variety of states and in Canada, just to our
4 north.
5 And it would be excellent if it was
6 as simple as that. But we don't have a device
7 like that yet that could sit in a police car and
8 be available to them. It doesn't stop them from
9 evaluating you, pulling you over, giving you a
10 field sobriety test, taking your keys away.
11 And what we have committed to in
12 this legislation is that we will be hiring some
13 academic center to do an evaluation ourselves of
14 what systems are out there and which ones do we
15 think, as the State of New York, can work and
16 start to use them here.
17 And I would guess that we'll start
18 out with some system and a few years later
19 they'll come out with a better one, and then
20 we'll change to that one.
21 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
22 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
23 yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
25 the sponsor yield?
1951
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR AKSHAR: So currently, how
5 does a police officer determine if a driver is in
6 fact impaired due to the use of marijuana?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: So they start out
8 by evaluating that they seem not to be driving
9 well. Right? They might be swerving. They
10 might observe them looking like they were asleep
11 at the wheel. They may observe them driving too
12 fast -- although apparently that's not so much
13 the problem in marijuana. Actually, driving too
14 slow may be the problem in marijuana -- and they
15 then can then pull them over.
16 They can ask them to come out of the
17 car, do a field sobriety test, I believe is the
18 term. And I think it's the same one whether it's
19 alcohol or marijuana. And if the person flunks
20 the test, they then do not let them continue to
21 drive.
22 They arrest them, they bring them to
23 the precinct. Then what happens? Then they can
24 ask for a chemical test. And based on the
25 results of the chemical test, that might result
1952
1 in a court proceeding with various penalties,
2 depending on the level of the drug in your
3 system, whether this is the first time this has
4 happened or there have been multiple situations.
5 They could actually end up losing their license
6 for life.
7 And there's a variety of different
8 penalties, relatively parallel to what we see in
9 our DWI laws for alcohol.
10 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
11 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
12 yield.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
14 the sponsor yield?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
17 sponsor yields.
18 SENATOR AKSHAR: When you refer to
19 chemical test, what are you referring to?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: It's a blood or
21 urine test that they can ask for you to take.
22 They can't make you take it unless there has been
23 an actual serious injury or crash of the vehicle.
24 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
25 through you, if the sponsor will continue to
1953
1 yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
3 the sponsor yield?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 Senator yields.
7 SENATOR AKSHAR: Are there police
8 officers who have -- or who are foremost experts
9 in determining if a person is in fact operating a
10 motor vehicle while using a drug?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Are there police
12 officers --
13 SENATOR AKSHAR: Let me -- let me
14 see if I can do a better job articulating it.
15 Are there some members of the police
16 force that have additional certifications or
17 additional expertise that allows them to
18 determine whether or not someone is operating a
19 motor vehicle under the influence of drugs?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes. New York
21 State has a training program that they call DRE,
22 and it has apparently been very effective at
23 being able to provide these skills to a
24 subuniverse of police officers and State
25 Troopers.
1954
1 (Reading.) In this legislation, we
2 are ensuring that reasonable costs incurred by
3 the State Police and the Department of Motor
4 Vehicles to implement the provisions of this
5 section of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation
6 Act, to expand and enhance the drug recognition
7 expert training program and technologies utilized
8 in the process of maintaining road safety, the
9 Division of State Police shall, subject to
10 available appropriations, increase the number of
11 trained and certified drug recognition experts
12 within the state and provide increased drug
13 recognition awareness and advanced roadside
14 impairment driving enforcement training under its
15 drug recognition program.
16 SENATOR AKSHAR: Just on the bill
17 for a second, Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
19 Senator Akshar on the bill.
20 SENATOR AKSHAR: I want to make
21 sure that the people of this great state
22 understand that there's a very clear difference
23 between enforcing driving under the influence of
24 alcohol and how members of law enforcement go
25 about that, versus driving under the influence of
1955
1 a narcotic or driving with ability impaired.
2 So for one to go through -- if you
3 suspected one was intoxicated because of alcohol,
4 you would issue standardized field sobriety
5 tests, bring them back to the station as you
6 explained, and ask them to submit to a chemical
7 test.
8 In this space the world is very
9 different with drug recognition experts. It's a
10 very detailed 12-step process that takes an hour
11 or an hour and a half.
12 So I just want to make sure that we
13 recognize and we understand that dealing with
14 those who are under the influence of alcohol and
15 operating a motor vehicle and those that are
16 driving a motor vehicle under the influence of
17 marijuana, cocaine, heroin, is completely
18 different.
19 Would the sponsor yield for a few
20 more questions?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
22 the sponsor yield?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Sure. I was just
24 getting comfortable. Of course.
25 SENATOR AKSHAR: My apologies,
1956
1 Senator.
2 Does the sponsor know how many drug
3 recognition experts that we currently have in the
4 State of New York?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: No. Perhaps you
6 know.
7 SENATOR AKSHAR: We have 343,
8 Mr. President.
9 If the sponsor would continue to
10 yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
12 the sponsor yield?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR AKSHAR: Does the sponsor
17 know how many police officers are currently
18 employed throughout the State of New York?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: No. But you
20 know.
21 SENATOR AKSHAR: Fifty-five
22 thousand.
23 Would the sponsor continue to yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
25 the sponsor yield?
1957
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR AKSHAR: I can see there's
5 a great disparity between those -- the actual
6 amount of men and women employed in the
7 profession and those that have been specifically
8 trained as drug recognition experts.
9 I want to talk, if we may, for just
10 a moment about this issue of DRE and funding. I
11 noted, Mr. President, that in the bill language
12 it says -- and I think you had just mentioned
13 this -- subject to available appropriation.
14 Has the sponsor given any thought to
15 how much money will be allocated for members of
16 law enforcement across the state to address the
17 DRE problem?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we're still
19 negotiating within the budget process how much
20 money will be available in the first year to
21 expand DRE training and the number of officers.
22 But I think that the Governor is
23 quite committed to making sure that we have the
24 adequate resources and that we have the adequate
25 trained officers.
1958
1 What I think is important to
2 remember, it's not that there will suddenly be
3 people being stopped for being inebriated from
4 marijuana when it's never happened before. One
5 of the realities of New York State is we're
6 already one of the largest marijuana economies in
7 the country, if not the largest marijuana
8 economy. It's just we don't have a legal
9 program. So people are using marijuana and
10 driving.
11 Police are stopping people now and
12 going through this process. The only thing that
13 I think will differ is now we will have more
14 resources available with a better model for
15 making sure police can pull over, meet the --
16 prove the standards, sometime soon have some kind
17 of machine available.
18 And so we will be ahead of where we
19 are now, as opposed to there's no one using
20 marijuana, there's no one driving with marijuana,
21 and suddenly a date will start and there will be.
22 So we might disagree over whether
23 we've gone -- we have enough, whether we are
24 investing enough. And that's a healthy debate to
25 have, and that's a debate that can result in more
1959
1 resources being put in if it doesn't appear that
2 we have adequate. But I don't want anyone
3 listening to us to imagine that we're starting
4 today from a place where there is zero marijuana
5 being used by people who drive cars. Because it
6 is being used, and they are driving throughout
7 the State of New York.
8 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you,
9 Senator.
10 Mr. President, through you, if the
11 sponsor would continue to yield.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
13 the sponsor yield?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR AKSHAR: Another follow-up
18 to this question.
19 Have there been any discussions in
20 terms of providing an estimate to the Executive
21 about what the Majority thinks is an appropriate
22 amount of money to invest in this issue of DRE?
23 Has there been any discussion about -- you know,
24 from the 343 that we're currently at, what that
25 number should be as we move forward?
1960
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I asked the
2 head of the State Troopers that question during
3 the budget hearings, and he told me he was quite
4 confident that they actually had the right
5 resources and skills and that they would be able
6 to train enough people and that he was not
7 concerned about this issue within legalization of
8 marijuana.
9 Obviously I did not talk to every
10 police department in the state.
11 SENATOR AKSHAR: I totally
12 understand that.
13 Mr. President, through you, if the
14 sponsor --
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
16 Senator Akshar, you have reached your 30-minute
17 limit. If you could wrap up with one or two
18 questions, that would be great.
19 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you.
20 Mr. President, through you, if the
21 sponsor would continue to yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
23 the sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
1961
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR AKSHAR: When you say the
3 State Police, the head of the State Police, I'm
4 assuming you mean the acting superintendent.
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
6 SENATOR AKSHAR: And it was his
7 thought that he had what he needed in terms of
8 resources currently in terms of funding to
9 continue to train members of the State Police?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: He said he was
11 confident that he would have the resources to
12 train more officers in DRE and to be able to help
13 train other police officers who were not State
14 Troopers and was not concerned that there would
15 not be resources available.
16 Again, I didn't say "Did you talk to
17 the Governor on X date, did you guys talk a
18 dollar amount?" But I think, speaking now, here,
19 the commitment is here from the Assembly, the
20 Senate, and the Governor to make sure that this
21 program works.
22 And there is going to be new
23 revenues generated by this program, and a
24 specific allocation, a recognition that the costs
25 of a legalized program in New York State will be
1962
1 able to be drawn from the revenues that you get
2 from a legalized system. So I'm really not
3 worried that over time, if it's determined we
4 need more, that we will be able to be get more.
5 We will be able to get more.
6 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
7 through you. On the bill for just a moment, I'll
8 ask two follow-up questions, and then I'll
9 conclude. But on the bill for a moment.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
11 Senator Akshar on the bill.
12 SENATOR AKSHAR: I would just note
13 for the sponsor's -- you know, as you continue to
14 have these conversations, there are 5,000
15 Troopers in this state. There are 50,000 other
16 members of law enforcement.
17 And speaking from my own experiences
18 as a former member, it's important for local
19 police departments, sheriff's offices throughout
20 this great state, to have that resource available
21 in-house or internally, in which you would not
22 have to wait for a Trooper to come from
23 wherever it is that he or she was coming from in
24 order to do the drug evaluation. So just
25 something to think about as you move forward.
1963
1 Mr. President, through you, if the
2 sponsor would yield for a question.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Could
4 you consolidate those two questions into one?
5 SENATOR AKSHAR: Yeah. You know
6 what, I'll ask one more question and then I'll go
7 on the bill, how about that. Would you be okay
8 with that?
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Sure.
10 Senator, will you yield for a
11 question?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR AKSHAR: How many inmates
16 are currently in state correctional facilities
17 because of marijuana offenses? I'm talking about
18 the top count currently incarcerated in the state
19 prison system.
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: We know it's a
21 very small percentage of people in the prison
22 population for marijuana charges.
23 But I don't think we have a number
24 here for you right now. Sorry.
25 SENATOR AKSHAR: That's okay.
1964
1 Thank you.
2 On the bill, Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
4 Senator Akshar on the bill.
5 SENATOR AKSHAR: I have a deep
6 respect for the sponsor. And my opposition to
7 this bill doesn't affect that respect and
8 admiration that I have for Senator Krueger.
9 I know that she's worked incredibly
10 hard over the last seven years to get to the
11 point we are today, regardless of how I feel
12 about it and how she feels about it.
13 I just want to use my time to
14 provide a voice for millions of New Yorkers who I
15 think were left out of the process. So many of
16 them, their opinions, their wisdom, their
17 participation were ignored. And these New
18 Yorkers will be affected by this law just the
19 same as anybody else.
20 There are stacks and stacks of memos
21 of opposition from a whole wide spectrum and
22 range of people who represent millions of
23 New Yorkers. I think everyone in the chamber
24 understands the cost of this legislation and how
25 it will affect local communities. And that truth
1965
1 I think is known by many people. But I feel like
2 we are ignoring some of those issues.
3 What else do we know? That even in
4 the best-case scenario, we're making life
5 extremely difficult for the people that are
6 charged with protecting and serving our
7 community. Whether we agree or disagree, we know
8 that fatal accidents in Colorado and Washington
9 have increased. And if you look at neighboring
10 states where marijuana is not legal, that is not
11 the case.
12 We know that unemployment has risen,
13 hospitalizations surrounding marijuana, teen
14 suicide, mental health issues, all have gone up.
15 And the safety of our roads in terms
16 of the DRE issue, as we discussed, is of utmost
17 importance to me. We know that driving under the
18 influence of THC cannot be enforced the same way
19 as drunk driving. At best, a DRE can enforce --
20 is going to have a very difficult time enforcing
21 this new law.
22 We talked about gummy bears and
23 odorless ways to ingest marijuana going to make
24 life very, very difficult for DREs and
25 prosecutors.
1966
1 We also know that there are
2 55,000 police officers across the state. Only
3 343 of them are drug recognition experts. There
4 are significant public safety costs to
5 communities -- emergency services -- and which I
6 think will cost hundreds of millions of dollars
7 as we move through this process.
8 We spend $40 million a year in
9 ensuring that we try to stop people from smoking
10 and vaping, and I'm afraid that this bill will
11 act counterproductive to that.
12 We of course just banned flavored
13 vapes, vaping products, because we know that it
14 makes it more attractive for young people to
15 smoke. And I think, again, we're going in a
16 different direction here.
17 I firmly believe that we are setting
18 up communities to fail. We talk all the time
19 about unintended negative consequences of the
20 misguided policies that so often come out of this
21 chamber, and how these policies end up doing more
22 harm than good for the people of this great
23 state. And today I offer -- respectfully, of
24 course -- that we all know what the negative
25 consequences of this legislation will be. But
1967
1 there are some who choose to simply ignore it.
2 If you vote yes today, you're
3 choosing to ignore that. And I would kindly
4 offer that the willful ignorance renders those
5 negative consequences intentional, Mr. President.
6 The lives lost, the damage done to communities
7 and families are preventable and avoidable. We
8 know this, but we ignore it anyways. This is not
9 opinion, this is not conjecture, this is not
10 politics. These in fact are facts.
11 I am afraid that if you're voting
12 yes today, you are putting politics before
13 people. I for one am not going to support
14 something that sets our communities up to fail.
15 Today I choose to put people over politics.
16 Mr. President, when it comes time,
17 I'll be voting in the negative. Thank you.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
19 Boyle on the bill.
20 SENATOR BOYLE: Mr. President, on
21 the bill.
22 I believe today we're making a huge
23 mistake. When I was first elected to the State
24 Senate nine years ago, I took office and one of
25 the first things I did was being named the
1968
1 chairperson of the Heroin and Opioid Task Force.
2 This was at a time no one was really paying
3 attention to the heroin and opioid epidemic that
4 was coursing through New York State.
5 As chairman, we held 18 hearings
6 around New York State. Hundreds and hundreds of
7 people came to testify. And just about without a
8 doubt, every single one of them said their
9 gateway drug to harder drugs was marijuana.
10 I'm not saying everyone that smokes
11 marijuana obviously ends up going to heroin.
12 Certainly not true. But it is a gateway drug for
13 millions of people.
14 What do we see? I want to associate
15 myself with the remarks of my colleague. Carnage
16 on the streets of states that legalized
17 marijuana. Increased medical costs. We have a
18 situation where we're going to have people going
19 to work stoned, and the resulting accidents are
20 going to cause a tremendous number of injuries --
21 and certainly cost lives, I believe.
22 I know a lot has been talked about
23 here about the millions of dollars of tax revenue
24 we're going to get. I think we're not going to
25 make any money at all. We're going to lose money
1969
1 as a state. The first 10 lawsuits that come
2 about as a result of this bill is going to wipe
3 out any tax revenue we're going to get.
4 It is a huge mistake. We need to
5 rethink this. And it is being done for political
6 expedience.
7 There was a very strong statement
8 against legalizing marijuana by an individual
9 just a couple of years ago. He said that this is
10 definitely a gateway drug and he does not support
11 the legalization of recreational marijuana. That
12 person's name was Governor Andrew Cuomo.
13 The only thing that changed between
14 then and now is he had a primary by a woman named
15 Cynthia Nixon who made legalization of marijuana
16 her trademark issue. And suddenly, oh, maybe
17 it's not a gateway drug anymore, maybe we need to
18 think about this.
19 Obviously we've seen the Governor
20 make many decisions recently based on politics,
21 maybe not the best science, the best ideas for
22 protecting New Yorkers. But we need to step back
23 and think about this, because it's my firm belief
24 that the states that have legalized marijuana are
25 going to start rolling it back, and not the other
1970
1 way around.
2 I strongly support the idea of
3 voting against this bill, and I urge all of my
4 colleagues to join me in voting in the negative.
5 Thank you, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
7 Palumbo.
8 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
9 Mr. President. Would the sponsor yield, please,
10 for a few questions.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
12 the sponsor yield?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
17 Senator Krueger. How are you?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Fine.
19 SENATOR PALUMBO: I'd like to ask
20 you a few questions, if I may, on some of the
21 specific provisions of this bill.
22 So regarding at page 67, Section
23 127, there is a heading -- while you get to it,
24 that I'll just -- I'll read the section that I'd
25 like to ask a question on. That's "Protections
1971
1 for the use of cannabis; unlawful discriminations
2 prohibited." Indicating no person, registered
3 organization, licensee or their agent shall be
4 subject to arrest, prosecution or penalty in any
5 manner, or denied any right or privilege,
6 including but not limited to civil liability or
7 disciplinary action by a business or occupational
8 or professional licensing board or office, solely
9 for conduct permitted under this chapter.
10 Now, generally in that regard,
11 regarding that section, was this intended to
12 create a new protected class, I guess? When we
13 talk about discrimination, just that word has
14 very significant legal meaning. So could you
15 describe for me whether or not this becomes
16 almost a protected-class situation?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: One second,
18 because we think we're talking Labor Law here.
19 SENATOR PALUMBO: Certainly.
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: So to clarify
21 that, you know, that you can't discriminate in
22 labor law for people who are involved with
23 marijuana products, including with unemployment
24 benefits. One second.
25 And when we create protected classes
1972
1 in New York State, it's in Human Rights Law. And
2 this is not Human Rights Law.
3 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
4 Senator. Would you continue to yield for another
5 question, please.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Will
7 the sponsor yield?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
12 Senator.
13 And so in that regard, then, if
14 someone were to violate this provision -- say, an
15 employer -- they would not be subject to a
16 lawsuit for discriminating based upon that
17 paragraph, if I'm hearing you correctly?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: So would you mind
19 if I asked my colleague Diane Savino, who I go to
20 for Labor Law questions all the time, if she
21 would answer?
22 SENATOR PALUMBO: Absolutely,
23 Senator --
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
25 SENATOR PALUMBO: -- I wouldn't
1973
1 mind.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
3 Savino. Will you yield for a question, Senator
4 Savino?
5 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Ask the
7 question again?
8 SENATOR SAVINO: Senator Palumbo,
9 the language that exists in the MRTA was also
10 previously present in the existing Compassionate
11 Care Act when we adopted that in 2014. And it
12 was in recognition of the fact that we were
13 creating a benefit for the people of the State of
14 New York that could be considered illegal by the
15 federal -- was considered illegal by the federal
16 government and could be in conflict with existing
17 either Labor Law or policies and procedures that
18 employers had in place.
19 And we did -- and also applying it
20 to potential domestic relations law and family
21 custody cases or divorces. So we wanted to
22 create a protection for people who were using a
23 product in the State of New York that had now
24 been determined to be legal in the four walls of
25 our state. And that language is now carried over
1974
1 into the MRTA.
2 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
3 Senator.
4 And would either yourself or
5 Senator Krueger -- or the sponsor yield for
6 another question?
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
8 Krueger, will you yield?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: If it's labor,
10 let Senator Savino take it.
11 SENATOR PALUMBO: Well, you did
12 mention -- I was just going to ask you, Senator
13 Savino, possibly lower -- you mentioned the
14 Domestic Relations Law, so maybe I can ask you
15 the question that I was going to ask a little bit
16 later.
17 Further down in that same section,
18 paragraph 5, line 51: "No person may be denied
19 custody of or visitation or parenting time with a
20 minor under the Family Court Act, Domestic
21 Relations Law or Social Services Law, solely for
22 conduct permitted under this chapter, including
23 but not limited to Sections 222.05 and 222.15."
24 So my question in that regard is as
25 far as that provision is concerned, when you're
1975
1 dealing with a custody or visitation issue and
2 you're dealing with the best interests of a child
3 in the Family Court or Supreme Court, a factor
4 that can be considered certainly is someone's
5 excessive alcohol use. We're specifically
6 excluding cannabis use. Am I reading this
7 accurately?
8 SENATOR SAVINO: I believe you're
9 reading it correctly. But it would also -- you
10 utilized the term "excessive," and that would be
11 the same in this instance.
12 So in my experience -- through you,
13 Mr. President -- in the days of my early career
14 as a caseworker in the child welfare system, you
15 could not use the use of alcohol against a parent
16 in a child protective service proceeding or in a
17 custody proceeding unless it was excessive and
18 put the child at risk to life and/or health or
19 was not in the best interests of the child.
20 Marijuana was illegal then -- it's
21 illegal till today, until we pass it and make it
22 legal in the State of New York -- so it would be
23 used against a parent in a discriminatory fashion
24 in that hearing. Once we legalize it now, it
25 would be akin to alcohol. So if a parent is
1976
1 using marijuana legally in the State of New York,
2 but not excessively, where it would impair their
3 ability to parent appropriately, it shouldn't be
4 used against them.
5 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you --
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: And if I might,
7 the continuation of that paragraph in the law is
8 exactly as Senator Savino just said: Unless it
9 is in the best interests of the child and the
10 child's physical, mental or emotional condition
11 has been impaired. So I believe it is an exact
12 parallel to what she was describing with alcohol.
13 (To Senator Savino) Thank you.
14 SENATOR PALUMBO: And I appreciate
15 that, Senators. And would either of you yield
16 for another question?
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: No, no,
18 no. So what we'll do is you'll direct your
19 questions to Senator Krueger, she's the sponsor.
20 And if she decides to yield to Senator Savino,
21 she can do that.
22 SENATOR PALUMBO: Got it.
23 Senator Krueger, would you yield for
24 another question, please. Through you,
25 Mr. President.
1977
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
2 the sponsor yield?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: We're
4 tag-teaming, Mr. President. Yes, of course.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 Senator yields.
7 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
8 Senator. I appreciate your patience in that
9 regard.
10 And so continuing on in that same
11 section, "For the purposes of this section, this
12 determination cannot be based solely on whether,
13 when, and how often a person uses cannabis
14 without separate evidence of harm."
15 So my question to you is under this
16 bill, someone can keep five pounds of marijuana
17 in their home, and they use it often. Without
18 any additional evidence that may not be revealed
19 in an investigation, the fact that they smoke
20 pot, use pot, do whatever they may do with
21 cannabis every single day, if it were alcohol
22 would clearly be just indicative of harm
23 intuitively.
24 It seems as though that language
25 prohibits that type of a situation when
1978
1 considering the best interests of the child and
2 the parent or guardian is using cannabis. So
3 could you please rectify that for me?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: First off, there
5 is a limit of how much marijuana you can have
6 available at any given time. And the five pounds
7 that you're using as an example is actually
8 within the law for home-grown.
9 So it's a fascinating education --
10 I'm sorry, Mr. President, it will take me a
11 minute or two, because I don't actually know that
12 much about growing or using marijuana since I am
13 not a user and don't wish to be.
14 If you home-grow, the law says you
15 can home-grow up to six plants, three fully adult
16 and three in growth at the same time. The
17 discussion came up what does one plant weigh and
18 how much marijuana do you get out of it. And we
19 learned that the vast majority of the plant is
20 not usable as a drug. The only part that's
21 usable as a drug are the flowers, and some people
22 put the leaves in a tea. But mostly it's sticks
23 and stems and the roots system.
24 So that if you grow a plant and it
25 comes to adult maturity and you pull it out of
1979
1 the ground and you put it in your garage, it
2 might be several pounds. It's not several pounds
3 of usable marijuana, it's several pounds of
4 what's going to go in the garbage can at some
5 point. So the five-pound example wasn't actually
6 a great example.
7 But you might have several ounces of
8 usable marijuana in your home. That isn't
9 evidence that you're using it everyday. That's
10 not evidence that you're using it at all,
11 actually. So just like, I guess, in some
12 people's houses they have cases and cases of wine
13 or beer or other spirits, that's not evidence of
14 anything other than they have a lot of bottles of
15 liquor in their home.
16 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
17 Senator. Would you yield for another question,
18 please.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
20 the sponsor yield?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 sponsor yields.
24 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
25 Senator. And I see here in the Article 222,
1980
1 page 85, that it does not include the mature
2 stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the
3 stalks, oil or cake made from the plant. So in
4 that regard, there are certainly some parts of
5 the plant that are excluded.
6 Can you just tell us how you came up
7 with five pounds or how either yourself or the
8 individuals that ultimately decided on that
9 language?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: It was an
11 estimate that a variety of people came to based
12 on visualizing -- let's say your three plants
13 grew at the same time, were harvested at the same
14 time, and were sitting in a bag in your backyard
15 or your garage at the same time.
16 So apparently plants can grow to
17 different sizes, depending on the strain of the
18 product, whether you're growing under grow lights
19 or under good or bad circumstances. I'm fairly
20 confident my plants would be very small and very
21 weak; I cannot grow anything.
22 (Laughter.)
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sure Senator
24 Lanza's plants would be huge and beautiful.
25 (Laughter.)
1981
1 (Off-mic exchange with
2 Senator Savino.)
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: A fully mature
4 plant is about 5 feet tall. I didn't know that.
5 Thank you (to Senator Savino).
6 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you. Thank
7 you, Senator. Will the sponsor yield for one
8 more question.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
10 the Senator yield?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: the
13 Senator yields.
14 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you --
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Although if we
16 stay on horticulture, I'm going to be in big
17 trouble.
18 (Laughter.)
19 SENATOR PALUMBO: Yes, you might
20 need a green thumb to get to a sizable plant.
21 But I guess the bottom line is the
22 language says five pounds of cannabis. So that
23 could be flower, that could be just the actual
24 smokeable or usable part. And that is of concern
25 to me.
1982
1 But however, actually, if I can
2 withdraw any offer for a question and actually
3 ask a question on a little bit different area,
4 and we'll be done with Section 127.
5 At line 21 it says "State or local
6 law enforcement agencies shall not cooperate with
7 or provide assistance to the government of the
8 United States or any agency thereof in enforcing
9 the Federal Controlled Substances Act solely for
10 actions consistent with this chapter, except as
11 pursuant to a valid court order."
12 So my question to you is, why did
13 you feel that was necessary to have in this bill?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Because marijuana
15 is still illegal at the federal level, and this
16 law is to make it legal in the State of New York.
17 So we need to do that.
18 SENATOR PALUMBO: Would the sponsor
19 yield for another question.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
21 the sponsor yield?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
24 sponsor yields.
25 SENATOR PALUMBO: So, Senator,
1983
1 other than the fact that I don't know if this is
2 necessarily constitutional -- if it's
3 enforceable, what if a law enforcement agency
4 decides, because someone's, say, on federal
5 parole, which prohibits, with narcotic
6 conditions, use of marijuana. What if a law
7 enforcement officer actually does assist a fellow
8 law enforcement agency, as they're sworn to do?
9 What's the sanction?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: So you're on
11 federal parole --
12 SENATOR PALUMBO: And they're
13 requesting a local officer provide them --
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: And they're
15 requesting a local officer to assist --
16 (Overtalk.)
17 SENATOR PALUMBO: Yes, ma'am.
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we think that
19 if the federal government assigns some kind of
20 warrant and goes to our courts and says, You need
21 to assist us, that we probably have to do that.
22 But we don't want a situation where
23 people are voluntarily heading down that road and
24 going after people because the federal government
25 is asking. That should go through a correct
1984
1 process here in the courts.
2 SENATOR PALUMBO: Through you,
3 Mr. President, will the sponsor yield for another
4 question, please.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
6 the sponsor yield?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
11 Senator. So in that regard, I guess the specific
12 question is, however, if they choose to act
13 contrary to this language, what happens to the
14 police officer? Is there some sort of a penalty?
15 Is it misconduct? Is there a fine or something
16 else?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, we do not
18 deal with any kind of penalties or fines in the
19 law, so I don't think that we would be doing
20 anything to the police officer.
21 Although it's an interesting issue,
22 only because it's somewhat parallel to concerns
23 that various communities have had around ICE
24 enforcement over the last few years, where we've
25 established local law about not cooperating with
1985
1 ICE in going after people that they may believe
2 don't have legal status. But we do not, in most
3 cases in New York, want our police to be
4 cooperative in those situations.
5 So I think it's a fairly parallel
6 situation. And every once in a while you hear a
7 story coming out and something gets resolved or
8 not. But I don't think it's been a huge issue.
9 And I don't think it's been a real issue in any
10 of the other 15 states that have legal marijuana,
11 even though they're under the same federal law as
12 we are.
13 SENATOR PALUMBO: Through you,
14 Mr. President, will the sponsor yield for another
15 question, please.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
17 the sponsor yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
22 Senator Krueger.
23 Now, moving on, regarding the Public
24 Health Law schedule, the -- marijuana was part of
25 the Public Health Law schedule, 3306, I think it
1986
1 is. That was ultimately needed -- yes, in
2 Public Health Law 3306. It was removed, and now
3 moved into at least the definition of a drug
4 under the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Is that
5 accurate?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay.
7 SENATOR PALUMBO: Okay, thank you.
8 And I know there was some concern -- would the
9 sponsor yield for another question, please.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
11 the sponsor yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR PALUMBO: And I know there
16 was some concern from the District Attorneys
17 Association because under New York law, to
18 prosecute someone for driving while ability
19 impaired by drugs, it needed to be on that
20 Schedule I. And since it was removed, it needed
21 to be somewhere else in the law, otherwise you'd
22 not be able to prosecute someone for using
23 marijuana.
24 So in that regard, there's another
25 section of law -- and it probably is more
1987
1 commonly referred to as the Dram Shop Law.
2 That's where someone is responsible for providing
3 someone with alcohol. In some sections, if you
4 serve a visibly intoxicated person, you can be
5 liable for their negligence.
6 In Section 3 of that, General
7 Obligations Law 11-103, there's compensation for
8 injury caused by the illegal sale or providing
9 controlled substances. And specifically, the
10 term in Section 5, "'Controlled substance,' when
11 used in this section, means and includes any
12 substance listed in Section 3306 of the Public
13 Health Law."
14 And that is a rub, because I do not
15 see anywhere in this bill -- and if you could
16 direct me to it if it's here -- that now, if
17 someone provides, for example, even to a minor --
18 there's another section where if you have a house
19 party, you get a bunch of teenagers drunk, one of
20 them drives and kills someone, that's
21 obviously -- the prohibition and the deterrence
22 is you don't have parties like that because these
23 kids will go out and hurt someone.
24 Now, by removing this from the
25 Public Health Law, there is no provision for
1988
1 marijuana. So right now you can do so with
2 impunity unless that's corrected. And please
3 direct me, if you can, to a different section if
4 it's addressed.
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm thinking. So
6 I don't think it would be with impunity, because
7 you're not supposed to be selling or giving
8 marijuana to people under 21. And you used the
9 example of the kids are at your house and you're
10 letting them use the marijuana or they -- that
11 they either had themselves or you bought it for
12 them, is that the implication, that you bought
13 your kids marijuana and let them have a party and
14 share it with their friends? Is that the
15 example?
16 SENATOR PALUMBO: Through you,
17 Mr. President. Yes, you can -- you can either
18 buy it for them or they can drink at your house.
19 And there's one section that's for
20 commercial distribution for bars and restaurants,
21 and then there's another section that's really
22 for social hosts, that you can't give minors
23 alcohol.
24 And so my concern is that, yes, you
25 would be in violation of this act, subject to --
1989
1 I think it's a $200 fine, and that's it. So if I
2 as a parent let my kids use cannabis and
3 marijuana at my home, and their friends, and even
4 my own children do it, I would be personally
5 liable if it were alcohol. And, prior to this
6 bill, I would also be personally liable because
7 marijuana was listed in Public Health Law 3306.
8 So there are additional
9 ramifications that I hope, Senator Krueger, I
10 hope you'd be willing to address that and clean
11 up that loophole. Because since it was removed
12 from that Public Health Law schedule, there is no
13 alternative, like we prepared and you crafted for
14 the Vehicle and Traffic Law regarding DWI or
15 driving-while-ability-impaired prosecutions.
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: So again, it
17 would not be for selling to an under age 21 --
18 you know, with alcohol you used the example of
19 it's a bar or a restaurant. Since there won't be
20 bars or restaurants that are selling marijuana --
21 or if they were, they wouldn't be able to legally
22 sell to an under-21, so that would be a
23 violation.
24 So again, I think we're talking
25 about a specific storyline that you are allowing
1990
1 someone under 21 to socially consume, with your
2 knowledge, and you are over 21 and they are under
3 21. And the question is, is there any penalty.
4 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
5 Senator Krueger.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: And we're still
7 looking, because I'm not -- I hear you and I
8 understand the issue. (Pause.)
9 So -- all right, so we do understand
10 the question, and we think there are a couple of
11 different answers. And you're right, I think we
12 probably can make things clearer over time.
13 But, one, if you are giving the
14 product away, my counsel points out that that is
15 the equivalent of selling it, and it would be the
16 same penalty whether they sold it to a minor or
17 whether they gave it to a minor, even in a
18 private-home situation.
19 Then there would also be the putting
20 a child at risk, and there are penalties for
21 that.
22 So it may not be exactly the
23 parallel with alcohol in state law, but there
24 would be ways to penalize whoever was giving away
25 marijuana to under-21-year-olds.
1991
1 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
2 Senator.
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
4 SENATOR PALUMBO: Through you,
5 Mr. President, if the sponsor yields for another
6 question.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Will
8 the sponsor yield?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
13 Senator. And I do appreciate that. And at a
14 former period of time I was a narcotics
15 prosecutor, and that's something that I certainly
16 get that -- the aspects of that, and that would
17 typically be for controlled substances. But the
18 trial lawyer in me also says that we've got this
19 one section of the General Obligations Law, is
20 such impairment "by unlawfully selling to or
21 unlawfully assisting or procuring a controlled
22 substance for such person." So it's really even
23 gifts.
24 And under the -- as you certainly
25 know, under the Penal Law, a gift, giving a
1992
1 controlled substance is the same as selling, as
2 you just mentioned.
3 So I have one more area, if I may,
4 just to ask a few quick questions on. And that
5 is on page 86, regarding searching vehicles.
6 There are some limitations now regarding this,
7 that a police officer may not use as the sole
8 grounds to search a vehicle the fact that they
9 smell burnt cannabis. Is that accurate? Is that
10 your understanding?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Just -- I'm
12 sorry, so smelling burnt cannabis is not in its
13 own right proof of ... (Pause.)
14 The smell of burning cannabis is not
15 a basis for searching the vehicle because
16 cannabis is no longer contraband. It can be
17 evidence of, along with other things, of the
18 belief that cannabis has recently been used by
19 the people in the vehicle.
20 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
21 Senator.
22 And through you, Mr. President, will
23 the sponsor yield for another question, please.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
25 the sponsor yield?
1993
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR PALUMBO: And, Senator, in
5 that regard, as we go further down on page 86,
6 line 50, that essentially they cannot use that as
7 their sole basis. But if it's to investigate,
8 from what I understand, a possible driving while
9 ability-impaired by drugs, then they can use that
10 to further investigate.
11 However, we turn to the next page,
12 paragraph 87: "During such investigations the
13 odor of burnt cannabis shall not provide probable
14 cause to search any area of a vehicle that is not
15 readily accessible to the driver and reasonably
16 likely to contain evidence relevant to the
17 driver's condition."
18 Can you tell me why you limited
19 search or the scope of the search area?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes. It's
21 intended to make it clear that if there's the
22 odor of burnt cannabis coming out of the trunk,
23 that is not evidence that the person driving the
24 vehicle was involved with recently using
25 cannabis. So they're two different questions.
1994
1 And since having cannabis or the
2 remains of cannabis in one's trunk is no longer
3 illegal, it shouldn't really be relevant.
4 SENATOR PALUMBO: Will the sponsor
5 yield for another question, please.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
7 the sponsor yield?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: I shall.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
12 Senator.
13 And now equating this, though, to
14 alcohol, if there was a DWI stop and you saw
15 maybe a bottle of vodka in the back seat or in
16 the trunk you smelled what smelled like alcohol,
17 that might possibly be indicative and further
18 consistent with your investigation. That might
19 also aid law enforcement in reaching the proper
20 conclusion as to whether or not someone's been
21 driving while ability-impaired.
22 So can you rectify that for me,
23 please?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: I would just
25 advise that having a bottle of vodka in your
1995
1 trunk isn't evidence of drinking and driving. So
2 it's parallel to cannabis in your trunk doesn't
3 mean you were using cannabis during the course of
4 driving or in a recent time period. And having
5 alcohol in your trunk doesn't mean that the
6 person up-front was drinking either.
7 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
8 Senator Krueger.
9 On the bill, please, Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
11 Palumbo on the bill.
12 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
13 Mr. President.
14 And now, in fact, in that regard, in
15 two of my cars you can get to the trunk from the
16 back seat. You just have to pull the seat down,
17 or even the little section in the middle of the
18 seat, if you want to store skis or something
19 along those lines. So there is access to the
20 trunk from anywhere in the vehicle.
21 And some of these issues -- and we
22 understand and I think it's certainly relevant
23 that there were goals regarding keeping the
24 investigation narrow, I should say, to just
25 specifically what's relevant and what may
1996
1 actually be usable evidence, so to speak,
2 regarding someone's driving while
3 ability-impaired by cannabis.
4 But you know, people are smart and
5 they know better. People ditch stuff when police
6 show up. They throw things out the window. They
7 throw things in the trunk. So in that regard,
8 there is something called the automobile
9 exception in the law, where if you find
10 contraband or evidence of some contraband, then
11 ultimately that would give you the opportunity to
12 search a vehicle.
13 If you have reason to inquire that
14 someone has been using drugs in an area that is
15 mobile, like a vehicle -- a small vehicle, it's
16 not like it's a tractor-trailer -- I think you
17 should have access to that entire vehicle for the
18 purposes of a search. Because if it discloses
19 some sort of -- some contraband, like -- or
20 something that -- or cannabis now, it's not
21 contraband anymore, if this passes, which we
22 assume it will -- then that is relevant to the
23 investigation, because now let's couple this --
24 because I've handled many of these on both sides
25 of the aisle. Let's couple this with the ability
1997
1 to keep our streets safe and prosecute driving
2 while ability-impaired by drugs. Because under
3 1194 in the Vehicle and Traffic Law, you can only
4 compel someone to take a chemical test in the
5 event there's serious physical injury or death to
6 someone other than the driver.
7 So an occupant in a one-car crash,
8 another vehicle, then you can get a warrant. In
9 all other situations, you can't.
10 So you now have someone who can
11 refuse to take your field sobriety test and
12 just -- for example, and this is just from my
13 experience of many years as a prosecutor dealing
14 with many of these, some involving serious injury
15 or death and some of them not -- most of them
16 not.
17 The indicators of driving while
18 ability-impaired by drugs are very different. In
19 fact, there's a battery of three tests that a
20 police officer gives for DWI -- usually walk and
21 turn, horizontal-gaze nystagmus, and the
22 one-legged stand. Those three together have a
23 fairly high degree of probability of the result.
24 For drug recognition experts, DREs,
25 it's about 10 different -- very different
1998
1 types -- vertical nystagmus, all these different
2 tests they perform in order to get to that
3 conclusion.
4 Now, if you're pulled over, you
5 don't have to take those. So just regarding that
6 search issue, if there's someone that you've got,
7 you don't have a DRE -- there's only
8 300-and-some-odd of them in the entire state.
9 They need to get there within a reasonable period
10 of time, so you have just a police officer who's
11 making some assumptions, maybe they have a verbal
12 admission. Having drugs in the car would
13 possibly aid in the prosecution. So my point is
14 this --
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
16 Palumbo, you're out of time. If you could wrap
17 it up in the next 30 seconds.
18 SENATOR PALUMBO: I certainly will,
19 Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
21 you, sir.
22 SENATOR PALUMBO: My point is this.
23 That this is, without an actual valid test that
24 exists right now, like the handheld Alco-Sensor,
25 like a Breathalyzer, other than -- it's somewhat
1999
1 invasive to take a blood test. The urine test
2 doesn't have a very high probability of showing
3 level of impairment, so blood is right now
4 basically the only gold standard that we have.
5 So without that, this is making our
6 streets dangerous. And to do this now, when we
7 feel we have to do it -- I read something today
8 that drug overdose deaths since 2019, in a little
9 over 20 years are going to surpass, this year,
10 the total number of casualties across all major
11 U.S. wars. Two hundred years of wars. And we're
12 struggling now with depression, with a pandemic.
13 I think this is a bad idea. We
14 don't need to do this now. Let's let this roll
15 itself out slowly, let's get some sort of a
16 chemical test, and then we can revisit then.
17 Thank you, Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
19 Borrello.
20 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you,
21 Mr. President.
22 Would the sponsor yield for a
23 question.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
25 the sponsor yield?
2000
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Happily.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR BORRELLO: Senator Krueger,
5 thank you for your endurance today. Appreciate
6 it.
7 As you and I have discussed, I am
8 opposed to this bill and to legalization of
9 recreational marijuana. But I do believe if
10 we're going to do this, we need to do it
11 responsibly. And I have a lot of questions that
12 I'd like to talk about -- not a lot today, but
13 I'd like a few today.
14 First and foremost, you know, I'm in
15 the hospitality business. And I'm a little
16 concerned about the disparity between several
17 things that are requirements in the hospitality
18 industry that are not going to be so strict when
19 it comes to cannabis. Let's start with the
20 licensing.
21 I know firsthand how difficult it is
22 to get a liquor license. If you have been
23 convicted of a crime, a felony, or anybody that's
24 involved with your operations has been convicted
25 of a felony, you are highly unlikely to be able
2001
1 to get a liquor license. That has been the case
2 for a long time. It stems back to the days when
3 the Mafia was involved with licensed liquor
4 establishments so they could launder money,
5 because criminals like to find a way to launder
6 the money.
7 Yet here -- and this is my first
8 question -- it's my understanding that this bill
9 is going to allow individuals who have been
10 convicted of felonies for drug dealing to be able
11 to receive a license to cultivate, process and
12 distribute or sell marijuana. Is that correct,
13 are convicted criminals allowed to get licenses?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: For certain
15 categories, yes.
16 And of course a major portion of
17 this bill is to expunge the records of people who
18 got caught up in the criminal justice system
19 involved with cannabis.
20 So our goal is to expunge the
21 records of people who had cannabis convictions
22 and open them up to be able to be full citizens
23 where they can apply to actually work legally in
24 this business, where they have no risk of
25 problems with getting an education because they
2002
1 had a cannabis record, or being able to apply for
2 certain kinds of jobs, or being able to live
3 certain places.
4 So yes, part of the goal of this law
5 is to ensure that people who may have been
6 participating in an activity that was illegal
7 will now be able to become taxpayers, owners,
8 work in stores, et cetera.
9 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you.
10 Mr. President, will the sponsor
11 yield again.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
13 the sponsor yield?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR BORRELLO: Okay. So we've
18 established that we are going to allow criminals
19 to be able to get licenses. Unlike with the
20 liquor licenses, we're going to allow criminals
21 to get licenses for cannabis.
22 So that being said, you brought up
23 records for marijuana, we're going to expunge
24 that, because it's now legal. However,
25 oftentimes people are convicted of multiple
2003
1 things. So if someone has been convicted of
2 selling marijuana but also been convicted of
3 selling other drugs, like meth or heroin, or had
4 a weapons charge, would they be excluded from
5 getting a cannabis license?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: So if they've
7 done their time and the agency handing out
8 licenses determines that they believe they can be
9 a trustworthy, reliable businessperson in this
10 field, then they will be allowed. And it will be
11 through a regulatory process and evaluation.
12 SENATOR BORRELLO: Mr. President,
13 will the sponsor continue to yield.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
15 the sponsor yield?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR BORRELLO: Okay. So just
20 so we're clear, someone who's been convicted of,
21 you know, selling methamphetamine and maybe had
22 some weapons charges, maybe slapped his
23 girlfriend around a little bit, he's still
24 eligible for having a license, unlike alcohol.
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: He's done his
2004
1 time. I don't think there's any exclusion for
2 any of these categories.
3 SENATOR BORRELLO: Mr. President,
4 will the sponsor continue to yield.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
6 the sponsor yield?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Crimes involving
8 fraud in business are not allowed. The crimes
9 that you've mentioned could conceivably still
10 allow someone.
11 And, I'm sorry, and yes, I accept
12 the next question.
13 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you for
14 the further explanation.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
18 SENATOR BORRELLO: Okay, so that
19 actually kind of dovetails a little bit to my
20 next question.
21 So you're saying fraud, they've been
22 involved in fraud. However, you know, if you're
23 talking about someone who's been in criminal
24 activity, you've basically made an income selling
25 drugs -- and in your case that you mentioned it
2005
1 could be selling any drug, it could be selling
2 weapons -- and you've made an income, you haven't
3 reported that income. So aren't those people in
4 fact committing business fraud? Because they're
5 not reporting that income.
6 So how -- but those folks will still
7 be eligible, right. So I'll ask again, will
8 those folks that are criminals be eligible for
9 cannabis but not alcohol?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: So if they have
11 that conviction on their record, yes, then I
12 think yes, they would not be eligible.
13 SENATOR BORRELLO: Mr. President,
14 would the sponsor continue to yield.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
16 the sponsor yield?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR BORRELLO: So just -- I
21 want to make sure we're clear. Are you aware
22 that there's a very, very high standard for
23 alcohol and there's a tremendous amount of
24 liability when it comes to being a licensed
25 establishment?
2006
1 So I know that the bill prohibits
2 people from smoking or vaping marijuana in a
3 licensed establishment, for example, a
4 liquor-licensed establishment, like a bar or
5 restaurant. But does that also prohibit them
6 from consuming like an edible, which typically is
7 much more potent than smoking it? So would
8 someone be able to consume an edible legally in a
9 licensed establishment where they're prohibited
10 from smoking it?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: So here's the
12 dilemma. Since it will be legal, you may be
13 walking around with it. And if you go into a
14 restaurant and you take your gummy, I don't know
15 that anybody will know whether you've taken your
16 gummy or not. And we don't want to make that
17 particularly illegal. Even though I do recommend
18 people not mix alcohol and marijuana, and that's
19 quite a bit of the effort in the bill, to make
20 sure that we're not mixing these products.
21 SENATOR BORRELLO: Mr. President,
22 will the sponsor continue to yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
24 the sponsor yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
2007
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you for
4 that.
5 So as a licensed operator myself, a
6 liquor license, there's a few things that concern
7 me, especially with what you're talking about.
8 So what you're saying is you can walk in. Now,
9 for the most part you cannot bring alcohol into a
10 licensed liquor establishment that you didn't
11 purchase there. That's because as an operator, I
12 am responsible for you being sober. I'm
13 responsible for your intoxication level.
14 Yet someone could walk in with a
15 handful of very potent gummies, consume them
16 on-premise, buy one beer from me, for example, or
17 any other licensed establishment, leave that
18 establishment, get into an accident and kill
19 someone.
20 In that scenario, especially with
21 all the restrictions that we now have where, you
22 know, these people are going to be -- it's going
23 to be difficult to stop these people because of
24 all the freedom that they're going to have to
25 consume and drive -- in that scenario that I just
2008
1 described where someone had one beer and,
2 unbeknownst to that licensed operator, had
3 several intoxicating gummies, has an accident,
4 kills someone, is that licensed establishment
5 liable for that?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: I would say no.
7 But it might be that somebody's
8 going to have to be doing testing of the people
9 in the accident and play that out. I mean, I
10 think that must happen now.
11 If I go into your establishment and
12 I am -- I don't know -- an oxy addict or taking
13 some type of prescription drug and I decided to
14 pop too many -- and I know that the bottle said
15 don't drink and mix it with this pill, but I
16 did -- and then I leave your establishment and I
17 get into a car and drive, what's the storyline
18 now? I think it would be exactly the same
19 storyline.
20 SENATOR BORRELLO: Mr. President,
21 will the sponsor continue to yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
23 the sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2009
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR BORRELLO: Well, I would
3 disagree with that, only because you're talking
4 about someone doing something that is essentially
5 illegal. If they consume too much or if they're
6 taking prescription drugs that weren't prescribed
7 to them, that in itself is illegal.
8 So -- and I guess I'm not really
9 making a question so much as I am a point, but --
10 (Overtalk.)
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: They could be
12 prescription drugs that weren't prescribed --
13 SENATOR BORRELLO: We're saying now
14 that we are essentially encouraging folks that
15 they can buy gummies, for example -- I'm just
16 using that -- any edible, anything that's really
17 nearly impossible to detect -- walk into a liquor
18 license establishment where that owner, that
19 small business owner who's life and the lives of
20 his family depend on that liquor license being in
21 place, is now going to be assuming an
22 unreasonable risk by having to determine whether
23 or not that person is consuming far too much
24 intoxicating material on that person's premises.
25 So we've created this I guess
2010
1 unnecessary risk. So shouldn't we be mitigating
2 that risk for those folks? Because we're passing
3 a bill that should be responsible. Shouldn't we
4 be mitigating that risk?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Well, the irony
6 is that exists right now. We don't know, when
7 somebody comes in your bar, whether they have
8 used marijuana before they got there or are
9 popping other illegal drugs or not. They are
10 wandering around the world, they are using what
11 they use. And so we face this risk in reality
12 today.
13 The plus about making marijuana
14 legal specifically under this bill is we're going
15 to be investing a significant amount of money in
16 education about the dangers of drugs, including
17 the dangers of mixing drugs. So that I actually
18 think we will have a better-educated population,
19 perhaps who will choose not to mix alcohol and
20 marijuana, mix alcohol and other drugs, and even
21 not take those other drugs, period, because we're
22 both going to be educating them to the dangers of
23 doing so.
24 And the research coming out of
25 states that have legalized marijuana is it
2011
1 decreases the use of far more dangerous opioids.
2 It reduces the number of people who are having
3 overdoses from opioids, whether legal or illegal.
4 And so there are actually quite a few pluses that
5 come out of having a legalized marijuana system
6 and decreasing use of other drugs.
7 But you're right, in a world where
8 there are lots of different products and it's
9 easy to get them and the mixing of some of them
10 is a really bad idea, just like using alcohol or
11 marijuana or heroin and getting behind the wheel
12 of a car is dangerous, those realities are there.
13 But I don't think we're increasing
14 those realities, we're just talking about
15 something that's already happening out there in
16 our state.
17 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you.
18 Mr. President, on the bill.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
20 Borrello on the bill.
21 SENATOR BORRELLO: Senator Krueger,
22 thank you again for the debate. Appreciate it.
23 You know, I have been opposed to
24 this for many reasons. I have been talking about
25 the dangers of this irresponsible legalization of
2012
1 recreational marijuana since my time as a county
2 executive, because I see firsthand county
3 governments, especially, on the front lines.
4 But as a business owner, I pointed
5 out just in a few questions the dangers the state
6 is now going to be sanctioning. The state is now
7 going to sanction some horrible unpredictable
8 risks on behalf of every small business owner
9 here in New York State, particularly those in the
10 hospitality industry that have to already deal
11 with these issues, and now it is going to be
12 state-sanctioned.
13 Our job here is to ignore the noise,
14 ignore the political leanings of one way or
15 another, ignore what is often special interests
16 speaking loudly that don't necessarily speak on
17 behalf of everyone, and try to craft good
18 legislation that's in the best interests of
19 New Yorkers as a whole.
20 So while I understand that there are
21 many New Yorkers who think that we need to do
22 this, but I don't believe this is the way to do
23 it.
24 I mean, let's look at the comparison
25 that I made before about a licensed alcohol
2013
1 establishment and a licensed cannabis. If you
2 are a convicted felon, you are essentially
3 barred from operating a licensed establishment
4 that serves alcohol. But if you're a convicted
5 felon, you go to the front of the line to get a
6 cannabis license. How is that fair and
7 equitable? How is that right? How is that
8 protecting the best interests of the people of
9 New York State?
10 We've made great strides when it
11 comes to drunk driving. It's taken 30 painful
12 years, if not longer, to get to where we are
13 right now, which is a greatly reduced amount of
14 deaths on our roadways due to alcohol. But now
15 we're about to take a tremendous step backwards.
16 Because with alcohol, the key was strict
17 enforcement. People know that if you have too
18 much to drink and you get behind the wheel and
19 you get pulled over, you're going to be arrested,
20 your car is going to be impounded, you're going
21 to go to the police station, you're going to have
22 to make an embarrassing phone call for someone to
23 help bail you out. Then it's going to cost you
24 thousands of dollars. You're going to lose your
25 license for sometimes years. That's how we got
2014
1 to where we are.
2 Contrast that with what we're about
3 to do. This bill says that if you get pulled
4 over and you're stoned while driving but you
5 haven't caused an accident yet, the police
6 essentially can't do anything.
7 We are saying, the state is saying
8 you have to cause injury or death before we can
9 do something about you driving stoned. That's
10 what the state is about to pass if this bill
11 passes today.
12 How many times do we say in this
13 chamber if this law only saves just one life, we
14 should do it? Ladies and gentlemen, this bill as
15 it stands is going to cost hundreds if not
16 thousands of the lives of New Yorkers.
17 So we can sit here and justify it,
18 we can talk about data. But the reality is we
19 know what's going to happen. We know that we set
20 the bar much lower. We know that we're telling
21 people that it's going to be okay to drive
22 stoned, that's okay. And we are going to go back
23 to the days 30, 40 years ago where people died
24 needlessly as a result of bad enforcement.
25 We are handcuffing our police
2015
1 officers. We're going to make the jobs of our
2 local public health officials more difficult.
3 We're going to have more issues with Child
4 Protective Services. All those other things that
5 happen when you do something like this and you
6 haven't taken those things into consideration.
7 So as a result, I'm going to say
8 that while I think there are good intentions
9 here, at the end of the day we have a
10 responsibility to protect New Yorkers. And we
11 are sanctioning irresponsible behavior today.
12 And when the time comes, I'll be voting no.
13 Thank you.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
15 Mattera.
16 SENATOR MATTERA: Through you,
17 Mr. President, will the sponsor yield for a
18 question.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
20 the sponsor yield?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 sponsor yields.
24 SENATOR MATTERA: Thank you. Thank
25 you, Senator Krueger. Through you,
2016
1 Mr. President.
2 Senator Krueger, is there language
3 anywhere in the bill that would prohibit any
4 employer from requiring that an employee or
5 prospective employee pass a drug test as a
6 condition of employment or pass a drug test as a
7 condition of continued employment?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
9 Mr. President. There are many different kinds of
10 jobs that exist in the State of New York that
11 already have standards, under federal law or
12 state law, about drug tests. So if you have that
13 kind of job where they can require a drug test,
14 they will be able to require it for marijuana as
15 well.
16 Not every job are there risks, and
17 not every job falls under federal or state
18 standards, but a lot of them do. Should I read
19 them?
20 So there's no comprehensive federal
21 law that regulates drug testing in the private
22 sector, but the Drug-Free Workplace Act does
23 impose certain employee education requirements on
24 companies that do business with government, but
25 it does not require testing nor does it restrict
2017
1 testing in any way.
2 Drug testing is allowed under the
3 ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act. But the
4 law does not regulate or prohibit testing instead
5 of a comprehensive regulatory system.
6 Federal law provides for specific
7 agencies to adopt drug testing regulations for
8 employers under their jurisdiction. The
9 Department of Defense, for example, requires
10 defense contractors set up procedures for
11 identifying drug users, including random testing.
12 The Department of Transportation requires
13 industries it regulates to conduct random testing
14 of drugs and alcohol for workers in
15 safety-sensitive jobs as well as testing after
16 accidents and when there is reasonable suspicion
17 of an employee's drug abuse.
18 The federal Omnibus Transportation
19 Employment Testing Act, OTETA, requires tests for
20 all operators of aircraft, railroad equipment,
21 mass transit vehicles, commercial motor vehicles.
22 Since there is no federal
23 comprehensive drug testing law, this leaves the
24 field open to state regulation, and many states
25 have enacted different provisions. As a general
2018
1 rule, testing is presumed to be lawful unless
2 there's a specific restriction not allowing it in
3 state or federal law.
4 SENATOR MATTERA: Thank you for the
5 answer, Senator Krueger.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
7 SENATOR MATTERA: Through you,
8 Mr. President, will the sponsor yield for another
9 question.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
11 the sponsor yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, of course.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR MATTERA: Through you,
16 Mr. President. Is an employee who was fired due
17 to a positive marijuana test eligible for
18 unemployment insurance?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: It probably
20 depends on the facts and circumstances. If they
21 were in any of the categories of jobs that all
22 these different laws applied to, then when they
23 got fired it would be due to their own use of
24 drugs when they knew that they were facing a risk
25 of being tested and penalized.
2019
1 So I would say if you're in any of
2 the categories where your employer does choose to
3 test and has told you they do so, you're probably
4 not going to win your unemployment case.
5 SENATOR MATTERA: Thank you.
6 Through you, Mr. President, will the
7 sponsor yield for another question.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
9 the sponsor yield?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course. I do.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR MATTERA: Thank you,
14 Senator Krueger. Through you, Mr. President.
15 Senator Krueger, can you -- can an
16 employer put a policy in place to prohibit
17 marijuana use entirely by staff, especially in
18 certain industries where impairment could cause
19 serious safety concerns? For instance, could
20 law enforcement or other groups implement a
21 policy that prohibits use entirely?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: So you might not
23 be able to have a total across-the-board ban
24 unless you were in the categories that I read to
25 you about federal funding, or the transportation,
2020
1 or there was categories of the kind of jobs you
2 were involved with where it would be considered a
3 public safety issue.
4 But just somebody saying, No one can
5 ever use marijuana and work here -- you know, if
6 there was federal funds, I think our police would
7 have trouble, for example, because most of them
8 use federal funding with their jobs. I think
9 anybody who's obviously working in
10 transportation, transit, construction, operators
11 of heavy machinery. But I think a universal
12 across-the-board ban would be a little harder to
13 win on.
14 SENATOR MATTERA: Thank you,
15 Senator Krueger, for answering my questions.
16 Mr. President, on the bill.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
18 Mattera on the bill.
19 SENATOR MATTERA: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 I am voting no today since the
22 damage this legislation will cause to our
23 children and our society far outweigh any
24 potential benefits. Legalization will impact
25 workplace safety, affect New Yorkers's health,
2021
1 impede our fight against drug abuse, and endanger
2 our children.
3 As a labor leader, the issue of
4 workplace safety has always been paramount to me.
5 Our state should be doing all it can do to
6 protect our workers, and this legislation has a
7 likelihood to do the opposite. That will put our
8 residents in danger. And as a building trades
9 member, this legislation will be a liability to
10 our contractors and to our men and women,
11 hardworking men and women of labor.
12 Additionally, one of the most
13 glaring shortcomings of this legislation is how
14 it fails to address the impact of roadway safety.
15 This legislation will make the jobs of our
16 law enforcement more difficult. While the
17 legislation enables the study of techniques to
18 detect marijuana use during traffic stops, the
19 reality is that none exist. Simply put, we have
20 put the cart before the horse.
21 And on a very personal note, I am
22 voting no since I have personally seen the impact
23 this drug has on our youth. I have watched
24 members of my family struggle with its power. In
25 my experience with family, this drug led to
2022
1 harder drugs and caused my family wide issues
2 that continue to this day.
3 This is a danger that is not unique
4 to my family. Our state's own Department of
5 Health has signified that 30 percent of users can
6 become addicted. Addiction professionals, the
7 very people that we should be relying on
8 regarding this matter, are against legalization.
9 And with the current crisis affecting the mental
10 health of many of our residents, this will just
11 add to the problems we as a state are facing.
12 Simply put, as a father, husband,
13 community member and labor leader, I am voting no
14 on this legislation to protect all of our
15 residents from the unseen and ignored dangers of
16 this legislation.
17 I'm just going to be speaking from
18 my heart. My family members have gone through
19 drug addiction. Very sad what I've been going
20 through, and it started from marijuana. It went
21 from marijuana right to Adderall to cocaine and
22 then to acid. All this is doing, especially in
23 our colleges -- this is serious. This is a
24 gateway for our young children. It's problems.
25 This is a disaster waiting to happen.
2023
1 Even with my members in the
2 construction field going to work every day --
3 every day working, going and smoking pot and then
4 going back to work with power tools -- it's a
5 huge liability. Our contractors are against
6 this. The building trades are against this.
7 Construction is the backbone of the economy. And
8 guess what's going to happen? We're pretty much
9 saying, Go ahead, you can go smoke pot and get
10 high, and the next thing you know, going back to
11 work with power tools, because you can't detect
12 anything.
13 This is a total disaster.
14 Mr. President, I will be voting no on this
15 terrible bill. Thank you.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
17 Lanza.
18 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 Would the sponsor yield for some
21 questions.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
23 the sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
25 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
2024
1 Mr. President, I just want to clarify a few
2 things I heard.
3 First of all, the sponsor,
4 Senator Krueger, acknowledged that marijuana is
5 still illegal under federal law. And while this
6 legislation prohibits law enforcement in New York
7 from assisting federal law enforcement agencies,
8 if a person in New York is found to be smoking
9 marijuana in public, for instance, or in
10 possession of quantities of marijuana, would not
11 that New Yorker be subject to arrest by a federal
12 law enforcement agency?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes. Senator
14 Lanza is correct.
15 SENATOR LANZA: Would the sponsor
16 yield.
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
21 Mr. President. Senator Krueger, does that not
22 set up an impossible situation for New Yorkers
23 who, under this legislation, would be allowed to
24 do certain things in New York which would then
25 subject them to arrest by an FBI agent or a
2025
1 law enforcement agent?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
3 Mr. President. This bill doesn't force anyone to
4 use marijuana. And of course we know a huge
5 percentage of New Yorkers are already using
6 marijuana, facing risk from both federal law and
7 state law.
8 So we're decreasing the risk by
9 removing the state penalty penalties, but the
10 federal are real. But none of it's stopping
11 anybody from using marijuana.
12 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
13 yield?
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
15 the sponsor yield?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
20 Mr. President. Did I hear correctly that a
21 person can be guilty and have been convicted of
22 an unlawful gun charge and still be able to
23 receive a license under this legislation to sell
24 marijuana in New York?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: We're
2026
1 double-checking for you, Senator Lanza. (Pause.)
2 We cannot find a specific
3 prohibition.
4 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
5 yield.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
10 Mr. President, am I correct in my understanding
11 that this bill both legalizes the recreational
12 use of marijuana and then uses the proceeds to
13 educate New Yorkers that they ought not use it?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: That they not use
15 it?
16 SENATOR LANZA: That they ought not
17 use it.
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes,
19 Mr. President, through you. The revenue from
20 this program will be used in a variety of ways,
21 including public education of the dangers of drug
22 use, including the risks of marijuana use, the
23 risks of alcohol and tobacco, and the risks of
24 the very serious drugs that so many New Yorkers
25 are finding themselves addicted to in the world
2027
1 of opioids.
2 Twenty percent of the revenues from
3 this law will be used specifically for ongoing
4 drug treatment as well as education about drug
5 dangers and prevention.
6 I never said there was no risk to
7 marijuana. I didn't get to make my opening
8 statement yet -- I will, Mr. President -- but I
9 would have highlighted that there is some danger
10 and risk from the use of marijuana. It has shown
11 to be less than that that comes from tobacco and
12 alcohol. We tax and regulate tobacco and
13 alcohol. We don't give people criminal records.
14 With this law, we will be taxing marijuana and
15 regulating marijuana, not giving criminal
16 records.
17 But it doesn't mean I'm encouraging
18 everybody to go out there and use marijuana. And
19 in fact, the data coming in from some states that
20 have legalized marijuana is that they actually
21 see a decrease in use over time, particularly
22 among young people. But again, this isn't a bill
23 about young people using marijuana. This is a
24 bill that only legalizes from 21 up.
25 So people have all kinds of concerns
2028
1 about their children and their teenagers using
2 marijuana, tobacco and alcohol -- as they should,
3 Mr. President. And we should be doing a better
4 job at educating them as families and as
5 teenagers about the dangers. But we don't, and
6 it's all going on right now.
7 So this bill will finally give us
8 some revenue streams to have specific programs
9 operating statewide.
10 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
11 yield.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
13 the sponsor yield?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
18 Mr. President. Does the sponsor believe that the
19 CDC is a reliable and trustworthy authority with
20 respect to disease and health in America?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: The record was
22 great until about the four-year period that
23 Donald Trump was president. I think they're
24 working to get their reputation back.
25 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
2029
1 yield.
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
6 Mr. President. Is the sponsor concerned that the
7 CDC and other authoritative organizations cite
8 that people who use marijuana are three times
9 more likely to become heroin addicts?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: I think I would
11 have to look at the data in the context of the
12 full research.
13 What the CDC has shown and most drug
14 experts have shown is that marijuana is not a
15 gateway drug to other, stronger drugs.
16 Having said that, if you were going
17 to end up on a more dangerous and more addictive
18 drug, it is quite possible that you started with
19 marijuana or alcohol. And it is true that some
20 people have more addictive personalities. And
21 whether you put marijuana in front of them or
22 heroin in front of them or beer in front of them,
23 they are going to have a different reaction to it
24 than people who do not have even a genetic
25 predisposition to addiction.
2030
1 But the vast amount of evidence that
2 has been done in this country now for 75 years is
3 that using marijuana is not evidence that you
4 will then go on to stronger drugs or become
5 addicted to them.
6 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
7 yield, please.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Will
9 the sponsor yield?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
12 sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
14 Mr. President. I would just cite that the CDC
15 disagrees with that statement.
16 Through you, Mr. President. And
17 again, this is the CDC speaking, and other
18 authorities, health authorities around the world.
19 Is the sponsor concerned that the CDC and other
20 authorities note that marijuana, when smoked,
21 delivers numerous carcinogens to the body and
22 that this -- that marijuana use will increase the
23 rate of cancer in the State of New York?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
25 Mr. President, I am not aware that there is a
2031
1 direct correlation between a growth in cancer and
2 the use of marijuana.
3 Now, it may be true that there is
4 some developing research, but I don't believe I
5 have seen any.
6 It is true that the medical
7 community by and large agrees taking burning
8 substance abuses into your lungs is not a great
9 idea. So cannabis can be mixed with other
10 products that could be more dangerous than the
11 cannabis itself, or cannabis can simply be a leaf
12 like tobacco that you burn and inhale and it
13 causes problems.
14 I'm quite sure that the Lung
15 Association recognizes that the real risks are
16 tobacco when you're talking about inhaling
17 burning products, but I'm not going to tell you
18 that there may not be some evidence for burning
19 it -- cannabis in your lungs.
20 I say the good news is that you
21 don't have to use it that way. And if we have a
22 legal market, as we have learned from the
23 medicinal market, there are many more options
24 available to you for using cannabis products
25 without having to burn it and inhale it into your
2032
1 lungs.
2 So I think it would be an advantage
3 of a legalized program over the current system,
4 where pretty much people are just using it and
5 burning it.
6 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
7 yield.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
12 Mr. President. You know, I have a libertarian
13 streak in me which leads me to have less concern
14 with respect to adults using marijuana. My
15 primary concern here is how this is going to
16 affect the young people in our state, and
17 obviously with respect to how this is going to
18 affect the safety, especially on our roads. So I
19 have a few questions concerning those issues.
20 Through you, Mr. President, is the
21 sponsor concerned that numerous studies, both in
22 this country and around the world, have
23 demonstrated that marijuana use by young people
24 causes permanent brain damage?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
2033
1 Mr. President, I am concerned. That's why this
2 law starts at 21. I'm not supporting young
3 people using marijuana.
4 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
5 yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
7 the sponsor yield?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
9 Mr. President, yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
13 Mr. President. So let's get to that.
14 The sponsor indicated that this is
15 not a program for children and also said that
16 under this legislation we -- I suppose she meant
17 law enforcement -- will not be picking up or
18 stopping kids.
19 So if that's the case, what will
20 happen to a young person that is found to be in
21 possession with marijuana in the State of
22 New York if this is passed?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: The penalty for
24 being underage and having it is very minimal.
25 The penalty is on the person who got it for you.
2034
1 So what's interesting is if you talk
2 to some people in police, DEA, judges, they'll
3 tell you marijuana is easier to get for teenagers
4 than alcohol or tobacco because at least with
5 alcohol and tobacco, they either have to get fake
6 I.D., which is getting harder and harder to get
7 I.D. that works in today's world of technology,
8 or they have to find some adult who's willing to
9 go out and get it for them.
10 So they tell me that actually
11 legalized marijuana will make it tougher for kids
12 to get it than it's available now. I don't know
13 about the rest of the State of New York; I know
14 in the City of New York that you and I share and
15 love, I'm advised that all five boroughs,
16 including Staten Island, you can use apps and get
17 marijuana delivered in 15 minutes. And nobody's
18 asking for your I.D. because it's an illegal
19 system.
20 I would far prefer that we have a
21 legal system where it's actually pretty hard for
22 someone under 21 to go out and get marijuana. I
23 think it actually advantages us who are concerned
24 about young people starting with drugs.
25 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
2035
1 yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
3 the sponsor yield?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
8 Mr. President, given that answer that the penalty
9 for a young person possessing, let's say, a half
10 a pound of marijuana will be subject to very
11 minimum enforcement -- I'm not sure what that
12 means, but it sounds like there will be no
13 enforcement or there will be no penalty.
14 Through you, Mr. President, doesn't
15 that send a message here in New York to young
16 people that it's okay to use marijuana, given the
17 fact that there isn't a penalty, given the fact
18 that the state is now saying that it's legal,
19 given the fact that there are many people who
20 don't use marijuana specifically because it is
21 unlawful -- doesn't this send a message, given
22 human nature, to young people who now wake up and
23 read in the paper that New York says marijuana is
24 okay, it's legal, and there will be no penalty
25 for you, a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old, to possess
2036
1 it? Doesn't that logically mean and lead to the
2 fact that more young people are going to use
3 marijuana in the State of New York?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
5 Mr. President.
6 So to clarify an answer before,
7 there is a penalty, and it's maybe a
8 $25 violation, plus community service, plus
9 education about the danger of drugs. So we don't
10 have any of that now, except you can end up in
11 the criminal justice system. As opposed to
12 alcohol, underage alcohol, where we also were not
13 putting you through the criminal justice system,
14 nor are we offering any of those other penalties
15 or services.
16 I think what's crucial to understand
17 here is yes, we are saying marijuana is less
18 dangerous than alcohol or tobacco, so we're
19 pretty much going to treat it the same way -- as
20 opposed to treat it as a dangerous drug, which it
21 is not, and penalize you as a young person as if
22 you have committed a crime.
23 Because that's really what started
24 me down this path, Mr. President. We are
25 arresting young people by tens of thousands per
2037
1 year, moving them through some level of the
2 criminal justice system, in some cases ruining
3 their lives because they had a couple of joints
4 in their pockets. And Mr. President, they are
5 statistically Black and Brown young people.
6 My district is disproportionately
7 Caucasian. The data shows my teenagers are using
8 marijuana at higher levels or exactly the same
9 levels as the young people in your district just
10 north of mine, Mr. President, where they are much
11 more likely to be Black and Brown. Or throughout
12 the State of New York, in any community or
13 neighborhood, where if they are Black or Brown,
14 the statistics go as high as they are 68 times
15 more likely to get caught up in the criminal
16 justice system for using a product that is less
17 dangerous than alcohol or tobacco.
18 And we are, we are ruining lives.
19 These are young people who then may never be able
20 to take a civil service exam and get a job as a
21 good-paid worker in the City or State of
22 New York. These are young people who might be
23 told they can't live with their families in
24 public housing because it's federal housing.
25 These are young people who might be told they're
2038
1 not eligible for grants and loans to continue
2 their education, when we know that's the most
3 important thing for them to do to be able to grow
4 up and be a participant in our society.
5 So I'm not really very worried about
6 holding onto criminal penalties for young people,
7 who we know will experiment, because that's what
8 young people do.
9 I dare any of my colleagues here in
10 this room to say that before they were
11 21 years old they hadn't tried alcohol or tried
12 marijuana. Not everybody tried marijuana, but
13 everyone tried alcohol. And I started using
14 marijuana when I was 14 years old. Now, by the
15 time I was 17 years old, I had zero interest, and
16 have ever since had no interest. I did try it
17 once again when I was age 19 at the Rocky Horror
18 Picture Show Friday midnight viewing in Chicago.
19 But pretty much it was just because they were
20 passing it down the rows. You couldn't avoid it.
21 But even then I knew, at 19, this was something I
22 had no interest in.
23 So we've all done that, been there.
24 Nobody threatened to take my college education
25 away or put me into the criminal justice system.
2039
1 And yet I have listened, by going to hearings
2 throughout the state, by talking to colleagues
3 throughout the state, of the unequal justice
4 system we have, just in marijuana alone. And
5 there is no excuse for it.
6 So sure, I don't want people under
7 21 to use it. They are using it now. If they're
8 using it somehow when we legalize it, at least
9 we'll know it's a safe product, a product that is
10 actually what it's advertised to be, hopefully
11 not being sold by a cartel behind the building,
12 but legally somehow. And that they won't get
13 themselves into worse trouble or caught up in
14 something else. Because that's what everybody
15 wants for their kids.
16 And everybody knows that teenagers
17 like to break the rules and like to do whatever
18 their parents tell them not to do. And the most
19 interesting thing in answer to the Senator's
20 question, in the 15 other states that have legal
21 marijuana, when they watch what has happened over
22 time, do more people use marijuana? People our
23 age are using the marijuana. Teenagers are
24 actually using less of it. There's not that much
25 coolness about using the same drug your
2040
1 parents are using.
2 And so we actually haven't seen an
3 increase in teenage using by legalizing
4 marijuana. And people are imagining horrendous
5 things will happen here. We're not inventing
6 this idea. Fifteen other states have legalized
7 marijuana. This state has the largest illegal
8 marijuana market in the country. Nobody disputes
9 us on that. We're trying to make it safer.
10 We're trying to make sure that when you go in to
11 buy something, you know what you're getting.
12 We're trying to not use up police resources and
13 court resources and DA resources picking up and
14 dragging kids through a criminal justice system
15 they never should have been in.
16 These are all rational, good policy
17 reasons to support this. And despite all of my
18 colleagues today explaining why this would be
19 disastrous, it's simply not true. And it's not
20 true in much of the world at this point. It's
21 not just the United States. We are behind much
22 of the world in our policies, and we are behind
23 many of our neighboring states.
24 And so I know it is Senator Lanza's
25 floor here to continue to ask me questions, and I
2041
1 am prepared to as long as he likes. But I really
2 think we've missed the boat here even in the
3 discussion we're having.
4 Excuse me, Senator Lanza, I needed
5 to rant.
6 SENATOR LANZA: Does the sponsor
7 yield?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR LANZA: I commend my
12 colleague for the effective use of the
13 filibuster -- or as she described, the rant.
14 Let me -- knowing a lot of young
15 people, being the father of young people, let me
16 tell you how they're going to interpret that
17 answer. They're going to see that answer as
18 meaning that yes, it is all right to use
19 marijuana, that there will be no repercussions,
20 that there is no penalty.
21 I'm not looking to put anyone
22 anywhere. I'm not looking to take away anything
23 from anyone. But the message clearly emanating
24 from this room to the young people of New York is
25 if you want to use marijuana, do it, New York
2042
1 says it's all right. And my concern is that
2 that's going to lead to higher rates of cancer,
3 brain damage.
4 And when you want to talk about
5 "these people," we don't want to do things to
6 these people, to these kids -- what we will be
7 doing, I believe, is permanently affecting the
8 trajectory of their life.
9 But I don't have much time, so I'm
10 going to move on to a couple of questions on the
11 road safety.
12 So I hear a lot of comparisons,
13 Mr. President, between marijuana use, impaired
14 driving, and alcohol use and impaired driving.
15 And Mr. President, there is absolutely no
16 scientific connection between the two. This law,
17 Mr. President, would make driving while high fall
18 under the impairment charge, which is like
19 getting a parking ticket, Mr. President.
20 When it comes to alcohol,
21 Mr. President, if you are a little impaired, it's
22 a parking ticket. If you're really, really,
23 really drunk, it's a crime. And we can discern
24 that, Mr. President, because of the difference
25 between alcohol and marijuana. Alcohol is
2043
1 measurable. There's a specific rate in which it
2 leaves the body. Marijuana cannot be measured in
3 that way. Marijuana does not leave the body that
4 way.
5 And under this law, Mr. President,
6 an officer, a police officer making a stop would
7 actually have to name the drug. And if the
8 driver refuses to give the name, which the driver
9 is constitutionally protected to do so, and if
10 the driver refuses to be subjected to a test,
11 well, then, there goes the case.
12 Through you, Mr. President, doesn't
13 that concern the sponsor, that driving while
14 impaired by marijuana, driving while highly
15 intoxicated by marijuana, will be virtually
16 impossible to prosecute and enforce in the State
17 of New York under this legislation?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
19 Mr. President, it won't be virtually impossible.
20 We're already finding people guilty of impaired
21 driving with marijuana. We already have people
22 who unfortunately use marijuana and drive and
23 need to be caught and stopped.
24 Would we like a perfect world where
25 you have a blood alcohol test in the back of
2044
1 every police car and could rapidly give the test?
2 Sure. I would love that. We've committed in
3 this law to starting to use it as soon as it is
4 created, and we have academic research that it
5 works.
6 Interestingly -- and I'm sure
7 Senator Lanza knows this -- we depend on the
8 science of the blood alcohol test, when there was
9 an expose a few years ago that most of them are
10 flawed. And we don't have a great system for
11 alcohol either, and we should try to get that
12 fixed as well.
13 But we do have one for alcohol. We
14 don't have a simple one for THC, which can stay
15 in your body for weeks even though you haven't
16 used it in a time period where it would impact
17 your driving -- or your capacity to drive and use
18 equipment.
19 But states are functioning fine out
20 there. Fifteen states are using basically the
21 same system we're incorporating into our state
22 law. And far more states are using similar
23 systems for catching people who also are using
24 marijuana when it's not legal, because marijuana
25 is heavily used in all 50 states, whether or not
2045
1 they have taken any steps to legalize.
2 But the states that have legalized
3 have not seen growing increases in problems from
4 incapacitated driving or more dangerous roads.
5 And some research shows the opposite. I'm
6 keeping an open mind, but I'm quite confident
7 that the world does not end because we legalize
8 and we use the system and the skill sets that we
9 have from our police officers.
10 The same as my colleague says am I
11 worried that we are going to have children doing
12 things that can harm them. Nobody ever wants
13 children to do things that harm them, and
14 sometimes they do those things. I do not believe
15 that legalizing marijuana for people over 21 is
16 in any way sending a message to children that now
17 it's okay for you. And it's going to make it
18 harder for them to get.
19 And every parent should be talking
20 to their children about the risk of those
21 marijuana and other drugs. And what's been
22 fascinating to me, spending seven years trying to
23 get this bill to the floor, is how many parents
24 tell me: Well, I can't talk to my children about
25 that because it's not an issue for them.
2046
1 And I beg them to go ask, Do you
2 know kids who use marijuana? And they come
3 babbling and they go, Oh, my God, my children
4 know all about it. Everybody has friends who use
5 it. Everybody knows how to get it.
6 And it wakes up the parent to know
7 they need to have that conversation, both at a
8 much younger age, but take it much more
9 seriously.
10 So I actually think even this debate
11 today on the floor, if it makes people turn to
12 their kids and say, So, the news is filled with
13 this marijuana issue. I'm really worried about
14 it. I really don't think it's a good idea for
15 you to try it at this young age. Even if it just
16 gets parents to have that conversation, this will
17 have been a huge victory for educating families
18 about what the reality is.
19 Because, again, rural New York,
20 suburban New York, urban New York -- your kids
21 have access to marijuana. You just don't know
22 where they're getting it from or whether it's
23 mixed with other things or whether it's dangerous
24 people that they're buying it from.
25 So even though we disagree, Senator
2047
1 Lanza, this conversation in its own right is
2 worth it, as far as I'm concerned.
3 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
4 yield.
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
9 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
10 Mr. President. Certainly I'm going to, after all
11 this, going to go back home to my children and
12 talk about whether or not they should listen to
13 politicians.
14 I will say, with respect to that
15 answer -- because, Mr. President, no disrespect
16 meant to anybody, but I truly believe, and we
17 obviously differ and disagree on this point -- I
18 truly believe that as a result of this law, the
19 health, safety and well-being of our children is
20 going to be severely affected.
21 But I will say, Mr. President,
22 through you, that the district attorneys, both
23 Democrat and Republican, across the State of New
24 York disagree with everything Senator Krueger
25 just said. And they have said -- and they are
2048
1 the experts -- that because of the differences
2 between alcohol and marijuana, that they will be
3 powerless, powerless to enforce driving while
4 intoxicated with marijuana on our roads. That's
5 what they say. It's not just what I'm saying.
6 And so I just -- two last questions.
7 Through you, Mr. President.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR LANZA: So the taxpayers of
12 New York pay tens upon tens of millions for the
13 biggest government in America. We have the
14 Health Department, they're supposedly experts,
15 although I'm not sure people believe that anymore
16 after the pandemic here in New York. And we have
17 other agencies. We have thousands of experts.
18 Has the sponsor or has anyone asked
19 the Department of Health, law enforcement or any
20 other agency or any other expert here in the
21 government how many more deaths on our roads this
22 legislation would lead to. And I'm not asking --
23 through you, Mr. President, I'm not asking the
24 sponsor what she believes, I'm asking whether or
25 not we have anything from the Department of
2049
1 Health or other agencies with respect to that
2 question.
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
4 Mr. President, I don't believe the Department of
5 Health measures -- oops. They're not throwing
6 things, something just fell.
7 I don't believe the Department of
8 Health in New York State measures causation from
9 death on roads, so I don't know that they would
10 be the correct ones to ask.
11 But there is national research that
12 does not show an increase in vehicle deaths
13 between states that have legal marijuana and
14 illegal marijuana.
15 Now, it's a fair question. People
16 weren't measuring cause of death and having
17 marijuana on a list when it's not legal. So
18 really the question is how much impaired driving
19 correlates to death. And I don't know that we
20 have enough national data yet to really give you
21 a better answer than in the states that have
22 legalized, they have not seen any significant
23 increase and, in some places, decreases. They
24 have seen decreases in deaths from other drugs
25 because states that have legalized marijuana have
2050
1 seen reductions in overdoses from opioids and
2 other drug products.
3 We do know the research shows
4 marijuana does not lead to illness or death by
5 use. You asked me an earlier question, will
6 someday we see some correlation to lung cancer,
7 and I told you that I don't think evidence exists
8 yet but that it's a bad idea for people to take
9 burning products into their lungs.
10 But as far as you use marijuana and
11 you get some kind of medical illness, sickness or
12 death, that is not the case. It does not seem to
13 have any evidentiary correlation to a growth in
14 suicide, although that was mentioned earlier. It
15 does not have a correlation to -- I think
16 psychosis might have been said, I'm not sure.
17 And I'm not sure it was by you, Senator Lanza, so
18 I want to be careful.
19 But the concept that we're trying to
20 make legal a drug that is going to cause some
21 serious jump in death or illness from a variety
22 of sources simply -- there simply is not evidence
23 there to back that up.
24 SENATOR LANZA: Will the sponsor
25 yield?
2051
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President,
5 through you. I would just point out that,
6 contrary to what was just said, there are
7 numerous studies, including one by the Insurance
8 Institute for Highway Safety, that in the states
9 where it's legalized, like Colorado, Nevada,
10 Oregon and Washington, not only is use
11 significantly higher, which is the only logical
12 conclusion one could draw from these types of
13 things, but also that motor vehicle crashes and
14 driving while intoxicated with marijuana is up
15 significantly. And in fact, in Washington, it's
16 twice what it was before they legalized it.
17 So you can disagree there, but there
18 are studies that support exactly what I've just
19 said.
20 So I'm just going to ask one more
21 question. And I do really appreciate the sponsor
22 for this discussion.
23 And I -- through you, Mr. President,
24 I want to commend the sponsor for all the work.
25 We disagree, but that does not mean that I cannot
2052
1 recognize the hard work she has dedicated here
2 and the poise and intelligence that she brings to
3 the discussion.
4 So finally, through you,
5 Mr. President, could the sponsor --
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Are you
7 asking the sponsor to yield?
8 SENATOR LANZA: Yeah.
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR LANZA: Could the sponsor
13 tell us why and whether she's concerned that
14 leading health organizations -- not one or two or
15 three, many -- leading educational
16 organizations -- not one or two or three, many --
17 just about every district attorney across the
18 State of New York, multiple law enforcement
19 agencies, the Medical Society, fields -- just
20 about every field of medicine here in New York
21 has come out and opposed this legislation, saying
22 in effect that based on all their expertise --
23 which the organizations I've just mentioned,
24 Mr. President, cover just about every area
25 related to this topic, between law enforcement
2053
1 and health and everything in between, like
2 education. Mr. President, can the sponsor tell
3 us why she thinks that is the case and whether or
4 not that concerns her?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
6 Mr. President. I think I know why law
7 enforcement and the DAs are uncomfortable with
8 this. They have pretty much not liked any of the
9 criminal justice reforms this Legislature has
10 been involved in passing into law in the last
11 several years.
12 And I think the messaging follows
13 suit consistently, depending upon any topic that
14 we might go into in criminal justice reform.
15 On medical, it is true that the
16 Medical Society in New York has opposed. I have
17 done many presentations and panels with doctors
18 from the top hospitals in this state who support
19 legalizing marijuana and support this bill.
20 There are individual medical societies for
21 specialties that have actually been crying out
22 for expansion of medical marijuana.
23 The addiction specialists have been
24 calling out for legal, because they know how many
25 people are self-medicating for so many issues
2054
1 with whatever they can get, and they would rather
2 that they have a safe product that can be
3 evaluated and measured and that it is helping to
4 move people off of more dangerous drugs.
5 So I do understand this is
6 controversial. This is changing laws that people
7 have lived under for a long time. But it's also
8 true public opinion polling is in favor of this
9 law, Mr. President. Not that that's how anybody
10 should make their judgments. But the public, by
11 and large, does support our changing these laws.
12 The 15 other states that have passed
13 these laws have not seen any of the horrors come
14 to bear fruit as described by some of my
15 colleagues convinced, I don't know, that pretty
16 much everything imaginable bad that could happen
17 would happen.
18 The country of Canada to our north,
19 quite a few countries in Europe, the Middle East,
20 Latin America have all legalized. None of these
21 horror stories have happened.
22 And the bottom line is we made
23 marijuana illegal as a pattern of outgrowth on
24 prohibition when we knew that prohibition didn't
25 work for alcohol or pretty much anything else in
2055
1 this country, but we remained letting marijuana
2 stay on the books and continue. And that it was
3 actually started out as something that was
4 frightening American farmers because it was
5 getting grown in Mexico and they were very
6 worried about this country of Mexico and what it
7 might be sending north.
8 And so it's almost like you know
9 what the truth is, you know what the concerns
10 are. The people who said it was a gateway
11 drug -- do you remember "Reefer Madness"?
12 Anybody else here remember that movie? That was
13 made in World War I to terrify the soldiers going
14 across to Europe from using any of these
15 dangerous foreign items and ending up -- with
16 foreign women, I don't know.
17 So it was "Reefer Madness." It
18 wasn't true then. It's not true now. I'm not
19 trying to tell everyone go out and use marijuana.
20 In fact, just the opposite. Think really hard
21 about it. Be careful. Learn about it. But it
22 is ridiculous that it's basically 40 percent of
23 arrests, 40 percent of the arrests. And we are
24 wasting lives. We are wasting generations of
25 lives. We are wasting our criminal justice
2056
1 budgets, our court budgets, our DAs' time and
2 effort. Let them go out and deal with real
3 criminals and real crime. We've got it. Just
4 don't continue doing this.
5 So thank you, Senator Lanza. I
6 don't know if you had another question.
7 SENATOR LANZA: No, I just --
8 through you, Mr. President, the question I had
9 was about concern for all these agencies opposing
10 it.
11 But Mr. President, I know I am over
12 my time. I want to thank you, Mr. President, for
13 your indulgence, the floor chair here on the
14 Majority, and of course Senator Krueger. I truly
15 thank you all.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Are
17 there any other Senators wishing to be heard?
18 Seeing and hearing -- seeing and
19 hearing none, debate is closed.
20 The Secretary will ring the bell.
21 Read the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 64. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
25 the roll.
2057
1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
3 Savino to explain her vote.
4 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 Before I start, I just want to say
7 this has been an amazing debate here today. I
8 want to thank all of my colleagues. But I
9 particularly want to thank Senator Krueger.
10 You've done an outstanding job on
11 bringing this bill to the floor today. It took
12 you seven years. And when you think about it,
13 Senator Krueger, it's been seven years since we
14 brought the medical cannabis bill to the floor
15 here in the New York State Senate. And that bill
16 was widely debated. That was a five-hour debate.
17 And some of the people who voted for the bill the
18 last time, they're no longer here, but some of
19 them are. In fact, Senator Lanza voted for the
20 medical cannabis bill. After much debate and
21 much discussion, he accepted the -- he and many
22 others accepted that we should legalize medical
23 cannabis.
24 And when we did it, it was a very
25 narrow program. We did not have the support from
2058
1 the Executive that we really wanted. He was very
2 concerned about the creation of a medical
3 cannabis program here in the State of New York,
4 and he insisted on creating a narrow program,
5 very small, with limits and with a seven-year
6 sunset.
7 And over the seven years we had to
8 increase the program and improve it. And today
9 we're going even further. And I want to thank
10 Senator Krueger for taking the ideas that I had
11 about expanding the MRTA to include the expansion
12 of medical.
13 This program will include a number
14 of improvements to the medical program that will
15 make it easier for patients to access medical
16 products and practitioners to prescribe
17 life-changing medical care.
18 The changes to the medical program
19 include expanding the list of conditions eligible
20 for treatment with medical cannabis. It
21 increases the prescription supply from 30 days to
22 a 60-day supply. And most importantly, it allows
23 for the whole flower to be sold, which will be
24 incredibly important to patients. It will bring
25 down the cost.
2059
1 The bill also contemplates that
2 while the Office of Cannabis Management is being
3 set up, the Department of Health will continue
4 regulating the medical program and is authorized
5 to immediately implement these critical changes
6 that patients are desperate for.
7 I want to commend the sponsors of
8 the bill for having the foresight to include this
9 in the process and provide patients with the
10 relief that they have been so desperate for.
11 Expanding access to caregivers, creating more
12 opportunities for people at various levels of the
13 program, removing the prohibition on smoking,
14 removing the requirement that medical cannabis
15 has to be grown indoors, authorizing designated
16 caregiver facilities and designated caregivers,
17 research licenses -- the list is endless.
18 Allowing the registered organizations to have the
19 opportunity to participate in the adult program
20 and doubling the number of dispensaries that they
21 have.
22 Those are just some of the things
23 that are really going to go towards improving
24 this program. But we still have more work to do,
25 and we'll be coming back to this floor with some
2060
1 ideas.
2 But I just want to address a couple
3 of the points -- and I know I'm going a little
4 bit over, but please indulge me, Senator
5 Benjamin -- that have been raised here today
6 about marijuana use.
7 And that's not to belittle any of
8 the concerns that have been raised, whether it be
9 will young people continue to use marijuana, how
10 will we deal with our road safety issues, what
11 kind of a message are we sending. I would just
12 say to my colleagues keeping it illegal will not
13 change a single issue that was raised here today.
14 But what it will do is continue to criminalize
15 people unnecessarily for something that just
16 doesn't make any sense.
17 For a state that has grappled with
18 addiction and the opioid crisis over the past few
19 years, I would hope that we had all learned
20 something. Addiction is a disease that affects
21 just about every family -- mine no exception. It
22 is a biopsychosocial disease. There is not one
23 single drug that takes you down that path. It's
24 in you. You've either inherited it, you've been
25 exposed to it, you've been socialized to it. So
2061
1 it's not what takes you down the path. So the
2 idea of the gateway drug is really just somewhat
3 silly.
4 We should have learned from this
5 experience, though. For too many years we have
6 created a system where we have this idea of good
7 drugs and bad drugs. If you get addicted to a
8 good drug, we save a chair for you in a 12-step
9 program. If your addiction is to a bad drug, we
10 save a jail cell for you. That's what we're
11 trying to correct here today with this.
12 We're not going to solve addiction.
13 What we are doing is rightsizing or correcting a
14 system that says if you have a drug problem and
15 this is it, you go to jail. If you're addicted
16 to alcohol, we send you to an AA meeting. That
17 doesn't make any sense.
18 We can fix that. We can create a
19 legal, regulated market. We can derive some
20 revenue from it. We can resocialize the way
21 people think about marijuana. And we can also
22 make sure that young people don't get access to
23 it. That's what today is about.
24 And I want to thank Senator Krueger
25 for getting us here today. And I thank all of my
2062
1 colleagues for their thoughtful comments. And
2 this is a really good day for us, and I'm just
3 proud to be here with you.
4 Thank you, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
6 Savino to be recorded in the affirmative.
7 I want to make the announcement that
8 we will be enforcing the two-minute rule.
9 Okay, Senator Rath to explain his
10 vote.
11 SENATOR RATH: Thank you,
12 Mr. President. I rise to explain my vote.
13 But before I do so, I want to say
14 thank you to Sponsor Krueger and all of my
15 colleagues for a spirited and thoughtful
16 discussion today. It ought to be spirited and
17 thoughtful; the stakes are very large.
18 I rise to explain my vote on a bill
19 that really speaks to the misguided priorities of
20 this chamber. Not only does it show misguided
21 priorities, but it also shows a lack of due
22 diligence. We have numerous groups coming out on
23 this legislation to share their concerns, from
24 PTAs to youth groups, addiction specialists,
25 mental health experts, law enforcement and
2063
1 district attorneys, which was previously
2 mentioned.
3 I understand that this legislation
4 has been around for quite some time, but that
5 does not mean that the necessary and important
6 conversations have been had with the
7 aforementioned groups. And their addresses and
8 their concerns have not been heard. This is
9 simply not the case.
10 We have law enforcement and district
11 attorneys indicating that they do not have the
12 tools to deal with those driving under the
13 influence of marijuana. These are the very tools
14 that they need to keep our roads safe.
15 Additionally, we have many areas of
16 the state that are battling with drug
17 addiction and the opioid crisis. In fact, just
18 last week in Erie County, which is a part of my
19 Senate district, we saw five opioid-related
20 overdoses in one day. Drug overdose deaths and
21 mental health crises have increased drastically
22 during this pandemic, and this appears to be
23 greatly underprioritized and overlooked in this
24 legislation.
25 Aside from the community impact, the
2064
1 Majority continues to place power directly back
2 in the hands of the Governor. The Cannabis
3 Control Board and the state Cannabis Advisory
4 Boards will be made up by a majority of Governor
5 appointees. It is laughable that the Majority
6 continues to say that they support coequal
7 branches of government when they keep allowing
8 the centralization of power back within the
9 control of the Governor.
10 It is also important to remind my
11 colleagues that our communities are facing
12 extremely challenging times, between the ongoing
13 pandemic, economic hardship, vaccine
14 distribution, returning our students full-time
15 back to school. The list goes on and on. And
16 yet we are focusing on legalizing marijuana.
17 Lastly, I am deeply concerned that a
18 driving force behind this legislation is revenue.
19 With all the concerns laid out from the various
20 community stakeholders --
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Rath, how do you vote?
23 SENATOR RATH: -- revenue should be
24 the least important thing and public safety the
25 most important thing.
2065
1 For this reason, Mr. President, I'll
2 be voting in the negative. Thank you.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
4 Rath to be recorded in the negative.
5 Senator Harckham to explain his
6 vote.
7 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you,
8 Mr. President.
9 Nobody can say that Senator Krueger
10 did not do our due diligence on this bill. She
11 met with group after group after group. Every
12 concern that was raised in my district, I brought
13 to her, was addressed in this bill. And it is a
14 model of how legislation should be done -- by
15 listening, by meeting, and by incorporating ideas
16 to address concerns.
17 So I want to thank Senator Krueger
18 not only for her years of work on this, but her
19 responsiveness to constituent needs. So it's
20 important that we understand how much input went
21 into this bill.
22 And we've heard this, as
23 Senator Krueger said, this "Reefer Madness"
24 notion of what is going to happen. We are not
25 about to entice new users. This is about taking
2066
1 an existing marketplace that is illegal, making
2 it legal, and using the tax revenue for a social
3 good.
4 As somebody who's in long-term
5 recovery myself, I am not promoting people use
6 marijuana. I don't propose -- promote that
7 people drink alcohol. That is an individual
8 choice that adults have made. And if people are
9 worried about their children, talk to your
10 children. Marijuana is currently being sold in
11 every middle school and every high school in
12 New York State. So this law has nothing to do
13 with enticing our children. What we need to do
14 is have honest conversations with our children.
15 We talk about what other states are
16 doing. I went to Massachusetts and spent a day
17 in Massachusetts doing my due diligence. And you
18 know what they said was the number-one impact of
19 legalization? It was cars from New York State
20 coming to buy marijuana. And that's tax revenue
21 of adults making choices leaving.
22 Senator Krueger in this bill has
23 addressed police and DWI, local opt-out for
24 municipalities -- I will finish in one second,
25 Mr. President -- as well as 40 percent going to
2067
1 education.
2 And we talk about substance use.
3 We've heard a lot about substance use disorder.
4 It has been underfunded in this state for a
5 decade. And 20 percent of the revenue goes to
6 substance use disorder treatment and drug
7 education.
8 For those reasons, I will be voting
9 aye. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you,
10 Madam Chair.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
12 Harckham to be recorded in the affirmative.
13 Senator Hinchey to explain her veto.
14 SENATOR HINCHEY: Thank you very
15 much, Mr. President.
16 The legalization of marijuana opens
17 up tremendous opportunities for upstate New York
18 in districts like mine -- from economic
19 development opportunities to supporting our main
20 streets, to bringing in tax revenue to our local
21 municipalities, to expanding markets for our
22 agricultural community and our small farmers.
23 And I personally have seen the benefits of the
24 medical marijuana in my immediate family.
25 Legalization also opens up an entire
2068
1 new industry in industrialized hemp, which I
2 believe upstate New York could be the leader on.
3 This creates jobs, it helps our climate. It's
4 something that we could be capitalizing on. And
5 with the passage of this legislation, we can do
6 that and we can lead that here in New York.
7 This bill has married real economic
8 opportunities with strong social justice and
9 social equity. These structures make sure that
10 these who have been most affected by the
11 criminalization can build a business and can
12 benefit from this moving forward.
13 And so with that, I would like to
14 thank the sponsor of this bill, Senator Krueger,
15 for working so hard and so diligently over so
16 many years to not just get this right, but to
17 make sure that everyone across New York State is
18 positively impacted by the passage of this
19 legislation.
20 And so with that, I vote aye.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Hinchey to be recorded in the affirmative.
23 Senator Jackson to explain his vote.
24 SENATOR JACKSON: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
2069
1 So, my colleagues, I rise in support
2 of the bill this afternoon. But let me give a
3 little background, if you don't mind. Marijuana
4 was first prohibited on a statewide basis in
5 New York in 1927, in a state statute that became
6 the forerunner for other broad drug laws.
7 The Senate and the Assembly have
8 negotiated a three-way agreement to finally
9 eliminate this prohibition, legalize and regulate
10 marijuana, and make related changes to the law.
11 The agreement is largely based on
12 the framework of Senator Krueger and State
13 Assemblymember Peoples-Stokes' Marijuana
14 Regulation and Taxation Act, incorporating some
15 elements found in this year's Executive Budget.
16 I rise, as I said earlier, to
17 support this bill, as a long-time supporter of
18 the legalization of cannabis with an
19 understanding of how New York's outdated
20 marijuana policies have historically hurt Black
21 and Latinx communities. I am glad to see that
22 our Senate majority has gotten it right.
23 And we believe that it's time to
24 stop the ineffective racial bias and unjust
25 enforcement of cannabis prohibition in New York.
2070
1 And we came together to work in unity on a
2 framework for a well-regulated and inclusive
3 cannabis industry that centers equity, is rooted
4 in racial and economic justice, and reinvests in
5 communities that have been the most harmed by
6 cannabis criminalization.
7 We made sure that this process was
8 not just about revenue but also about health,
9 environmental, racial and economic justice. This
10 agreement prioritizes reinvesting in our
11 communities hardest-hit by the infamous war on
12 drugs, like the Black and Brown neighborhoods in
13 my district and across New York State. And this
14 is a win for all of us who advocate for
15 progressive change.
16 And before I conclude, let me just
17 explain to you some of the key elements. All
18 revenue raised from the sale of adult-use
19 cannabis will go into a new Cannabis Revenue
20 Fund. The remaining revenues will flow in three
21 funds: 40 percent for the State Lottery Fund for
22 Education; 20 percent to the Drug Treatment and
23 Public Education Fund, which will finance
24 additional drug treatment programs, school-based
25 prevention, early intervention and healthcare
2071
1 services --
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
3 Jackson --
4 SENATOR JACKSON: -- as well as
5 public health campaigns to teach the public about
6 responsible cannabis use; and --
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
8 Jackson --
9 SENATOR JACKSON: -- 40 percent to
10 community grants --
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: -- how do
12 you vote? Unfortunately, we have a two-minute
13 time limit.
14 SENATOR JACKSON: Sure. Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 So I rise, as I said, to thank
17 Senator Krueger and Assembly Majority Leader
18 Peoples-Stokes, and I vote aye on this bill.
19 Finally, after seven years, we finally have it.
20 Thank you.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Jackson to be recorded in the affirmative.
23 Senator Mayer to explain her vote.
24 SENATOR MAYER: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
2072
1 First I want to thank
2 Senator Krueger for not only her debate today,
3 but her willingness over the last few years to
4 listen to me and others who had doubts about this
5 bill and to work with us to address the concerns
6 voiced by my constituents. And so many have been
7 addressed. This is a better bill than it was,
8 and I'm pleased to be voting aye.
9 There's no question that our
10 existing policies about marijuana have failed to
11 live up to the promises we made. They no longer
12 protect young people from access, as the debate
13 made clear, nor do they protect against the
14 terrible scourge of racial inequity that this
15 marijuana situation has led us to.
16 So we have a glaring disparity. And
17 today we are taking a step forward with a
18 thoughtful, reasoned approach that addresses many
19 of the educational concerns I have for young
20 people, and at the same time begins to address
21 the terrible disparities among race and class
22 that have plagued us.
23 I know there are deep concerns in my
24 district and across the state from parents and
25 others about the impact on young children, and
2073
1 particularly those of early middle school age.
2 But there are important safeguards built into the
3 bill that begin to address these issues.
4 And I look forward to working with
5 the sponsor and others as we see how the bill
6 rolls out to make the changes that need to be
7 made. I'll be listening to my law enforcement
8 community, to my parent community, to the school
9 community, to continue to improve the bill.
10 I have no illusions that we are at a
11 difficult point. But in balance, I support this
12 legislation. It is a safe and thoughtful
13 approach to bringing more justice to New York and
14 to addressing legitimate concerns about how to
15 legalize recreational marijuana.
16 As I vote aye, I pledge to continue
17 to work to listen to my constituents while we
18 move to greater justice for all New Yorkers,
19 which is our goal and our obligation.
20 So I want to thank not only
21 Senator Krueger, but Senator Stewart-Cousins, our
22 Majority Leader, for giving us a path forward to
23 find a solution to this problem that I believe is
24 in the best interests of all New Yorkers.
25 I vote aye.
2074
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
2 Mayer to be recorded in the affirmative.
3 Senator Brisport to explain his
4 vote.
5 SENATOR BRISPORT: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 I rise because when I was 19 and
8 walking through the Village with a friend, he was
9 yanked by a plainclothes police officer, pushed
10 against scaffolding, and handcuffed. His crime?
11 Matching the physical profile of a suspected weed
12 dealer in the area.
13 When I asked the officer to show a
14 badge or read my friend his rights, he pulled out
15 his gun, pointed it directly in my face, and told
16 me to back up. So I'd like to be clear. A
17 plainclothes police officer almost shot me in the
18 face over weed.
19 How many would-be future State
20 Senators have been accidental casualties of the
21 war on drugs? How many would-be future teachers,
22 doctors, lawyers, scientists?
23 Today we're talking about legalizing
24 a substance that is safer than alcohol, and
25 passing this bill is the rational thing to do.
2075
1 But anti-cannabis sentiment has also been
2 consciously used as a tool to criminalize,
3 penalize and drastically expand the scope of mass
4 incarceration.
5 Passing this bill is also the just
6 thing to do. I'd like to celebrate the
7 expungement of records for people who have
8 possessed or used this substance. I'd like to
9 celebrate the Community Reinvestment Fund. It's
10 critical that as we move forward, we undo the
11 harms that have already been caused to
12 communities of color.
13 We can move further. All simple
14 drug possession should be decriminalized. The
15 police should be defunded and the money
16 redirected into drug treatment and rehabilitation
17 so that communities can heal.
18 The step we're taking today is a
19 momentous step in the right direction. I vote
20 aye.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Brisport to be recorded in the affirmative.
23 Senator Rivera to explain his vote.
24 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
2076
1 Prohibition and criminalization are
2 racist, Mr. President. The criminalization and
3 the prohibition of drugs is racist. You can find
4 the evidence of it in everything that has
5 occurred in communities like the ones that I
6 represent, going back generations. Even though
7 many numbers can tell you the fact that people,
8 regardless of their race, use drugs at about the
9 same rate.
10 Funny enough, the folks who are
11 arrested, the folks who are penalized, the folks
12 who have their lives changed, communities that
13 are ravaged, all just so happen to be,
14 Mr. President, in Black and Brown communities.
15 So what we're doing today is we're
16 taking a step back, and then we're taking
17 five steps forward to erase the harm -- to start
18 to address the harm that criminalization and
19 prohibition has done to communities like the ones
20 that I represent.
21 The work of my colleagues needs to
22 be lauded. Senator Krueger, amazing job on the
23 floor today. The job of our leader, to bring
24 this to the floor. But most of all, to all of
25 those folks and all those activists who over the
2077
1 years have told us how much this needs to change.
2 To those communities that have been
3 ravaged and destroyed, we've heard you, and now
4 we needed to fix it. With this bill, we start on
5 that road.
6 I vote aye, Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
8 Senator Rivera to be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Senator Reichlin-Melnick to explain
10 his vote.
11 SENATOR REICHLIN-MELNICK: Thank
12 you, Mr. President.
13 Today's vote to legalize, regulate
14 and tax the use of marijuana by adults is
15 historic.
16 In considering this issue, I have
17 met and spoken with advocates, community members,
18 medical professionals and members of law
19 enforcement, some who support and some who oppose
20 marijuana legalization.
21 This is a difficult topic. It's one
22 which reasonable people can disagree on.
23 Ultimately, though, I believe that ending
24 marijuana prohibition and bringing it out of the
25 black market and into a well-regulated and taxed
2078
1 open market is an important and necessary step.
2 Some people are asking why we're
3 voting to legalize marijuana. Our current
4 approach is simply not working. We spend
5 countless millions of dollars on law enforcement,
6 locking up thousands of New Yorkers for minor
7 violations, disproportionately in Black and
8 Hispanic communities. And all for what? A drug
9 that is arguably less damaging than alcohol and
10 certainly less dangerous than legal prescription
11 pain pills that takes the lives of tens of
12 thousands of Americans every single year.
13 And even on its own terms, our
14 approach has been a failure. Marijuana is widely
15 available in our communities, including in high
16 schools and even in middle schools. Legalizing,
17 regulating and taxing marijuana will bring the
18 black market into the open, allowing the state to
19 set critical safety and licensing standards that
20 will ensure people using marijuana are doing so
21 as safely as possible.
22 Of course no drug comes without
23 risks. People can and do abuse marijuana and
24 become addicted, as they do with alcohol. But
25 when people abuse alcohol, we work with them to
2079
1 get them help and treatment. We don't react by
2 criminalizing wine and beer.
3 The same should be true with
4 marijuana. While most who choose to use the
5 product will do so responsibly, we can direct the
6 attention of law enforcement to those who
7 continue to illegally deal drugs and focus health
8 and mental health resources to those who suffer
9 from addiction issues, who will now be able to
10 seek treatment without fear of prosecution.
11 Many other states understand this
12 and have acted to legalize and tax marijuana,
13 including two states that border us,
14 Massachusetts and Vermont. New Jersey voted last
15 year to legalize. Connecticut is expected to
16 follow suit. Millions of New Yorkers will soon
17 be able to drive across state lines a few minutes
18 to purchase marijuana. If we failed to act,
19 marijuana would be nearly as widely available as
20 if we legalized it, but we would not get any of
21 the benefits of increased tax revenues or the
22 ability to --
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
24 Reichlin-Melnick, how do you vote?
25 SENATOR REICHLIN-MELNICK: -- make
2080
1 our own decisions about how to regulate the
2 market.
3 It's time for common sense in how we
4 deal with drugs. I vote aye.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
6 Reichlin-Melnick to be recorded in the
7 affirmative.
8 Senator Kaplan to explain her vote.
9 SENATOR KAPLAN: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 I'd like to begin by thanking the
12 bill's sponsor, Senator Krueger, members of the
13 Majority Conference, and the Senate staffers who
14 have worked tirelessly on the legislation before
15 us today.
16 This bill is a combination of years
17 of hard work and dedication to getting the best
18 bill possible for New Yorkers. And I believe
19 there have been a lot of important changes made
20 to the legislation that will help undo the damage
21 caused by years of failed drug policy and lay the
22 groundwork for a safe, well-regulated, legal
23 cannabis market that exists within a region where
24 several states have already taken the steps to
25 legalize recreational marijuana.
2081
1 However, I have long-held concerns
2 and have spent the last few weeks speaking with
3 constituents, faith leaders, school
4 superintendents, local substance abuse experts,
5 and law enforcement. And there are still valid
6 concerns about taking this step to legalizing
7 recreational marijuana at this time --
8 particularly around its impact on young people,
9 on rates of addiction, which are already
10 skyrocketing due to the pandemic, and on roadway
11 safety.
12 Long Island already leads the state
13 in traffic fatalities, especially those that
14 involve alcohol. And while there is promising
15 technology on the horizon that may help law
16 enforcement to hold impaired drivers accountable
17 and serve as a deterrent to keep impaired
18 individuals from getting behind the wheel in the
19 first place, without that technology in place, I
20 believe this effort is premature and I must cast
21 my vote in the negative on this bill.
22 Thank you, Mr. President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
24 Senator Kaplan to be recorded in the negative.
25 Senator Cooney to explain his vote.
2082
1 SENATOR COONEY: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 I'd like to thank the leader and
4 Senator Krueger for their leadership. For those
5 of us who are new to the Senate, we stand upon
6 their shoulders and we are grateful for their
7 leadership in bringing this landmark legislation
8 today.
9 I was proud to serve as the cochair
10 of the Marijuana Task Force for the Black,
11 Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus. We
12 wanted social justice to be at the center of this
13 legislation, and it is.
14 This was also essential to the
15 Rochester community. The war on drugs has
16 decimated our Black and Brown neighborhoods. In
17 Monroe County, you are 16 times more likely to be
18 arrested for a low-level marijuana drug offense
19 if you are Black than if you are white.
20 And in addition to reversing a
21 culture of overpolicing, this legislation
22 reinvests in our communities. For Rochester,
23 this means real investment in education, in
24 workforce training, and in drug and substance
25 abuse programs for treatment and education.
2083
1 I also want to note the good
2 progress as it relates to our existing medicinal
3 marijuana providers, one of which is located in
4 my district in Rochester. This is good for
5 patients. As of the effective date of this bill,
6 our medicinal marijuana providers can utilize
7 patient-centered improvements. Patients can
8 benefit from the whole flower and physician
9 discretion for qualifying conditions, and will
10 not be left behind as we pass this landmark bill.
11 Mr. President, I am proud to vote in
12 favor of this legislation. Thank you.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
14 Cooney to be recorded in the affirmative.
15 Senator Bailey to explain his vote.
16 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 Let me just thank first
19 Senator Krueger for her tireless work and effort
20 on this bill, Senator Savino for her work on the
21 medical program.
22 You know, I remember June 20, 2019,
23 when we passed the decriminalization of
24 marijuana. And it was the five-year anniversary
25 of the medical program. And every time, we've
2084
1 done some incremental work. But today we've
2 achieved greatness, in my opinion.
3 In addition to Senator Krueger and
4 Senator Savino, I want to thank our great leader,
5 I want to thank all of the advocates. I want to
6 thank Kassandra Frederique and Chris Alexander,
7 who lobbied me actually for a sealing bill when
8 we were in the Minority. Who would have thought
9 that we would have made it this far.
10 So we think about these things,
11 about justice, inequity and fairness. And it's
12 about doing the right thing. Because as you can
13 tell, Mr. President -- well, not you can tell,
14 I'm going to tell you, I am a member of the
15 never-tried-it caucus. But even though I am a
16 member of the never-tried-it caucus, I think
17 about the inequity and the injustice and
18 unfairness about the arrests that's happened.
19 We've heard things about 68-to-1 black arrests
20 versus white arrests in Buffalo. We've heard
21 things about in the fourth quarter of 2020, 149
22 arrests in New York City. Of those, 80 were
23 Black, six were white.
24 I think about Tupac when he said:
25 "And still I see no changes, can't a brother get
2085
1 a little peace? There's war in the streets and
2 war in the Middle East. Instead of war on
3 poverty, they got a war on drugs, so the police
4 can bother me."
5 And we think about this Nixonian war
6 on drugs where it's been admitted that there was
7 a war on drugs to intentionally divide the Black
8 community. And now, we finally are looking to
9 get a piece of the pie.
10 But most importantly, that piece of
11 the pie, economic sustenance. Forty percent
12 going into social equity. Forty percent going
13 into education, making sure that as
14 Senator Krueger has said, she's not espousing the
15 use of it, but she is making sure that the money
16 goes to where it needs to go. And that's so
17 critical.
18 You know, we talk about the phrasing
19 of impact and we talk about a gateway, of this
20 being a gateway drug. Mr. President, for so long
21 the gate has been locked for people in
22 communities of color. We have not been able to
23 access the pathway. The gateway will be open,
24 cooperative economics. All of these things that
25 we have been deprived of in the State of
2086
1 New York, relating to the unequal and unjust
2 enforcement of marijuana and cannabis in this
3 state, will end with this bill.
4 I proudly vote aye, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
6 Bailey to be recorded in the affirmative.
7 Senator Sanders to explain his vote.
8 SENATOR SANDERS: Mr. President,
9 thank you. Thank you to Senator Krueger. Thank
10 you to all of the people who have been involved
11 in this. Time does not allow me to give them
12 their proper respect.
13 Today I bring you the greetings and
14 the position of the 10th Senatorial District on
15 this issue. We are no stranger to these things.
16 We have heard that there was a war on drugs. All
17 we saw was a war on the poor. All we saw was the
18 biggest criminals never went to jail. I'm
19 talking not simply the cartels, but the banks
20 that allowed them to wash their monies and get
21 away with these things. These folk never went to
22 jail.
23 If we want a true war on this stuff,
24 then we should have a true war.
25 Now, I am not really in favor of
2087
1 this, I must admit. My colleague before said
2 that he was of the type that never tried it. And
3 I remember Bill Clinton, the President, said that
4 he never inhaled. Me and my group, we said we
5 never exhaled.
6 So I know a little something of
7 this. And I know the dangers of this. And on a
8 personal level, I urge everyone not to
9 participate. But the greatest danger is the mass
10 incarceration that this thing brought about. The
11 greater danger was the incredible injustices
12 wreaked upon these communities. The greater
13 danger was the death and destruction of human
14 life and potential by jail and things of that
15 nature. Those were the greatest dangers.
16 Now, there's some things good about
17 this bill. We can speak of the economic
18 inequality, the equity, social equity that the
19 Senators and Assemblypeople tried to put in here.
20 These things are good. As the author of MWBE, I
21 absolutely applaud those things.
22 Respecting the time that we had, if
23 we had time, we really could speak and go into
24 this. But time is not our friend.
25 I will say this. On behalf of the
2088
1 good people of the 10th Senatorial District,
2 judging and weighing the legalization versus the
3 continued criminalization, we say we're in favor
4 of this bill with all the perturbations that we
5 have, but soundly --
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
7 Sanders, how do you vote?
8 SENATOR SANDERS: -- in favor of
9 this bill.
10 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
12 Sanders to be recorded in the affirmative.
13 Senator Sepúlveda to explain his
14 vote.
15 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Thank you,
16 Mr. President, for allowing me to explain my
17 vote.
18 I rise today as a person who
19 enthusiastically will vote in the affirmative for
20 this bill. For far too long, Black and Brown
21 communities have been disproportionately
22 penalized for the use and sale of marijuana.
23 As we all know, the war on drugs was
24 a war on people, a war on people of color, a war
25 on people that look like me, a war that was
2089
1 grossly unfair to our communities.
2 The legalization of cannabis,
3 marijuana, pot or whatever term you would like to
4 use is not enough, and that's why my colleagues
5 fought hard to address the wrongs of this war on
6 drugs. The bill will help the state provide
7 40 percent revenue for our schools, 20 percent
8 for drug treatment, and it will reinvest in
9 communities banned and harmed by the war on drugs
10 through automatic expungement on convictions that
11 are no longer criminalized, by establishing a
12 50 percent licenses going to equity application
13 and the elimination of penalties for possession
14 of less than 3 ounces.
15 In 2019 we met in this chamber to
16 vote to decriminalize the use of marijuana.
17 Today we meet in the same chamber to finally
18 legalize it and repair our communities. I would
19 like to thank Senator Krueger, our Majority
20 Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, my colleagues in
21 the Senate, my former colleague in the Assembly,
22 Assemblymember Peoples-Stokes, and the advocates
23 for working tirelessly for the language that we
24 could all agree to.
25 I could not in good faith vote for a
2090
1 bill that did not include automatic expungement
2 or that did not give back to the communities that
3 the system has taken so much from. This
4 legalization assures that everyone, especially
5 those previously targeted, will have a chance to
6 participate in this new industry.
7 The legalization of cannabis is long
8 overdue. And for that reason, I vote in the
9 affirmative. Thank you.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
11 Sepúlveda to be recorded in the affirmative.
12 Senator Benjamin to explain his
13 vote.
14 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 I rise as a member of the
17 definitely-tried-it caucus. And I want to start
18 off by saying a thank you to our good friend
19 Senator Krueger for all of her hard work and for
20 her answering a lot of questions. As she knows,
21 I had a lot of questions and a lot of concerns
22 around our bill. And I'll tell you why. I only
23 have two minutes, so I'll be brief.
24 I'll tell you why. You know, I was
25 very concerned that this bill, when we legalized
2091
1 it, did not go the same way as medical marijuana,
2 where the majority of the licenses were not
3 provided in a diverse way. And I did not want a
4 scenario where we would legalize marijuana and
5 the cultivation, processing, distribution and the
6 sale of cannabis would be not in hands of the
7 people who have been primarily incarcerated
8 because of marijuana.
9 I believed, and I believe, that
10 there should be connectivity here. That those
11 who have been incarcerated, communities that have
12 been harmed the most, should be the ones that
13 economically benefit the most from the sale of
14 marijuana.
15 I believe very strongly that we need
16 to monitor the license distribution. We need to
17 be very clear about making sure that there's a
18 transition from the legacy businesses to this
19 legal market. And I am taking a leap of faith
20 that we will make sure that we focus on that as
21 much as we focus on the social justice issues,
22 which I am completely in support of.
23 Let me thank Yasmin Cornelius from
24 the New York Minority Alliance, Regina Smith from
25 the Harlem Business Alliance, and Kassandra
2092
1 Frederique from the Drug Policy Alliance.
2 And I also want to thank Chris
3 Alexander for really helping me to come to terms
4 that this bill will address not just social
5 justice, but economic empowerment for communities
6 that have been most harmed by marijuana.
7 And with that, I proudly vote aye.
8 Thank you, Mr. President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
10 Benjamin to be recorded in the affirmative.
11 Senator Krueger to explain her vote.
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
13 Mr. President.
14 I have so many people to thank, and
15 I won't do it, so I will get in trouble
16 afterwards.
17 But it's a historic day for
18 New York. I could not be more proud to cast my
19 vote to end the failed policies of marijuana
20 prohibition in our state and begin the process of
21 building a fair and inclusive legal market for
22 adult-use cannabis.
23 It has been a long road to get here,
24 but it will be worth the wait. The bill we have
25 held out for in this state will create a
2093
1 nation-leading model for legalization.
2 New York's program will not just
3 talk the talk on racial justice, it will walk the
4 walk. Ending racially disparate enforcement that
5 was endemic to prohibition, automatically
6 expunging the records of those who were caught up
7 in the so-called war on drugs. And channeling
8 40 percent of the revenue back into the most
9 hard-hit communities and 20 percent of the
10 revenue into treatment for more serious drug
11 addictions. And then another 40 percent into
12 education again in the communities that need it
13 most. Not to mention building a multi-billion-
14 dollar industry for New York that encourages
15 small businesses while balancing safety with
16 economic growth.
17 We would not be here today without
18 the dedicated work of my colleague and partner,
19 Assemblymember Majority Leader Crystal
20 Peoples-Stokes, who I believe is debating this
21 bill right now across the aisle in the Assembly.
22 And endless advocates and activists,
23 like the Drug Policy Alliance and many others.
24 Like Chris Alexander, who started out as a
25 staffer on the bill and became a dear friend.
2094
1 Even after he left the Senate, he's continued to
2 work so hard to make sure we get to this day.
3 I particularly want to thank my
4 leader, Senator Stewart-Cousins, for her
5 leadership that helps to make historic
6 progressive action like this a reality.
7 I want to thank my colleagues for
8 their support of this legislation, many of whom
9 told me I was crazy when I started down this
10 road. And I wondered if I was crazy, because I'm
11 not the obvious person to carry this bill. I
12 don't use marijuana. I don't particularly like
13 it. It's not my community that's paying the
14 price of our failed drug wars.
15 But I saw such injustice going on.
16 And for young people whose lives were being
17 destroyed for doing something I did when I was a
18 kid, and nobody tried to put a gun to my head,
19 and nobody tried to put me in jail, because I was
20 this nice white girl. And that there was
21 something fundamentally wrong with how we were
22 approaching this whole issue.
23 So I am very proud to have played a
24 role in what was an enormous task to get us here
25 today.
2095
1 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote
2 yes.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:
4 Senator Krueger to be recorded in the
5 affirmative.
6 Announce the results.
7 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
8 Calendar 641, those Senators voting in the
9 negative are Senators Addabbo, Akshar, Borrello,
10 Boyle, Felder, Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan,
11 Kaplan, Lanza, Martucci, Mattera, Oberacker,
12 O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Serino,
13 Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
14 Ayes, 40. Nays, 23.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
16 is passed.
17 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
18 reading of the controversial calendar.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 Is there any further business at the
22 desk?
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: There is
24 no further business at the desk.
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: I move to
2096
1 adjourn until tomorrow, Wednesday, March 31st, at
2 11:00 a.m.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: On
4 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
5 Wednesday, March 31st, at 11:00 a.m.
6 (Whereupon, at 7:22 p.m., the Senate
7 adjourned.)
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