Regular Session - May 16, 2022
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1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 May 16, 2022
11 3:43 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR SHELLEY B. MAYER, Acting President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
3 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 MAYER: 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 MAYER: Reading of
14 the Journal.
15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Sunday,
16 May 15, 2022, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, May 14,
18 2022, was read and approved. On motion, the
19 Senate adjourned.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Without
21 objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
22 Presentation of petitions.
23 Messages from the Assembly.
24 (Shushing chamber.)
25 The Secretary will read.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Senator
2 Reichlin-Melnick moves to discharge, from the
3 Committee on Health, Assembly Bill Number 8136B
4 and substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
5 3966B, Third Reading Calendar 116.
6 Senator Hoylman moves to discharge,
7 from the Committee on Health, Assembly Bill
8 Number 187 and substitute it for the identical
9 Senate Bill 431A, Third Reading Calendar 513.
10 Senator Skoufis moves to discharge,
11 from the Committee on Investigations and
12 Government Operations, Assembly Bill Number 9785
13 and substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
14 8645, Third Reading Calendar 800.
15 Senator Harckham moves to discharge,
16 from the Committee on Higher Education,
17 Assembly Bill Number 7754C and substitute it for
18 the identical Senate Bill 8533A, Third Reading
19 Calendar 885.
20 Senator Jordan moves to discharge,
21 from the Committee on Transportation, Assembly
22 Bill Number 7625A and substitute it for the
23 identical Senate Bill 6738A, Third Reading
24 Calendar 909.
25 Senator Palumbo moves to discharge,
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1 from the Committee on Investigations and
2 Government Operations, Assembly Bill Number 4069
3 and substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
4 6889, Third Reading Calendar 951.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: So
6 ordered.
7 Messages from the Governor.
8 Reports of standing committees.
9 Reports of select committees.
10 Communications and reports from
11 state officers.
12 Motions and resolutions.
13 Senator Gianaris.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Good afternoon,
15 Madam President.
16 I have a series of motions here.
17 Amendments are offered to the
18 following Third Reading Calendar bills:
19 By Senator Gounardes, page 27,
20 Calendar Number 210, Senate Print 6079A;
21 Senator Brisport, page 31, Calendar
22 Number 427, Senate Print 2586;
23 Senator Salazar, page 32, Calendar
24 Number 461, Senate Print 3081;
25 Senator Krueger, page 42, Calendar
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1 Number 706, Senate Print 8440;
2 Senator Parker, page 43, Calendar
3 Number 715, Senate Print 8405A;
4 Senator Skoufis, page 51, Calendar
5 Number 861, Senate Print 4438;
6 Senator Reichlin-Melnick, page 53,
7 Calendar Number 889, Senate Print 4150C;
8 Senator Parker, page 55, Calendar
9 Number 922, Senate Print 8491;
10 Senator Parker, page 55, Calendar
11 Number 923, Senate Print 8492;
12 Senator Kaplan, page 56, Calendar
13 Number 942, Senate Print 8023;
14 Senator Thomas, page 63, Calendar
15 Number 1026, Senate Print 8380A;
16 Senator Hoylman, page 65, Calendar
17 Number 1041, Senate Print 6291;
18 Senator Cooney, page 71, Calendar
19 Number 1115, Senate Print 8672;
20 Senator Gianaris, page 27, Calendar
21 Number 131, Senate Print 933A;
22 Senator Kaminsky, page 59, Calendar
23 Number 973, Senate Print 6793;
24 Senator May, page 60, Calendar
25 Number 977, Senate Print 8617;
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1 Senator Harckham, page 35, Calendar
2 Number 549, Senate Print 7910;
3 And Senator Liu, page 68, Calendar
4 Number 1086, Senate Print 7263A.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
6 amendments are received, and the bills will
7 retain their place on the Third Reading Calendar.
8 Senator Gianaris.
9 SENATOR GIANARIS: I now wish to
10 call up the following bills, which were recalled
11 from the Assembly and are now at the desk:
12 Senate Print Numbers 1826A and 6287B.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 248, Senate Print 1826A, by Senator Skoufis, an
17 act to amend the State Finance Law.
18 Calendar Number 683, Senate Print
19 6287B, by Senator Mannion, an act to amend the
20 Social Services Law and the Public Health Law.
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to
22 reconsider the vote by which these bills were
23 passed.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
25 roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bills
4 are restored to their place on the Third Reading
5 Calendar.
6 SENATOR GIANARIS: I offer the
7 following amendments on those bills.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 amendments are received, and the bills will
10 retain their place on the Third Reading Calendar.
11 Senator Gianaris.
12 SENATOR GIANARIS: At this time,
13 Madam President, there's a privileged resolution
14 at the desk by Senator Kennedy. Please take that
15 up, read it in its entirety, and recognize
16 Senator Kennedy on the resolution.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
18 Secretary will read.
19 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
20 2634, by Senator Kennedy, expressing sincerest
21 heartfelt condolences to the Buffalo, New York,
22 community in the wake of the devastating tragedy
23 which took place at a Tops grocery store on
24 Jefferson Avenue, and applauding all those who
25 acted immediately and heroically in the face of
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1 danger.
2 "WHEREAS, The very principles of
3 American freedom, and the safety and security of
4 every American at home and abroad were challenged
5 by the unspeakable atrocities committed in the
6 East Side of Buffalo, during a sunny afternoon on
7 Saturday, May 14, 2022, at a Tops grocery store
8 located on historic Jefferson Ave; and
9 "WHEREAS, During this senseless act
10 of violence, 10 innocent people were killed:
11 Roberta A. Drury, 32 years old; Geraldine
12 Talley, 62 years old; Celestine Chaney, 65 years
13 old; Katherine Massey, 72 years old; Pearl Young,
14 77 years old; Ruth Whitfield, 85 years old;
15 Margus D. Morrison, 52 years old; Andre Mackneil,
16 53 years old; retired Buffalo police officer
17 Aaron Salter, 55 years old; and Heyward
18 Patterson, 67 years old; and
19 "WHEREAS, In addition, Jennifer
20 Warrington, 50 years old; Zaire Goodman, 20 years
21 old; and Christopher Braden, 55 years old, were
22 wounded, however, are expected to survive; and
23 "WHEREAS, For all New Yorkers, the
24 images of this horrific domestic act of terrorism
25 rekindles heartbreaking memories and causes us to
3354
1 pause and reflect on our daily lives; and
2 "WHEREAS, The very heart and soul of
3 America has once more been shaken to its core and
4 this tragedy stands as a reminder that such
5 senseless acts of violence will not destroy the
6 values that make America great; and
7 "WHEREAS, The power of human
8 compassion and the strength and spirit of the
9 American people were revealed in Buffalo as we
10 learned of the immediate and heroic outpouring of
11 service and concern for the victims of this act
12 of terrorism and in its aftermath; and
13 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body
14 cannot express sufficient gratitude to those
15 devoted first responders, including police
16 officers, Erie County sheriff's deputies, and FBI
17 agents, as well as paramedics and firefighters,
18 who inspire us all by carrying out their sworn
19 duties with great courage and bravery; and
20 "WHEREAS, The combined and
21 coordinated efforts of these individuals and
22 their swift response are a testament to the
23 spirit of unity and fellowship in the face of
24 adversity which characterizes the best of
25 America; and
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1 "WHEREAS, The people of the State of
2 New York stand steadfast in their solidarity with
3 Buffalo, New York, all of whom were victimized by
4 the city's worst mass shooting on Saturday,
5 May 14, 2022; now, therefore, be it
6 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
7 Body pause in its deliberations to express
8 sincerest heartfelt condolences to the victims
9 and their families and to applaud all those who
10 acted immediately and heroically in the face of
11 danger, and to extend to the people of Buffalo
12 the sincere best wishes and heartfelt prayers of
13 all New Yorkers; and be it further
14 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this
15 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to
16 the Honorable Byron Brown, Mayor, Buffalo,
17 New York."
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
19 Kennedy on the resolution.
20 SENATOR KENNEDY: Thank you,
21 Madam President.
22 I rise today with the deep pain of a
23 broken heart, on behalf of a grieving community
24 in Buffalo, across New York, and across our
25 nation.
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1 I want to thank Majority Leader
2 Andrea Stewart-Cousins for her support in
3 bringing this resolution to the floor here today,
4 and for all of our colleagues standing in
5 solidarity with us Buffalonians as we confront
6 one of the saddest events in our hometown's
7 history.
8 Just over 48 hours ago, an
9 individual filled with hate, with bigotry and
10 with evil in its purest and most disgusting form,
11 walked into the Tops Friendly Markets on
12 Jefferson Avenue, the only supermarket in a food
13 desert in the heart of Buffalo's Black community,
14 and opened fire.
15 Within minutes, 10 innocent and
16 loved people, all Black, were murdered in cold
17 blood. They were targeted for one reason and one
18 reason only: The color of their skin.
19 I stand to honor their memory here
20 today as I read their names. Roberta A. Drury,
21 of Buffalo, age 32; Margus D. Morrison, of
22 Buffalo, age 52; Andre Mackniel, of Auburn,
23 age 53; Aaron Salter, of Lockport, age 55;
24 Geraldine Talley, of Buffalo, age 62; Celestine
25 Chaney, of Buffalo, age 65; Heyward Patterson, of
3357
1 Buffalo, age 67; Katherine Massey, of Buffalo,
2 age 72; Pearl Young, of Buffalo, age 77; Ruth
3 Whitfield, of Buffalo, age 86.
4 Each of them leaves behind
5 heartbroken loved ones. Each was robbed of
6 America's promise of life and liberty.
7 Three more Buffalonians, including
8 Zaire Goodman, the son of my staff member and
9 head of Diversity and Inclusion, Zeneta Everhart,
10 were shot and injured, along with Jennifer
11 Warrington, of Tonawanda, and Christopher Braden,
12 Lackawanna.
13 Zaire was just doing his job, as he
14 always does, like others that were shot that
15 day -- helping an elderly woman with her shopping
16 cart in the parking lot after she had purchased
17 food. Striking Zaire in the neck, by the grace
18 of God that bullet -- which was designed to
19 exploded upon impact and cause maximum damage --
20 passed directly through his neck and out the back
21 with only shards embedded in him, so he survived.
22 A week from today, Zaire will
23 celebrate his 21st birthday. His mother has
24 called it divine protection. It is certainly a
25 miracle, a light in the midst of our darkest day.
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1 He is now at home in his mother's care.
2 Our hearts are shattered for the
3 families who won't be able to welcome their loved
4 ones home, to provide them the tender loving care
5 that they too deserve. Our entire community, our
6 entire state, and our entire nation is
7 devastated.
8 And now, in the wake of this
9 massacre, we're left to wonder why. Why would
10 someone drive for hours to commit a murder in
11 cold blood? What would cause someone to be so
12 hateful and so cruel? Why, after Charleston,
13 after Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after
14 Las Vegas, after Orlando, after every one of the
15 countless and senseless slaughters our country
16 has witnessed, can an 18-year-old buy a weapon of
17 war, go across state lines to buy modifications
18 that are illegal here in New York, and add to
19 another city on that list?
20 And why, after everything we know,
21 does right-wing mass media continue to propagate
22 the vile ideology of white supremacy under the
23 guise of so-called replacement theory, of
24 critical race theory fearmongering, and hours and
25 hours of winks and nudges that all combine to
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1 teach hate and numb us to empathy?
2 Sadly, we know what that answer is.
3 This is the hatred that has been a part of our
4 nation even before we became a nation, but it's
5 coming back stronger than ever before, that evil
6 and that hatred -- a whole generation that's
7 being fed a steady diet of fear and lies on TV,
8 on social media, and that's resulting in what we
9 saw in Buffalo on a sunny, perfect Saturday
10 afternoon, a day that should have brought
11 Buffalonians of all races and ethnicities out to
12 enjoy our beautiful city of good neighbors.
13 We all must reject this evil world
14 view of white supremacy, and we need to call it
15 out and root it out every single opportunity that
16 we get and every time it rears its ugly head.
17 Every one of us has a moral duty to call it out
18 where we see it and when we see it, whether it's
19 on social media, on our airwaves and TV, anywhere
20 we hear or see it in the community, and even in
21 the halls of our government.
22 We haven't done enough as a state
23 and as a nation. We must recommit ourselves here
24 and now to combat this scourge on our society.
25 And if we've ever needed justification for a
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1 strong and ironclad federal assault-weapon ban
2 and background checks, this is it. This is it.
3 This morally bankrupt world view of
4 white supremacy and white nationalism that's
5 taken hold in our society must be stopped, and it
6 must be stopped in its tracks today. Enough is
7 enough. Buffalo is the City of Good Neighbors.
8 But being good neighbors didn't prevent the devil
9 from visiting us on Saturday afternoon.
10 This is bigger than just our City of
11 Buffalo. This is bigger than just our great
12 Empire State of New York. If we want to save our
13 children's future, to protect our national union
14 and to build a better society, this has to end.
15 And we need to take strong decisive action.
16 Tomorrow I'll be back home in
17 Buffalo. President Biden and First Lady Biden
18 will be in Buffalo to help mend our heartbroken
19 community and comfort the families of the souls
20 that were lost and those that continue to grieve.
21 We must continue to pray for the
22 lives that were lost, for their families, for our
23 community in Buffalo, for our state, and as a
24 nation. And I know that we have to do better,
25 that we recognize that this was not okay. That
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1 America is better than this. That New York is
2 better than this. And we will do better.
3 I want to thank all of my colleagues
4 for the outpouring of support and for communities
5 across our state, our nation, and the globe that
6 have reached out, that have offered the
7 generosity of their heart and their spirit and
8 their soul to say that they are with us in
9 Buffalo, New York, as we struggle through this
10 difficult time.
11 May those 10 beautiful souls rest in
12 peace. Please join us, Madam President, in
13 remembering each and every one of them in a
14 moment of silence.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
16 Kennedy. Senator Kennedy, because there are a
17 number of speakers who wish to speak, they've
18 asked that the moment of silence occur at the end
19 of the speakers. So everyone can take their
20 seat.
21 Thank you, Senator Kennedy.
22 SENATOR KENNEDY: Thank you.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
24 Ryan on the resolution.
25 SENATOR RYAN: Thank you, Madam
3362
1 Speaker.
2 Suddenly the -- you know, the energy
3 leaves you. You're totally heartbroken. I want
4 to yell, but I also -- you want to cry. A
5 77-year-old grandmother, a 53-year-old going out
6 to buy a cake for his grandson: I'll be back in
7 15 minutes. A 67-year-old deacon. The list goes
8 on. It was people going about their daily life
9 on a beautiful Saturday in Buffalo.
10 We had a long, hard, ugly winter.
11 It's one of our first great weekends. Everyone
12 was out. Stores were crowded. Streets were
13 crowded. It was springtime jubilation -- you
14 know, until it wasn't.
15 This all happened in less than three
16 minutes. Less than three minutes. All these
17 lives were changed. All these grandsons,
18 granddaughters, nieces, nephews, neighbors --
19 they'll never see those people again. Three
20 minutes.
21 How could that be? My kids are out
22 of college now. They're living out of town.
23 They called in tears. They want to know -- for
24 me to explain what happened. I can't explain to
25 a 22-year-old what happened. Because you can't
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1 explain it.
2 The city is filled with tears. You
3 couldn't hear a pin drop all of Saturday and all
4 of Sunday in Buffalo. And while, you know, we
5 appreciate the gestures, the outreach, the
6 president coming, we'd rather we didn't have any
7 of it and this didn't happen.
8 And each time this happens, we
9 struggle to explain it, like I tried to explain
10 to my kids. You know, you want to say it's
11 unexplainable. I don't know how this happens in
12 America. But that's really not the truth. It's
13 really not the truth.
14 Because you know what happened in a
15 historically Black church in Charleston in 2015?
16 Black people were murdered because they were
17 Black people. Do you know what happened at a gay
18 nightclub in Orlando in 2016? People were
19 murdered because they were gay. Do you know what
20 happened in Pittsburgh in 2018 at a synagogue?
21 People were murdered for the sole fact that they
22 were Jewish. A Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in
23 2019? People were murdered because they were
24 Mexican-American.
25 And now a supermarket in Buffalo in
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1 2022. I don't know whether to yell or to cry.
2 Who did this? A man-child.
3 eighteen years old. For the love of God, how
4 does an 18-year-old get this much hate in their
5 heart? And how did they get an assault weapon?
6 They'd probably never been to Buffalo before.
7 They drove two and a half hours from their
8 bucolic country town because they were afraid of
9 Black people and minorities taking over the
10 country. And this 18-year-old man-child, he
11 thought he had to respond to the call of action.
12 Where does this call come from?
13 It's all over our media. Turn on Fox News,
14 you'll hear it. Go to any of the blogs, you'll
15 hear it. The replacement theory: There's an
16 elitist conspiracy taking place in America to
17 have minorities replace white people. You may
18 laugh and say, Well, that's the craziest thing in
19 the world. Well, almost every one of those mass
20 murderers I just read, they were fueled by that
21 theory.
22 How could it be? How could it be
23 that this is creeping its way through cable news
24 and the internet -- now into mainstream
25 right-wing political discourse? Well, we all
3365
1 know about the replacement theory. Well, that's
2 what happens when this thing goes to check. So
3 who's to blame? The 18-year-old gunman, that's
4 for sure.
5 How about the gun industry,
6 convincing Americans, hey, maybe a really cool
7 thing to do is buy an AR-15. Twenty years ago no
8 one had a gun like that in America. Now they
9 mass market them. Cheap guns. Cheap Bushmaster
10 guns. Under a thousand dollars, you can buy a
11 gun that can kill a whole supermarket full of
12 people in three minutes.
13 The gun industry sells loads that
14 are designed to maim and kill humans, to tear
15 through their flesh. These are not loads
16 designed to take down a deer. These are loads
17 designed in a laboratory, in one of any of the
18 ammunition manufacturers in America, to kill us.
19 Not to kill a rabbit, not to kill a squirrel.
20 How about the paramilitary industry?
21 This kid looks like he was out of some special
22 forces regiment. Who sells Kevlar helmets to the
23 American public? Who sells armor-plated tactical
24 gear? In my lifetime that was only available
25 under military license. Now anybody with a
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1 crackpot conspiracy theory can go buy weapons of
2 war.
3 And certainly we know the biggest
4 commercialization of this hateful rhetoric all
5 comes through cable news. It comes through AM
6 radio. Yesterday I was driving around, I turned
7 in a few times to AM radio to hear live updates.
8 And I didn't get a chance to turn my radio off
9 before the call-ins started, because my day would
10 have been a lot better if I hadn't heard the
11 call-ins.
12 Hardly any thoughts and prayers on
13 local AM radio. You know what they wanted to
14 talk about? They wanted to talk about the
15 replacement theory. That's what they wanted to
16 talk about. They didn't want to talk about the
17 people who lost their lives. They didn't want to
18 talk of the people who didn't come home. Not a
19 lot of sympathy, not a lot of empathy. But boy,
20 were they pretty clear about what was going wrong
21 in America.
22 Now, we can say this gunman didn't
23 come from Buffalo, and that might give us some
24 sort of salve on our wounds. But those call-in
25 shows that I heard all yesterday afternoon, they
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1 were just my friends and neighbors.
2 So what's the call to action? I
3 wish I had a real easy one. But we all know it,
4 we all hear it. We've all heard it through our
5 lifetimes, right? You hear the off-color joke,
6 you hear the off-color comment, you hear the
7 people on cable news. I might go on the same
8 AM radio program. I'm not going on those
9 programs anymore.
10 We're at a point in America where
11 I'd like to say I don't want to be in the same
12 category as El Paso and Pittsburgh. So Buffalo's
13 in there now. And I'd love to stand in front of
14 you to say this is it. It will never happen
15 again. We're going to stop it.
16 But I'm despondent today. I don't
17 have any faith that we, as Broome County
18 residents, as Erie County residents, that we are
19 going to come together and actually stop this,
20 that we're going to have the courage to stop
21 this. I don't have the confidence that we as
22 New Yorkers come together.
23 And I don't have any confidence that
24 we as Americans can come together and recognize
25 that we're all American, that there are no
3368
1 others, outsiders, interlopers, people who should
2 not be given the full rights of the Constitution.
3 I don't think we're there. I feel sorry for the
4 next city, the next town, the next church, the
5 next synagogue who has to go through the pain
6 that we're experiencing in Buffalo, New York.
7 And I tell you, I pray to God there is no next
8 city, but I wish in my intellectual brain that
9 I -- I wish that could be true. But I don't find
10 that to be true today.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
12 Senator Ryan.
13 Senator Helming on the resolution.
14 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you,
15 Madam President.
16 Today I rise to express my outrage
17 and my disgust over the horrific actions of a
18 sick, evil person who murdered innocent, innocent
19 people for no reason other than the color of
20 their skin.
21 It's got to stop. The hatred, the
22 evil, the picking out people because of their
23 religious beliefs, their sexual orientation,
24 their race. It has got to stop, and we've got to
25 take actions to move further in that direction.
3369
1 But today I have to say that I am
2 still reeling from this whole tragedy -- not only
3 as a Senator but as a mother and a grandmother.
4 Today is my grandson's first birthday, and I
5 think of these families who are just shattered
6 now. They've suffered a loss that I can't even
7 begin to imagine.
8 One of the victims that Senator
9 Kennedy mentioned was from Cayuga County, lives
10 in the City of Auburn, a 53-year-old man by the
11 name of Andre Mackniel, the father of a
12 3-year-old son. I think it was Senator Ryan who
13 mentioned that Andre was at Tops picking up a
14 birthday cake. I'm telling you, I'm shaking
15 standing here. It makes me sick, sick. His son
16 is now going to grow up without a father.
17 I think whether you're from Buffalo,
18 whether you're from Auburn or whether you're from
19 downstate -- the Bronx, Queens -- this hits too
20 close to home for all of us, as parents, as
21 grandparents, as sisters and brothers, as
22 neighbors and friends. Our collective community
23 was attacked by terror, by hatred, and we mourn
24 together.
25 I really want to take a moment and
3370
1 thank all of the brave men and women who came to
2 aid their fellow citizens. There are images that
3 have been all over the media showing -- I saw a
4 lot of photos showing law enforcement officers
5 comforting family members, wrapping their arms
6 around them and trying to do whatever they could
7 to aid their fellow citizens. I want to thank
8 those police officers, the EMS workers, the
9 firefighters and the first responders who
10 answered this call.
11 There really are no words today that
12 can heal the pain of this reality. Today,
13 though, we stand together with the victim's
14 families and with the entire Buffalo community
15 and all those who have been impacted by this
16 horrific event.
17 I know words aren't enough, and to
18 say our thoughts and prayers are with them. But
19 prayers are meaningful to me, and my thoughts and
20 prayers are with them. And today we are all
21 Buffalo strong.
22 Thank you, Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
24 Senator Helming.
25 Senator Lanza on the resolution.
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1 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you,
2 Madam President.
3 I rise to speak on this resolution
4 brought to the floor by my good friend Senator
5 Kennedy. My heart goes out to you and your
6 community.
7 Of course the victims and their
8 families are and will continue to be in my
9 prayers. I believe in the power of prayer,
10 Madam President. I think this is a good time for
11 all of us in the State of New York to pray.
12 I thought this was going to be
13 simply that, a moment of reflection. I suppose
14 it's just too hard for people in politics to pass
15 on the opportunity to speak in terms of politics.
16 We could talk a lot about why things
17 like this happen. That are lot of factors. At
18 the end of the day, the murderer is a sick, lost,
19 depraved, evil person. And his evil has stuck a
20 dagger through the heart of our state.
21 There are a lot of societal
22 influences and causes and problems and factors
23 that make this more and more a possibility in our
24 society. But if we're going to talk about Fox,
25 we should talk about CNN. I didn't start this,
3372
1 but this is what I listen to.
2 I see plenty of hate and division on
3 CNN. I see it in schools, I see it in society.
4 It is on the internet, it is in politics, it is
5 in Congress, it is in the Senate, it is in
6 New York, it is in California, it is in Florida,
7 it is in Minnesota.
8 Martin Luther King, Dr. Martin
9 Luther King said the only way to defeat hate is
10 with love. It would be nice if we returned to
11 those types of conversations. In New York City,
12 my beloved city, last year 500 people were
13 murdered. They were white, they were Black, they
14 were Latino, they were Asian, they were gay, they
15 were straight, they were Jewish, they were
16 Muslim, they were Christian.
17 Are we really going to do this,
18 Madam President? Shouldn't we really look at the
19 causes? Shouldn't we start to teach our children
20 that they are loved? Shouldn't we teach them to
21 love? Isn't that the message that we adults, we
22 elected officials should be imparting to the next
23 generation?
24 I see it on Staten Island. Kids are
25 taught in school that they are hated or that they
3373
1 do hate. And it's got to stop. This is the
2 result of it. White supremacy? You've got to be
3 a moron, beyond being evil, to subscribe to that
4 sort of bias. We all know that. Hate of all
5 kinds, discrimination of all kinds is wrong and
6 evil.
7 I promise, Madam President, I'm not
8 going to use this tragedy for the purpose of
9 getting elected or to advance the cause of anyone
10 else getting elected. Or for the cause of
11 preventing someone from getting elected. There
12 are 10 lives that have been lost. As Senator
13 Kennedy pointed out, 10 souls. And really the
14 cause for all of this is hatred and evil. And we
15 could root it out, but we've got to come
16 together. We've got to join together. There are
17 plenty of things that it is appropriate for us to
18 disagree on -- plenty. And we should and we
19 must. But there are some things that we must
20 unite. And this is one of them.
21 Tell those families that it's
22 because of Fox News or CNN or this or that.
23 That's great consolation, Madam President. We
24 all know in our hearts what the problem is. The
25 problem is the fact that we have allowed hate to
3374
1 really, across all lines, fester in society, sped
2 through the internet. We've ignored the problems
3 that are right in front of our face.
4 Madam President, I pray for the
5 victims of this crime.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
7 Senator Akshar on the resolution.
8 SENATOR AKSHAR: Madam President,
9 thank you.
10 Senator Kennedy, Senator Ryan, on
11 behalf of my family, my team, and all of my
12 constituency back at home, we want to offer our
13 condolences for the events as they transpired
14 this Saturday.
15 I want to call that event exactly
16 what it was. It was a cowardly act. It was an
17 act of domestic terrorism by, yes, a white
18 supremacist, a violent extremist motivated by
19 hate, motivated by racism.
20 It's important that I rise today
21 because not only do the people in this room now
22 know, not only do the people across this great
23 state now know -- people across the world know
24 that the perpetrator of this crime came from my
25 community, came from Broome County.
3375
1 It's important that I rise to let my
2 colleagues in this room know and let New Yorkers
3 know and let people know across this globe,
4 frankly, that the actions of that young man in no
5 way reflect the people of Broome County. In no
6 way do those actions reflect the people of the
7 Southern Tier.
8 The people where I am from, we do
9 not care about the color of one's skin. We do
10 not care about one's religion, we don't care
11 about their sexual orientation. We are a
12 community that loves one another. Just like you
13 do in Buffalo. We are a community that cares
14 about one another, just like you do in Buffalo.
15 And as I said, we're a community that supports
16 one another, just like you do in Buffalo.
17 My distinguished colleague from
18 Buffalo, Senator Ryan, you said "they" came
19 from -- let us remind ourselves, it wasn't they
20 came from, he came from that community. But as I
21 said, he doesn't reflect the people of the
22 community that I so proudly represent.
23 I think we have some options here.
24 And it is truly my hope, Madam President, that we
25 not continue down this path of right-wing this,
3376
1 left-wing that. We don't continue down a path in
2 which we add fuel to the fire or we fan the
3 flames. We don't allow this conversation to
4 become hyper-political. That we allow this issue
5 to not divide us but, as Senator Lanza said,
6 unite us. As colleagues in this august body, as
7 New Yorkers, that truly is my hope, is that we
8 can find some common ground around this issue to
9 ensure that this doesn't happen again.
10 Senator Ryan, you mentioned many
11 cities. Binghamton is not immune to mass
12 shootings. In 2009, the American Civic
13 Association, 13 people lost their lives then,
14 long before I was elected, but a member of law
15 enforcement. So our community knows too how you
16 feel.
17 But Madam President, it truly is my
18 hope that we can unite around this issue and move
19 the policy and move the discussion in a very
20 positive way to help New Yorkers.
21 And I'll repeat what Senator Lanza
22 said. I think now is the time for us all to do a
23 little praying. My prayer, of course, is that
24 God will put His mighty and powerful hands on the
25 people of Buffalo as you mourn.
3377
1 Madam President, thank you.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
3 Senator Akshar.
4 Senator Borrello on the resolution.
5 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you,
6 Madam President.
7 I rise to share my condolences, my
8 support and my outrage with my fellow Western
9 New Yorkers.
10 Senator Ryan, Senator Kennedy, thank
11 you for speaking today. We may disagree on some
12 things, but I do know one thing. Western
13 New York is resilient. And we are a close-knit
14 community. Even though I live 35, 40 miles away
15 from the scene of this despicable act, I know
16 people there. A good friend of mine is actually
17 a pharmacist for many years at that location.
18 Thankfully she wasn't working that day. But the
19 pharmacist that was working was grazed by a
20 bullet and is recovering now.
21 It is a grim reminder that this can
22 happen even in the City of Good Neighbors, even
23 in a community like Western New York that is so
24 strong.
25 It's also a grim reminder that there
3378
1 is evil in this world. We often try to explain
2 that away. But that evil exists, and it festered
3 inside of this despicable human. He drove for
4 hours, he got out of that car -- every moment an
5 opportunity to say to himself, I shouldn't be
6 doing this. But he didn't. His isolation, his
7 anger, his evil, it grew. And the people on that
8 beautiful day in Buffalo suffered as a result.
9 As a community, Western New York suffers as a
10 result.
11 And that despicable human being is
12 now in custody. Thank God for law enforcement,
13 for our first responders. They put themselves in
14 harm's way, as they always do. I honestly only
15 wish he would have pulled that trigger when he
16 put that gun under his neck. It would have saved
17 us -- even though we wouldn't have gotten some
18 answers, it would have saved a lot more grief,
19 quite frankly.
20 A retired police officer -- who
21 probably knew at that moment that his life was
22 going to come to an end -- did he turn tail and
23 run? No. He fired shots at a man wearing armor
24 that he knew would likely not strike, but he did
25 it anyway, because he was going to do his part.
3379
1 And he is indeed a hero.
2 We as a society have devalued life.
3 We have allowed our children to be hateful, to
4 live in a virtual world. And that is why this
5 evil has continued to fester. And we can make
6 excuses and we can be political, but the reality
7 is that is what happened. We've allowed them to
8 live in a virtual world where someone can die and
9 then, in a video game, be resurrected. Or
10 someone can listen over and over again to evil,
11 despicable theories and suffer no consequence.
12 We live in a world, quite frankly,
13 where we have ignored, because we are concerned,
14 that great need to address those with violent
15 mental illness and tendencies. We've shut down
16 hospitals to deal with that, and we've shut down
17 observation beds. We've actually said we don't
18 want to give mental health professionals the
19 opportunity to take a little more time to
20 evaluate someone to see if they are dangerous
21 enough that they should be held.
22 We want to place blame, but the
23 reality is evil exists. And until we recognize
24 the fact that we are allowing that evil to
25 fester, this will not come to an end.
3380
1 My friends and neighbors in
2 Western New York, we will do as we always do: We
3 will rally. We will set aside our differences
4 and we will help one another. That's already
5 happening. We've seen that. It will continue.
6 That is the community that Western New York is,
7 and I'm proud to be part of that community.
8 Regardless of my political affiliations and my
9 political philosophies, I am proud to stand here
10 as a fellow Western New Yorker.
11 So, Madam President, we move forward
12 now. The pain that drives us I hope will help
13 lead us to a better future.
14 Thank you.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
16 Senator Borrello.
17 Senator Bailey on the resolution.
18 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you,
19 Madam President.
20 James Baldwin famously said to be
21 Black and to be semiconscious in America is to be
22 in a constant state of rage. Let me say that
23 again to you: To be in a constant state of rage.
24 My rage is pointed in many
25 directions. To the coward white supremacist and
3381
1 the beliefs that he holds that are espoused by
2 many people, my rage sits squarely with him. My
3 rage sits for those who want to pontificate about
4 what this is and what it's not, for a YouTube
5 clip or 15 likes on your Twitter or your
6 Instagram.
7 Do you think the families of those
8 victims give a damn about your Twitter or
9 Instagram right now? You think they care? You
10 think they care about being -- you know what they
11 think of right now, Madam President, what I
12 believe they think? Their family members or
13 friends or loved ones went to a supermarket, a
14 supermarket -- add that to the list of sitting on
15 your couch doing nothing, going for a jog, you
16 know, driving, walking -- just a typical day of
17 being black in America. Just a typical day.
18 Add that to the list of questions
19 that your kids ask you. Is it safe to go there,
20 Dad? Can we go to places like that? Can we go
21 to ShopRite now? Can we go to Fairway, Dad?
22 Will they do that to us?
23 To be black and to be semiconscious
24 in America is to be in a constant state of rage.
25 I am enraged for my friends in Western New York.
3382
1 I've spoken to Tim Kennedy probably a hundred
2 times on the telephone, and I've never heard his
3 voice like I heard it on Saturday. Frustrated,
4 confused, sad, not knowing what was next. My
5 heart aches for you, Tim, and for you, Sean, and
6 for all of Western New York.
7 This is one of these scenarios where
8 if you're really going to talk about let it be a
9 teachable moment or a pivotal moment in our
10 society, that I want to make sure we commend the
11 courage of people who are not afraid of what this
12 was, a white supremacy -- thank you,
13 Senator Akshar. Thank you. Because some people
14 like to dance around what it was. That's white
15 supremacy, folks. Call it what you want, but
16 that's what it was.
17 This is not about your political
18 affiliation. It's not about what you believe who
19 should be where in office. This is about
20 400-plus years of the constant and consistent
21 devaluation of Black life in this country.
22 Period.
23 (Thunder clap.)
24 SENATOR BAILEY: God speaks to us.
25 (Members react.)
3383
1 SENATOR KENNEDY: That's right.
2 That's right.
3 SENATOR BAILEY: God moves.
4 SENATOR KENNEDY: That's right.
5 SENATOR BAILEY: God moves.
6 SENATOR KENNEDY: That's right.
7 SENATOR BAILEY: I am a man of
8 faith, and I believe that coincidence does not
9 happen when it's supposed to happen. It's
10 supposed to happen when it's supposed to happen,
11 and the thunder that rolls through this very
12 chamber right now was giving us a message.
13 SENATOR KENNEDY: Got it.
14 SENATOR BAILEY: It's telling us
15 that in the unofficial Black national anthem of
16 "Lift Every Voice and Sing," if we lift every
17 voice and sing, that is the way we propel things,
18 not the Democratic voice and sing, not the
19 Republican voice and sing, not the Western
20 New York or the Hudson Valley or the New York
21 City or Westchester County voice and sing. This
22 is every voice and sing.
23 So if we're going to do it, let's do
24 it. I look forward to that day that Dr. King
25 dreamed of in 1968 where he talked about our
3384
1 children being able to walk as one.
2 I am prayerful for the families that
3 we've lost. And I hope that I can take this
4 crystal ball that we have and see that this won't
5 happen again.
6 But until we're unafraid to address
7 our fears, until we're comfortable with being
8 uncomfortable, my crystal ball says this might
9 not be the last time. There's 63 of us in this
10 chamber. We have a job to do. I plan on doing
11 it.
12 God bless the souls of the faithful
13 departed.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
15 Senator Bailey.
16 Senator Rath on the resolution.
17 SENATOR RATH: Thank you,
18 Madam President.
19 Two days ago evil, wicked hatred and
20 racism affected our hometown of Buffalo,
21 New York. I look at my colleagues who are fellow
22 Buffalonians, and our hearts were broken. It's
23 one of the days that we'll all remember where we
24 were at the exact moment that we got the news.
25 "State of shock" is an understatement to how this
3385
1 impacted our community, how it's going to impact
2 each and every of us in our community and
3 everyone in the state for a very, very long time.
4 My prayers are with the victims. My
5 prayers are with the families. My prayers are
6 with all those affected. And my prayers haven't
7 stopped. They haven't stopped in two days.
8 They call Buffalo the City of Good
9 Neighbors. It absolutely is. But it's not just
10 Buffalo that's the City of Good Neighbors;
11 Western New York is a community of good
12 neighbors. We are all unified. Not in partisan
13 politics, we're all unified as fellow Western
14 New Yorkers. Senator Kennedy, Senator Ryan, we
15 joked about that in the past, how we're Western
16 New Yorkers first. And this shattered our
17 hearts, shocked our communities.
18 And with this incredible news
19 there's an opportunity for love. There's an
20 opportunity for unity. There's an opportunity
21 for us to all come together and look beyond
22 whatever partisanship might be out there to lift
23 up our Western New York community at a time when
24 our communities need to be lifted up more so than
25 ever. This is arguably the darkest day in
3386
1 Buffalo history, which makes it the darkest day
2 in Western New York history.
3 We are saddened beyond belief. We
4 are broken and we're looking for answers.
5 Together, I call on each and every
6 one of my colleagues here in the State Senate for
7 unity, love and us working together to root out
8 hatred, to root out evil and to root out all
9 these negative forces in our society. In my
10 heart, I know we can do this. I believe we can
11 do this, and we must.
12 Thank you, Madam President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
14 Senator Rath.
15 Leader Ortt on the resolution.
16 SENATOR ORTT: Thank you,
17 Madam President.
18 It's always tougher when you go
19 towards the end because a lot of things have been
20 said and I think said quite well by all of my
21 colleagues.
22 I want to thank Senator Kennedy for
23 bringing the resolution. I just wish he didn't
24 have to.
25 Very often we'll get up here and
3387
1 we'll talk about resolutions, we'll talk about
2 bills, and we're speaking in general terms or
3 we're speaking in abstract terms because we're
4 talking about people sometimes that we don't know
5 or we're talking about situations that we're
6 unfamiliar with but we may have a strong belief
7 or passion on.
8 For Senator Kennedy, that was not
9 the case on Saturday. His staff member's son was
10 in that grocery store. Now, we all have staff
11 and we all know if you're an elected official
12 worth your salt, your staff is really an
13 extension of your family. Sometimes you see them
14 more than your family. And I can only imagine
15 what was going through Senator Kennedy's head,
16 his heart. And I can only imagine the sense of
17 relief, however tragic, that his staff member's
18 son made it out alive even though 10 other people
19 did not.
20 And I'm sure there are people in
21 that store for the rest of their lives who will
22 always wonder why I got out and someone else
23 didn't. That's a real -- trust me, that is what
24 will go through their mind. It may not be
25 tomorrow, it might be 10 years from now.
3388
1 I wish I could unequivocally sit
2 here and say this is what we need to do. I, for
3 one, can't. I have ideas, I have thoughts on
4 what we should do, what we could have done. But
5 I don't know that that would have prevented what
6 happened. My feeling is if it was that simple,
7 it might have been done already.
8 And no doubt there will be a time we
9 have an opportunity to do some good out of
10 tragedies like this. And there will be a time
11 for political debate, for policy debate, for what
12 the right thing to do. But we can't shy away
13 from what we saw on Saturday. When you think of
14 the hate, to drive three hours to go kill people
15 you'd never met. When you're 18 years old.
16 That's supposed to be the start of your life.
17 Everything's in front of you. Not the case for
18 this young man.
19 And I know when we have tragedies
20 like this, grief demands an answer. And very
21 often the answer isn't satisfying enough. If the
22 shooter had come out and he had been the devil
23 himself, Satan incarnate, maybe that would have
24 satisfied us. But it's not. It's an 18-year-old
25 kid, by most standards. An adult, but a kid. An
3389
1 18-year-old kid with that much hate at 18,
2 subscribing to an intellectually vapid,
3 completely ridiculous, debunked theory that we
4 thought had been thrown in the dustbin of
5 history.
6 But there's corners of the world
7 where hate will always fester, like a virus. In
8 dark corners on the web, in dark chat rooms, in
9 the recesses of his own mind -- and maybe other
10 places that we don't know -- that hate grew and
11 was festered. And there will be a time and a
12 place to talk about what we can do about that,
13 and I think we as elected leaders have an
14 obligation to have that dialogue.
15 But I'm not going to have it here,
16 because this is a somber event where we're trying
17 to remember the 10 people who didn't come out of
18 that grocery store, the 10 people whose lives
19 ended because they went grocery shopping. Or, in
20 the case of one individual, Aaron Salter, who
21 lived in Lockport, in my district, because he
22 went to work.
23 A retired Buffalo police officer, he
24 probably thought, after being a retired cop in
25 Buffalo, that the most dangerous days of his life
3390
1 were behind him. But true to his training, and
2 true to the ethos of our law enforcement -- and
3 it gives me no pleasure to say this, but he died
4 a hero trying to protect the people in that
5 store.
6 And I want to thank the law
7 enforcement who did show up that day, very
8 quickly, because we know that this individual's
9 rampage was not meant to end at 10 people in
10 Tops. We know that he intended to go down the
11 street into the neighborhood to kill more people,
12 so powerful was his hate.
13 So to the people of Buffalo and
14 Western New York, our hearts are heavy. Not only
15 if you're from Western New York, if you're from
16 New York, if you're an American.
17 To the families, I think it was said
18 by Senator Bailey, they don't care about the
19 politics or the TikTok video or the press
20 release. None of it brings back their loved one.
21 None of it makes it okay. None of it explains
22 it. And I fear that we will fall short in that
23 task anyways, but we have to try, no doubt.
24 So, Madam President, on behalf of
25 myself and our conference, I certainly extend our
3391
1 deepest condolences, our prayers to the families
2 who lost their loved ones that day. May they
3 rest in peace, and may they not have died in
4 vain.
5 Thank you.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
7 Senator Ortt.
8 Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins on
9 the resolution.
10 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank
11 you, Madam President.
12 You know, I -- this is such a hard
13 thing. And my heart goes out to Senator Kennedy,
14 Senator Ryan, all of my colleagues in Western
15 New York, all of my colleagues who woke up in the
16 skin we're in when once again we were reminded
17 that just being can be perilous.
18 Nobody -- nobody can take away the
19 pain of those families, the community, Western
20 New York. The condolences, the prayers, they
21 will help. No, the families don't care about
22 tweeting and politics. But they do care, I'm
23 sure, that we prove that their loved ones did not
24 die in vain because we actually did do something
25 different -- learned something from what rhetoric
3392
1 can do, understand that each of us have a role to
2 play in creating a society that is indeed
3 respectful.
4 Stop pretending that this is one
5 thing here and everything else is fine. All
6 these -- this is one isolated and everything --
7 no, it's not. It's not. It's not. We all love
8 our neighbors, but it's everybody else that may
9 be a suspect, may be harmful. We've got to be
10 afraid.
11 And now it's amplified. It used to
12 be kind of embarrassing, but now it's not. Now
13 you're out there and you could say anything and
14 it's okay and you get more likes and more tweets
15 and more publicity. And people who are spouting
16 these theories actually are really high-rated.
17 People are listening. They're listening. People
18 are winning and losing because they are saying
19 these things.
20 People don't want to be political
21 about it, but the only way you seem to be winning
22 in politics these days is by espousing hate and
23 fear and what do we do to stop those people from
24 those people? That's what we're doing.
25 And yeah, all of a sudden we wake up
3393
1 in our neighborhoods. It's amazing how many
2 people are impacted, people whose employees --
3 people who lived in different places, people who
4 worked in -- people who came from different
5 places. We're New York, and we are supposed to
6 be, you know, on another level. And guess what?
7 We're not. We're just like everybody else.
8 But we know that even though we
9 don't want to have these conversations, it's
10 things like this that actually spark these
11 conversations. Where for a brief moment, maybe,
12 we open our hearts and our minds and say, Wait a
13 minute -- is truth that scary? Is understanding
14 the history of this great country that scary?
15 Even if it doesn't depict everybody in the best
16 light, it doesn't mean that we've done everything
17 wrong.
18 But we have to be able to say that
19 there were things that happened that place us in
20 places where we may not want to be, but if we
21 continue to pretend that it's not a problem and
22 we continue to elevate voices that exacerbate
23 fear and ignorance and hatred because we can win
24 a race or two, we will find that each and every
25 one of us will have incidents like this. And
3394
1 suddenly this American dream, inspired by an
2 enlightened Constitution that brought all of us
3 as far as we've come, will mean nothing.
4 Nothing.
5 I am sorry that we're having this
6 conversation because of these tragic loss of
7 lives. I'm sorry that we're compelled to
8 confront white supremacy, racism, hatred on the
9 backs of those you love in your communities. But
10 if we in this day aren't willing to look very
11 clearly at a role that we can play, going
12 forward, to reset, to think twice, to roll back,
13 to stop -- and to be again from a period that
14 honors the sacrifice of these 10 souls.
15 Madam President, I think we are
16 ready for our moment of silence. And I pray that
17 we as a body continue to make an example of who
18 we can be, not only as politicians but as real
19 public servants, making this a New York that
20 leads in bringing people together.
21 (Whereupon, the assemblage rose and
22 respected a moment of silence.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
24 Gianaris, the question is on the resolution. All
25 those in favor signify by saying aye.
3395
1 (Response of "Aye.")
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Opposed,
3 nay.
4 (No response.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
6 resolution is adopted.
7 Senator Gianaris.
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
9 Madam President.
10 Thank you to all my colleagues for
11 engaging in what was undoubtedly a very difficult
12 and emotional conversation. And thank you, of
13 course, to our leader for her always appropriate
14 remarks.
15 All right, can we now move on to the
16 next resolution. Please take up previously
17 adopted Resolution 1647, by Senator Cooney, read
18 its title only, and recognize Senator Cooney.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
20 Secretary will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
22 1647, by Senator Cooney, mourning the death of
23 George R. Miles, Sr., meritorious veteran,
24 distinguished citizen and devoted member of his
25 community.
3396
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
2 Cooney on the resolution.
3 SENATOR COONEY: Thank you,
4 Madam President.
5 I walked into this Senate chamber
6 with a heavy heart, with Buffalo on our mind,
7 because we of course have just recounted how
8 difficult this is and how we've broken the
9 promise of America.
10 And I've been thinking about all of
11 those who have come before today and all of those
12 who have fought bravely to make sure that we can
13 live in this country, we can have these types of
14 important conversations and civic dialogue.
15 And today, Madam President, I'd like
16 to recognize a member of my community, a
17 well-respected Rochesterian and gentleman,
18 tireless of faith and dedication, whose life of
19 public service and accomplishments continue to
20 serve as an inspiration for others.
21 A resident of the Town of Greece,
22 George R. Miles, Sr., proudly served our country
23 as a member of the United States Army and
24 National Guard for 35 years. While serving with
25 the military, George had the distinct honor of
3397
1 protecting the national Capitol as a member of
2 the "Old Guard." He was also assigned to the
3 Honor Guard for President Truman, as well as to
4 guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
5 During the Korean War, George was
6 deployed to East Asia with the 1st Cavalry
7 Division, C Company Infantry of the 7th Cavalry
8 Regiment. And while serving on the front lines,
9 his company was pinned down by enemy fire. He
10 risked his life to help protect a fellow soldier
11 from being hit. George was injured by a shell
12 blast in the process and was taken to the local
13 MASH unit.
14 This is a story which is worth
15 telling on this Senate floor, because it's
16 absolutely incredible. In that moment, George
17 believed he had seen divine intervention, because
18 the hospital he was taken to just happened to be
19 where his brother, who he had grown up separately
20 from, in different foster homes, was also taken.
21 And they were reunited there after a fellow
22 corpsman noticed they had the same last name.
23 Neither even know knew each other was in the
24 Army.
25 Perhaps even more incredibly,
3398
1 George's brother, Dick, was in the same division
2 as he and was part of the company that was asked
3 to provide supporting fire for George's company,
4 leading up to the incident that sent him to the
5 hospital. While they were both not discharged at
6 the same time, the brothers remained close and
7 were both awarded Purple Hearts, back in
8 Rochester, for their service.
9 George continued his commitment to
10 public service, employed by the great City of
11 Rochester for 30 years, and was an active member
12 of several communities of faith.
13 Today would have been George's 90th
14 birthday, and his daughter Joanne shared with me
15 that she and his family believe he is with us
16 today in spirit, looking down with his beaming
17 smile, and that the strength of his spirit can be
18 felt as we honor his life today.
19 His family was not able to attend in
20 person, but his children are watching via
21 livestream, and I'm thankful for their help in
22 sharing this important story with all of us.
23 May we work to honor and keep the
24 freedoms that he and so many others have fought
25 to preserve over their lifetimes to our great
3399
1 nation.
2 Thank you, Madam President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
4 Senator Cooney.
5 The resolution was previously
6 adopted on January 19th.
7 Senator Gianaris. Oh, Senator
8 Serrano.
9 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you. At
10 the request of the sponsor, the resolution is
11 open for cosponsorship.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
13 resolution is open for cosponsorship. Should you
14 choose not to be a cosponsor of the resolution,
15 please notify the desk.
16 Senator Serrano.
17 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you.
18 Please call on Senator Cooney for an
19 introduction.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
21 Cooney.
22 SENATOR COONEY: Thank you,
23 Madam President. I'm getting my workout in here
24 today.
25 (Laughter.)
3400
1 SENATOR COONEY: I'd like to
2 introduce a number of guests that are visiting
3 the Senate today from the Coalition of
4 Asian-American IPAs. May, of course, is
5 AAPI Month, and as a member of the AAPI
6 community, I am honored to highlight the work of
7 this organization that has both regional and
8 statewide impact, CAIPA.
9 CAIPA's mission is to unite top
10 healthcare professionals in providing
11 high-quality care while utilizing the most
12 cost-effective approach and enhancing the
13 interests of relevant stakeholders in the public
14 and private sectors. They strive to be a thought
15 leader in delivering quality and affordable
16 healthcare to meet the challenges of
17 Asian-American health disparities in the great
18 State of New York and its metropolitan area of
19 New York City and expanding regions.
20 CAIPA takes pride in its provider
21 network, with over 1,000 private practices and
22 over 70 specialties. They help deliver medical
23 services and care to approximately a half-million
24 Asian New Yorkers.
25 Joining us today is Dr. George Liu,
3401
1 president and CEO; Peggy Sheng, chief operating
2 officer; Shirley Huang, director of public
3 relations; and Eliza Ng, chief medical officer.
4 Please join me in welcoming CAIPA
5 and thanking these members for their service to
6 ensuring quality healthcare and addressing
7 Asian-American health needs in New York.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
9 Senator Cooney.
10 To our guests, I welcome you on
11 behalf of the Senate. We extend to you the
12 privileges and courtesies of this house. We
13 recognize you here today.
14 (Standing ovation.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
16 Gianaris.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: At this time can
18 we take up the reading of the calendar, please.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
20 Secretary will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2,
22 Senate Print 284C, by Senator Myrie, an act to
23 amend the Election Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
25 last section.
3402
1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
2 act shall take effect January 1, 2023.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
4 roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
7 Borrello to explain his vote.
8 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you,
9 Madam President.
10 Certainly I have déjà vu again. I
11 did debate this bill with Senator Myrie, and I
12 expressed my extreme concerns with the idea of
13 letting someone vote somewhere where they are not
14 actually registered to vote.
15 Because the discussion was on
16 disenfranchising people, and as I said then, I
17 think a bigger disenfranchisement would be having
18 a ballot thrown out because you voted somewhere
19 and voted for people on the ballot that you
20 aren't allowed to vote for because you don't live
21 in that community.
22 Senator Myrie said 14,000 people
23 showed up at the wrong polling place last year,
24 and I imagine most of those people went to the
25 right polling place. Now no one's going to tell
3403
1 those people that their ballot may not count,
2 that the votes they cast may not count should
3 they fill this out entirely, even for those folks
4 that they are not entitled to vote for.
5 That concerns me. It's confusing,
6 and in the end I don't think we're doing a
7 service to our communities and certainly not to
8 the voters. We have 10 days of voting in every
9 election. That, to me, is a better solution than
10 essentially deceiving someone that they may
11 actually be voting in the right place for the
12 wrong person.
13 Thank you.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
15 Borrello to be recorded in the negative.
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar Number 2, those Senators voting in the
19 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
20 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
21 Martucci, Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
22 Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and
23 Weik.
24 Ayes, 41. Nays, 20.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3404
1 is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 116, Assembly Print Number 8136B, by
4 Assemblymember Paulin, an act to amend the
5 Public Health Law and the General Business Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
11 roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
14 Reichlin-Melnick to explain his vote.
15 SENATOR REICHLIN-MELNICK: Thank
16 you very much, Madam President.
17 This will be a brief explanation,
18 because frankly this is a commonsense bill which
19 we have passed in the past, but it looks like the
20 Assembly is finally going to move it.
21 Because for too many years, parents
22 would send their kids to camps, and most people
23 assume that if you send your kid to camp, that
24 the counselors have gone through a background
25 check, that the camp has had to make sure they're
3405
1 not on the sex offender registry, and anything
2 else that might keep your kids safe.
3 And yet thousands and thousands of
4 kids in New York attend unregulated, unregistered
5 camps. And these are usually single-purpose
6 camps. It could be a soccer clinic for a few
7 weeks over the summer. It could be, you know, a
8 baseball camp, it could be a chess camp, anything
9 like that. But the reality of the current law is
10 that the counselors and the adults who are
11 interacting with kids in those camps do not have
12 to be screened whether or not they are on the sex
13 offender registry.
14 So this bill that we're passing
15 today will require that for the first time, that
16 no matter whether it's a registered or an
17 unregistered camp in New York State, an employee
18 of that camp, a counselor, will need to be
19 screened to make sure they're not on the sex
20 offender registry, of course, and make sure that
21 our kids are safe.
22 So I'm grateful to the Majority
23 Leader for bringing it to the floor, and I
24 proudly support this bill.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3406
1 Reichlin-Melnick to be recorded in the
2 affirmative.
3 Announce the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
6 is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 123, Senate Print 23B, by Senator Kaplan, an act
9 to amend the State Finance Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
11 last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect April 1, 2023.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
15 roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
18 the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
21 is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 129, Senate Print 244B, by Senator Mayer, an act
24 to amend the General Business Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
3407
1 last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect one year after it shall
4 have become a law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
6 roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
9 the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
12 is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 412, Senate Print 1078B, by Senator Gounardes, an
15 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
17 last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
19 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
20 shall have become a law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
22 roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
25 the results.
3408
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 414, Senate Print 6202, by Senator Kennedy, an
6 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law and the
7 Insurance Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
11 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
12 shall have become a law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
14 roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
17 the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
19 Calendar Number 414, those Senators voting in the
20 negative are Senators Akshar, Boyle, Gallivan,
21 Griffo, Jordan, Lanza, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
22 Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
23 Ayes, 46. Nays, 15.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
25 is passed.
3409
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 483, Senate Print 7610B, by Senator Gaughran, an
3 act in relation to permitting India Pentecostal
4 Assembly, Inc., to file an application for real
5 property tax exemption.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
11 roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
14 the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
16 Calendar Number 483, those Senators voting in the
17 negative are Senators Akshar and O'Mara.
18 Ayes, 59. Nays, 2.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
20 is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Brooks,
22 from the Committee on Local Government --
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is a
24 substitution at the desk.
25 The Secretary will read.
3410
1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Brooks
2 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Local
3 Government, Assembly Bill Number 9307A and
4 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
5 7864A, Third Reading Calendar 485.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
7 substitution is so ordered.
8 The Secretary will read.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 485, Assembly Print Number 9307A, by
11 Assemblymember Griffin, an act to amend the
12 General Municipal Law and the Public Authorities
13 Law.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Lay it aside for
15 the day, please.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
17 is laid aside for the day.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 513, Assembly Print Number 187, by
20 Assemblymember Gottfried, an act to amend the
21 Social Services Law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
23 last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
25 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
3411
1 shall have become a law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3 roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
6 the results.
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
9 is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 514, Senate Print 559, by Senator Harckham, an
12 act in relation to determining whether the state
13 can claim federal financial participation for
14 coverage and payment for certain prescription
15 digital therapeutics.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
17 last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
21 roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
24 the results.
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3412
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
2 is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 520, Senate Print 968A, by Senator Gaughran, an
5 act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
11 roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
14 the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
17 is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 530, Senate Print 5648, by Senator Parker, an act
20 to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
22 last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3413
1 roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
4 the results.
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
7 is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 522, Senate Print 7672, by Senator Brouk, an act
10 to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
12 last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
16 roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
19 the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 540, Senate Print 7107B, by Senator Mannion, an
25 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
3414
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
2 last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect 90 days from the date that
5 the regulations issued.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
13 is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 584, Senate Print 554A, by Senator May, an act to
16 amend the Elder Law and the Economic Development
17 Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
19 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 MAYER: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3415
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
2 the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
5 is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 630, Senate Print 4529, by Senator Harckham, an
8 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
10 last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
13 shall have become a law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
15 roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
18 the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
20 Calendar 630, those Senators voting in the
21 negative are Senators Borrello, Felder, Gallivan,
22 Griffo, Jordan, Oberacker, Ortt and Skoufis.
23 Ayes, 53. Nays, 8.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
25 is passed.
3416
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 632, Senate Print 5130, by Senator Kennedy, an
3 act to amend the Highway Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
5 last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
9 roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
12 the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
14 Calendar 632, those Senators voting in the
15 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
16 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
17 Martucci, Mattera, O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath,
18 Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and Weik. Also
19 Senator Oberacker.
20 Ayes, 41. Nays, 20.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 713, Senate Print 5237C, by Senator Gaughran, an
25 act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
3417
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
2 last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
5 shall have become a law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
13 is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 767, Senate Print 8134, by Senator Breslin, an
16 act to amend the Insurance Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
18 last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect on the 90th day after it
21 shall have become a law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
23 roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
3418
1 the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
4 is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 775, Senate Print 52A, by Senator Kaplan, an act
7 relating to establishing the Nassau County and
8 Queens County Border Task Force.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
10 last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
14 roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
17 the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
19 Calendar Number 775, voting in the negative:
20 Senator Akshar.
21 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
23 is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 800, Assembly Print Number 9785, by
3419
1 Assemblymember Gunther, an act to amend the
2 Public Authorities Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
4 last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
8 roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
11 the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
14 is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 801, Senate Print 1231A, by Senator Gianaris, an
17 act to amend the General Municipal Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
19 last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect on the first of January.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
23 roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
3420
1 the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
4 is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 811, Senate Print 7912, by Senator Mannion, an
7 act to amend the State Technology Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
12 shall have become a law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
14 roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
17 the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
20 is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 822, Senate Print 7859A, by Senator Ramos, an act
23 to amend the Public Housing Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
25 last section.
3421
1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
2 act shall take effect on the first of January.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
4 roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
7 the results.
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
10 is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 853, Senate Print 1409B, by Senator Rivera, an
13 act to amend the Public Health Law.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Lay it aside for
15 the day.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
17 is laid aside for the day.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 860, Senate Print 4412A, by Senator May, an act
20 to amend the Elder Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
22 last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3422
1 roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
4 the results.
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
7 is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 862, Senate Print 5084C, by Senator Harckham, an
10 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
12 last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
16 roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
19 Harckham to explain his vote.
20 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you,
21 Madam President.
22 This has certainly been a very bleak
23 day for all of us, and yet our work must go on.
24 We are in the midst of the worst
25 overdose crisis this nation has ever faced.
3423
1 We're on pace for over 108,000 fatalities, a
2 million in the last 10 years. And while we
3 appreciate the Governor and the Attorney General
4 providing extra resources to the battle, we will
5 not be saving lives if we're pouring resources
6 into a system that is not treating our patient
7 population with integrated care.
8 Seventy percent of people who
9 present with substance use disorder have an
10 underlying mental health disorder, 90 percent
11 when they present in crisis. One study showed
12 50 percent of people who present with mental
13 illness also have underlying substance use
14 disorders.
15 The point of all this is we have two
16 siloed systems, OASAS and OMH, two separate
17 funding streams, two separate bureaucracies for
18 families to navigate -- two separate sets of
19 books, two separate sets of rules, and two
20 separate sets of doors, literally, even for the
21 same clinic. If they have a dual license, you
22 still need to go into a separate entrance to get
23 mental health treatment.
24 Aside from being stigmatizing, that
25 does not work. Not a week goes by that I don't
3424
1 get a call from a family who's lost a loved one
2 who said that their family member was in and out
3 of treatment six, seven, eight, nine times, but
4 because they never treated their underlying
5 mental health disorder, they kept self-medicating
6 until finally fentanyl caught up with them in
7 fentanyl roulette.
8 So this bill will break down the
9 barriers, it will break down the silos, it will
10 follow the federal government's recommendation
11 for integrated care, and this will create a
12 system with no wrong door.
13 I vote aye. Thank you.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
15 Harckham to be recorded in the affirmative.
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 862, those Senators voting in the
19 negative are Senators Griffo, Helming, Jordan,
20 Martucci, Mattera, Ortt, Palumbo,
21 Reichlin-Melnick, Ritchie, Tedisco and Weik.
22 Ayes, 50. Nays, 11.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3425
1 885, Assembly Print Number 7754C, by
2 Assemblymember McDonald, an act to amend the
3 Education Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
5 last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
9 roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
12 the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
15 is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 901, Senate Print 5676, by Senator Rivera, an act
18 to amend the Public Health Law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
20 last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3426
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
2 the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
5 is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 909, Assembly Print Number 7625A, by
8 Assemblymember Woerner, an act to amend the
9 Highway Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
11 last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
15 roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Jordan to explain her vote.
19 SENATOR JORDAN: Mr. President and
20 my -- Madam President and my colleagues, I rise
21 to explain my vote on my bipartisan legislation
22 honoring our Forever First Lady of Saratoga
23 Springs horse racing and the backstretch
24 community, Saratoga's favorite daughter and
25 patron, Marylou Whitney.
3427
1 My bipartisan bill amends the state
2 highway law to rename a portion of Route 9P, also
3 known as Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, to the
4 Marylou Whitney Way.
5 It's impossible to overstate Marylou
6 Whitney's profound positive impact on Saratoga
7 Springs, Saratoga County, and the horse racing
8 industry, as well as her contributions to the
9 many dedicated, hardworking professionals who
10 make that industry a reality, our backstretch
11 community.
12 Marylou Whitney embodies all that is
13 good and noble and proud of Saratoga. Her
14 inspirational spirit of giving back, touching and
15 transforming lives, of making a genuine
16 difference, is an indelible, irreplaceable legacy
17 of service to others and supporting the
18 community.
19 Marylou Whitney was beloved by
20 everyone in the community, regardless of who you
21 are, what you do, or where you're from and
22 whatever your station is in life. Marylou
23 Whitney treated every person with dignity and
24 decency, compassion and kindness, respect and
25 relatability.
3428
1 She was an incredible consequential
2 figure who did immense, important philanthropic
3 good works on behalf of backstretch workers and
4 retired thoroughbreds, as well as SPAC, the
5 Saratoga Hospital, and countless more charitable
6 endeavors and community causes. Through all of
7 these, through her spirit and kindness, Marylou
8 Whitney played a critical role in shaping
9 Saratoga's successes and our incredible quality
10 of life.
11 Marylou Whitney's advocacy helped
12 our world-renowned historic Saratoga Race Course
13 stay open. Her horses were recognized as regular
14 fixtures at the Belmont and Travers Stakes. She
15 helped the Saratoga Meet draw over a million
16 annually and became a regular fixture in our
17 community, and she claimed victories in both over
18 a distinguished career as an owner.
19 In speaking with her husband John
20 Hendrickson, he offered these powerful, poignant
21 words: "Marylou had a lot of loves in her life,
22 but Saratoga was her most important love. She
23 loved Saratoga because of the people. She would
24 be thrilled that a part of Saratoga is being
25 named after her."
3429
1 The state highway system being
2 designated by my legislation as the Marylou
3 Whitney Way runs adjacent to the Saratoga Race
4 Course, which is so befitting, as our historic
5 Saratoga Race Course was shaped, strengthened and
6 supported by Marylou Whitney's generosity,
7 vision, and enduring indomitable spirit of always
8 giving back and making a positive difference.
9 Last year my bill passed this
10 chamber by a bipartisan vote of 62 to 1. I'm
11 grateful for everyone's support then, and I am
12 grateful for my colleagues' continued support for
13 this measure that's so important to remember the
14 life, legacy and countless good works of Marylou
15 Whitney, one of Saratoga's most important
16 citizens.
17 Thank you, Madam President, and my
18 colleagues.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
20 Jordan to be recorded in the affirmative.
21 Announce the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
23 Calendar Number 909, voting in the negative:
24 Senator Brisport.
25 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
3430
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
2 is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 911, Senate Print 7255A, by Senator Oberacker, an
5 act to amend the Highway Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
11 roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
14 the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
16 Calendar Number 911, voting in the negative:
17 Senator Brisport.
18 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
20 is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 951, Assembly Print Number 4069, by
23 Assemblymember Thiele, an act to amend the Indian
24 Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
3431
1 last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
5 roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
8 the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
11 is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 992, Senate Print 639, by Senator Liu, an act in
14 relation to ordering a study and report on a
15 proposed extension of the Long Island Motor
16 Parkway Trail.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
18 last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
22 roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
25 the results.
3432
1 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
2 Calendar Number 992, voting in the negative:
3 Senator Akshar.
4 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
6 is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 1003, Senate Print 3737A, by Senator Comrie, an
9 act to require the director of Information
10 Technology Services to undertake a detailed study
11 of the comparative qualities of cloud computing
12 services.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
14 last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
18 roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
21 the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
23 Calendar Number 1003, voting in the negative:
24 Senator Akshar.
25 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
3433
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
2 is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1013, Senate Print 8399, by Senator Jackson, an
5 act to amend the Retirement and Social Security
6 Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
8 last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
12 roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
15 Jackson to explain his vote.
16 SENATOR JACKSON: Thank you,
17 Madam President.
18 My colleagues, I rise to explain my
19 vote on S8399, which allows court officers and
20 peace officers injured on the job to receive
21 accidental disability retirement.
22 This is an extremely important
23 parity for state workers. And as any other
24 officer forced into retirement as a result of an
25 injury sustained on the job can apply for
3434
1 accidental disability retirement, court officers
2 are the only -- only officers that do not have
3 that opportunity when they are injured in the
4 line of duty.
5 We have heard stories of officers
6 putting themselves between judges and aggressors,
7 doing their job to maintain the safety of the
8 courtroom, left without support or protection.
9 Unfortunately, Madam President, this
10 important benefit has been consistently vetoed in
11 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. And I hope this Governor
12 will see the value of providing this crucial
13 benefit to court officers that help keep courts
14 safe. And for these reasons, I urge any
15 colleagues to support this legislation.
16 I proudly vote aye.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Jackson to be recorded in the affirmative.
19 Announce the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1023, Senate Print 6761B, by Senator Savino, an
25 act to amend the General Business Law.
3435
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
2 last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
5 shall have become a law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
12 Calendar Number 1023, those Senators voting in
13 the negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello,
14 Helming, Jordan, Lanza, O'Mara, Rath and Serino.
15 Ayes, 53. Nays, 8.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
17 is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 1059, Senate Print 7416B, by Senator Borrello, an
20 act to amend the Highway Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
22 last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3436
1 roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
4 Borrello to explain his vote.
5 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you,
6 Madam President.
7 I rise to express my honor for once
8 again naming a road after a true hero. And
9 Staff Sergeant David Textor is no exception.
10 I will also point out that this
11 small community of Randolph, New York, this is
12 now the third time we have honored a hero, a
13 military hero for what they have done to serve
14 our nation.
15 I'm very proud to represent the
16 community of Randolph, and I'm certainly proud to
17 stand here and say that we as a Senate, as a
18 State Legislature, and as a state, have taken
19 many steps to ensure that heroes are honored so
20 that their names will never be forgotten, by
21 naming roads and bridges after them.
22 I think that's an appropriate way to
23 ensure that future generations know that freedom
24 is not free and that the foundation of our
25 democracy is built on the backs of those who will
3437
1 serve, the small percentage of Americans who will
2 serve and the families that support them.
3 So God bless Staff Sergeant Textor,
4 and God bless all who serve the United States of
5 America.
6 Thank you, Madam President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
8 Borrello to be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Announce the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
11 Calendar Number 1059, voting in the negative:
12 Senator Brisport.
13 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
15 is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 1060, Senate Print 7649, by Senator Stavisky, an
18 act to amend the Highway Law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
20 last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3438
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
2 the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
4 Calendar Number 1060, voting in the negative:
5 Senator Brisport.
6 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
8 is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1067, Senate Print 8681A, by Senator Cooney, an
11 act to amend the Highway Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
13 last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
17 roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
20 the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
22 Calendar Number 1067, voting in the negative:
23 Senator Brisport.
24 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3439
1 is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 1120, Senate Print 8398A, by Senator Liu, an act
4 to amend the Tax Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
6 last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
10 roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
13 the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
16 is passed.
17 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
18 reading of today's calendar.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
20 at this time there will be an immediate meeting
21 of the Rules Committee in Room 332.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There will
23 be an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in
24 Room 332.
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: The Senate
3440
1 stands at ease.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
3 will stand at ease.
4 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease
5 at 5:23 p.m.)
6 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at
7 5:39 p.m.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
9 will return to order.
10 Senator Gianaris.
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
12 there's a report of the Rules Committee at the
13 desk. Can we take that up, please.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
15 Secretary will read.
16 THE SECRETARY: Senator
17 Stewart-Cousins, from the Committee on Rules,
18 reports the following bills:
19 Senate Print 202, by Senator Kaplan,
20 an act to amend the Legislative Law;
21 Senate Print 300A, by Senator
22 Thomas, an act to amend the General Business Law;
23 Senate Print 424A, by Senator
24 Hoylman, an act to amend the Election Law;
25 Senate Print 1125, by
3441
1 Senator Gianaris, an act to amend the
2 Agriculture and Markets Law;
3 Senate Print 1165A, by
4 Senator Kaminsky, an act to amend the General
5 Business Law;
6 Senate Print 1373, by
7 Senator Brooks, an act to amend the Domestic
8 Relations Law and the Family Court Act;
9 Senate Print 4299A, by
10 Senator Lanza, an act to amend the Vehicle and
11 Traffic Law;
12 Senate Print 4532, by Senator Brouk,
13 an act to amend the Public Health Law and the
14 Insurance Law;
15 Senate Print 6302A, by Senator Weik,
16 an act authorizing Michael J. Cappiello to
17 purchase service credit for service with the
18 Long Island Rail Road Company police department;
19 Senate Print 6562A, by
20 Senator Jordan, an act to amend the Highway Law;
21 Senate Print 6570, by
22 Senator Stavisky, an act to amend the Penal Law;
23 Senate Print 6586A, by Senator Liu,
24 an act to amend the Executive Law;
25 Senate Print 6800A, by
3442
1 Senator Gianaris, an act to amend the Tax Law;
2 Senate Print 7014, by
3 Senator Addabbo, an act to amend the Racing,
4 Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law;
5 Senate Print 7015, by
6 Senator Addabbo, an act to amend the Penal Law;
7 Senate Print 7238A, by
8 Senator Tedisco, an act to authorize the Town of
9 Niskayuna, in the County of Schenectady, to offer
10 certain retirement options to John F. Connor;
11 Senate Print 7504A, by Senator Stec,
12 an act to amend the Highway Law;
13 Senate Print 8087, by Senator
14 Kennedy, an act to authorize the widow of
15 Gerald J. Sullivan to file an application with
16 the New York State and Local Police and Fire
17 Retirement System;
18 Senate Print 8192, by
19 Senator Breslin, an act to amend the
20 Civil Service Law;
21 Senate Print 8287, by Senator
22 Bailey, an act to amend the Executive Law;
23 Senate Print 8329, by
24 Senator Mannion, an act in relation to
25 authorizing Christopher Walser to take the
3443
1 competitive civil service examination for the
2 position of police officer;
3 Senate Print 8450B, by Senator
4 Cooney, an act to amend the General Business Law;
5 Senate Print 8494A, by
6 Senator Mattera, an act in relation to
7 authorizing VFW Post 4927 to file an application
8 for exemption from real property taxes;
9 Senate Print 8568, by
10 Senator Savino, an act to amend Chapter 730 of
11 the Laws of 2019;
12 Senate Print 8578B, by
13 Senator Harckham, an act to amend the
14 Domestic Relations Law and the Family Court Act;
15 Senate Print 8609, by
16 Senator Akshar, an act to amend the Highway Law;
17 Senate Print 8706, by
18 Senator Akshar, an act to amend the
19 General Municipal Law;
20 Senate Print 8733, by Senator Boyle,
21 an act in relation to authorizing the assessor of
22 the Town of Islip, County of Suffolk, to accept
23 from the Iglesia Del Dios Vivo Col y Apoyo Dela
24 Verdad La Luz Mundo an application for exemption
25 from real property taxes;
3444
1 Senate Print 8816, by
2 Senator Addabbo, an act to amend the
3 Environmental Conservation Law;
4 Senate Print 8820A, by
5 Senator Persaud, an act to amend Chapter 238 of
6 the Laws of 2021;
7 Senate Print 8852, by
8 Senator Comrie, an act to amend Part P of
9 Chapter 39 of the Laws of 2019;
10 Senate Print 8890, by
11 Senator Kavanagh, an act to amend the
12 Real Property Tax Law;
13 Senate Print 8932, by
14 Senator Serrano, an act to amend Chapter 192 of
15 the Laws of 2011;
16 Senate Print 8942, by
17 Senator Harckham, an act to amend Chapter 317 of
18 the Laws of 2020;
19 Senate Print 8969, by Senator
20 Martucci, an act to amend the Executive Law;
21 Senate Print 8979A, by
22 Senator Kennedy, an act to amend the Vehicle and
23 Traffic Law;
24 Senate Print 8993, by
25 Senator Comrie, an act to amend Chapter 483 of
3445
1 the Laws of 2017;
2 Senate Print 9003, by
3 Senator Kaplan, an act to amend Chapter 366 of
4 the Laws of 2011;
5 Senate Print 9004, by
6 Senator Brisport, an act to amend the
7 Social Services Law;
8 Senate Print 9008, by Senator May,
9 an act to amend the Elder Law;
10 Senate Print 9035, by
11 Senator Hoylman, an act to amend Chapter 455 of
12 the Laws of 1997;
13 Senate Print 9037, by Senator
14 Brooks, an act to amend the Civil Service Law;
15 Senate Print 9038, by
16 Senator Brooks, an act to amend the
17 General Municipal Law and the Penal Law;
18 Senate Print 9044, by
19 Senator Mannion, an act to amend the Elder Law;
20 Senate Print 9045, by
21 Senator Mannion, an act to amend the
22 State Finance Law;
23 Senate Print 9052, by
24 Senator Kavanagh, an act to amend the
25 Public Authorities Law;
3446
1 Senate Print 9076, by
2 Senator Brooks, an act to amend Chapter 266 of
3 the Laws of 1981;
4 Senate Print 9094, by Senator Liu,
5 an act to amend the Executive Law;
6 Senate Print 9095, by Senator Ramos,
7 an act to amend the Labor Law;
8 Senate Print 9096, by Senator Ramos,
9 an act to amend the Workers' Compensation Law;
10 Senate Print 9117, by
11 Senator Reichlin-Melnick, an act to amend the
12 Real Property Tax Law;
13 Senate Print 9129, by Senator
14 Gounardes, an act to amend Part U of Chapter 56
15 of the Laws of 2018;
16 Senate Print 9152, by
17 Senator Sanders, an act to amend Chapter 526 of
18 the Laws of 1998;
19 Senate Print 9184, by Senator
20 Sepúlveda, an act to amend the Local Finance Law;
21 Senate Print 9232, by
22 Senator Harckham, an act to amend Chapter 378 of
23 the Laws of 2014;
24 Senate Print 9296, by Senator Ryan,
25 an act to amend the Education Law;
3447
1 Senate Print 9297, by
2 Senator Kavanagh, an act to amend the
3 Private Housing Finance Law;
4 Senate Print 9300, by
5 Senator Brooks, an act to amend the
6 Environmental Conservation Law;
7 Senate Print 9301, by
8 Senator Mannion, an act to amend the
9 Environmental Conservation Law;
10 Senate Print 9302, by Senator May,
11 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
12 Law;
13 Senate Print 9304, by
14 Senator Thomas, an act to amend the
15 Environmental Conservation Law;
16 Senate Print 9305, by Senator May,
17 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
18 Law;
19 Senate Print 9306, by
20 Senator Mannion, an act to amend the
21 Environmental Conservation Law;
22 Senate Print 9307, by
23 Senator Gaughran, an act to amend the
24 Environmental Conservation Law;
25 Senate Print 9308, by
3448
1 Senator Kavanagh, an act to amend Part U of
2 Chapter 55 of the Laws of 2014;
3 Senate Print 9312, by
4 Senator Hinchey, an act to amend the
5 Environmental Conservation Law;
6 Senate Print 9313, by
7 Senator Stewart-Cousins, an act to amend the
8 Environmental Conservation Law.
9 All bills reported direct to third
10 reading.
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to accept
12 the report of the Rules Committee.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: All those
14 in favor of accepting the report of the
15 Rules Committee signify by saying aye.
16 (Response of "Aye.")
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Opposed,
18 nay.
19 (No response.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The report
21 of the Senate Rules Committee is accepted.
22 Senator Gianaris.
23 SENATOR GIANARIS: Is there any
24 further business at the desk?
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is
3449
1 no further business at the desk.
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to adjourn
3 until tomorrow, Tuesday, May 17th, at 3:00 p.m.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: On motion,
5 the Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday,
6 May 17th, at 3:00 p.m.
7 (Whereupon, at 5:45 p.m., the Senate
8 adjourned.)
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