Regular Session - March 27, 2025

                                                                   1551

 1                NEW YORK STATE SENATE

 2                          

 3                          

 4               THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD

 5                          

 6                          

 7                          

 8                          

 9                  ALBANY, NEW YORK

10                   March 27, 2025

11                     12:13 p.m.

12                          

13                          

14                   REGULAR SESSION

15  

16  

17  

18  SENATOR JAMAAL T. BAILEY, Acting President

19  ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  


                                                               1552

 1                P R O C E E D I N G S

 2                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

 3    Senate will come to order.  

 4                 I ask everyone to please rise and 

 5    recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

 6                 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 

 7    the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)

 8                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   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 BAILEY:   Reading 

14    of the Journal.

15                 THE SECRETARY:   In Senate, 

16    Wednesday, March 26, 2025, the Senate met 

17    pursuant to adjournment.  The Journal of Tuesday, 

18    March 25, 2025, was read and approved.  On 

19    motion, the Senate adjourned.

20                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Without 

21    objection, the Journal stands approved as read.

22                 Presentation of petitions.

23                 Messages from the Assembly.

24                 Messages from the Governor.

25                 Reports of standing committees.


                                                               1553

 1                 Reports of select committees.

 2                 Communications and reports from 

 3    state officers.

 4                 Motions and resolutions.

 5                 Senator Gianaris.

 6                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Good afternoon, 

 7    Mr. President.  

 8                 On behalf of Senator Hinchey, on 

 9    page 20 I offer the following amendments to 

10    Calendar Number 404, Senate Print 1721, and ask 

11    that said bill retain its place on the 

12    Third Reading Calendar.  

13                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

14    amendments are received, and the bill will retain 

15    its place on the Third Reading Calendar.

16                 Senator Gianaris.

17                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   At this time, 

18    Mr. President, we're going to simultaneously call 

19    an immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in 

20    Room 332 and take up the calendar on the floor.

21                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   There 

22    will be an immediate meeting of the 

23    Finance Committee in Room 332.  

24                 And the Secretary will read.

25                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 


                                                               1554

 1    113, Senate Print 1688, by Senator Skoufis, an 

 2    act to amend the Executive Law.

 3                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

 4    last section.

 5                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 2.  This 

 6    act shall take effect immediately.

 7                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

 8    roll.

 9                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

10                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

11    the results.

12                 THE SECRETARY:   Ayes, 57.

13                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

14    is passed.

15                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

16    189, Senate Print 1535, by Senator Parker, an act 

17    to amend the Public Service Law.

18                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

19    last section.

20                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 2.  This 

21    act shall take effect immediately.

22                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

23    roll.

24                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

25                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 


                                                               1555

 1    the results.

 2                 THE SECRETARY:   In relation to 

 3    Calendar 189, voting in the negative are 

 4    Senators Borrello, Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, 

 5    Helming, Mattera, Oberacker, Rhoads, Stec and 

 6    Walczyk.  

 7                 Ayes, 49.  Nays, 8.

 8                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

 9    is passed.

10                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

11    359, Senate Print 866, by Senator Bailey, an act 

12    to amend the Penal Law.

13                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

14    last section.

15                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 2.  This 

16    act shall take effect immediately.

17                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

18    roll.

19                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

20                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

21    the results.  

22                 THE SECRETARY:   Ayes, 57.

23                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

24    is passed.

25                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 


                                                               1556

 1    472, Senate Print 1912A, by Senator Rivera, an 

 2    act to amend the Social Services Law.

 3                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

 4    last section.

 5                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 2.  This 

 6    act shall take effect on the 180th day after it 

 7    shall have become a law.

 8                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

 9    roll.

10                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

11                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

12    the results.

13                 THE SECRETARY:   In relation to 

14    Calendar 472, voting in the negative are 

15    Senators Borrello, Lanza, Oberacker, Ortt, Rhoads 

16    and Walczyk.

17                 Ayes, 53.  Nays, 6.  

18                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

19    is passed.

20                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

21    553, Senate Print 6283, by Senator 

22    Scarcella-Spanton, an act to amend the 

23    Cannabis Law.

24                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

25    last section.


                                                               1557

 1                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 2.  This 

 2    act shall take effect immediately.

 3                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

 4    roll.

 5                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

 6                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

 7    the results.

 8                 THE SECRETARY:   Ayes, 59.

 9                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

10    is passed.

11                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

12    557, Senate Print 2075, by Senator Mayer, an act 

13    to amend the State Finance Law.

14                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

15    last section.

16                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 5.  This 

17    act shall take effect immediately.

18                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

19    roll.

20                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

21                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

22    the results.

23                 THE SECRETARY:   Ayes, 59.

24                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

25    is passed.


                                                               1558

 1                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

 2    573, Senate Print 1373, by Senator Serrano, an 

 3    act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law.

 4                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

 5    last section.

 6                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 2.  This 

 7    act shall take effect on the 30th day after it 

 8    shall have become a law.

 9                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

10    roll.

11                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

12                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

13    the results.

14                 THE SECRETARY:   In relation to 

15    Calendar 573, voting in the negative:  

16    Senator Walczyk.  

17                 Ayes, 58.  Nays, 1.

18                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

19    is passed.

20                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

21    578, Senate Print 1798, by Senator Persaud, an 

22    act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.

23                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Read the 

24    last section.

25                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 5.  This 


                                                               1559

 1    act shall take effect immediately.  

 2                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

 3    roll.

 4                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

 5                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

 6    the results.

 7                 THE SECRETARY:   Ayes, 59.

 8                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

 9    is passed.

10                 Senator Gianaris, that completes the 

11    reading of today's calendar.

12                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Mr. President, 

13    we're going to stand at ease as we wait for the 

14    Finance Committee to conclude its work.

15                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

16    Senate will stand at ease.

17                 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease 

18    at 12:19 p.m.)

19                 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at 

20    12:27 p.m.)

21                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

22    Senate will return to order.

23                 Senator Gianaris.

24                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Mr. President, 

25    there's a report of the Finance Committee at the 


                                                               1560

 1    desk.  Let's take that up, please.  

 2                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

 3    Secretary will read.

 4                 THE SECRETARY:   Senator Krueger, 

 5    from the Committee on Finance, reports the 

 6    following bill:  

 7                 Senate Print 3002, Budget Bill, an 

 8    act making appropriations for the legal 

 9    requirements of the state debt service.

10                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Move to accept 

11    the report of the Finance Committee.

12                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   All those 

13    in favor of accepting the report of the 

14    Finance Committee please signify by saying aye.

15                 (Response of "Aye.")

16                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Opposed, 

17    nay.

18                 (No response.)

19                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

20    report of the Finance Committee is accepted.

21                 Senator Gianaris.

22                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Let's take up 

23    the supplemental calendar, please.

24                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

25    Secretary will read.  


                                                               1561

 1                 Excuse me.  There's a substitution 

 2    at the desk.  The Secretary will read.

 3                 THE SECRETARY:   Senator Krueger 

 4    moves to discharge, from the Committee on 

 5    Finance, Assembly Bill Number 3002 and substitute 

 6    it for the identical Senate Bill Number 3002, 

 7    Third Reading Calendar 619.

 8                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

 9    substitution is so ordered.

10                 The Secretary will read.

11                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

12    619, Assembly Bill Number 3002, Budget Bill, an 

13    act making appropriations for legal requirements 

14    of the state debt service.

15                 SENATOR LANZA:   Lay it aside.

16                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Lay it 

17    aside.

18                 That completes the reading of the 

19    supplemental calendar.

20                 Senator Gianaris.  

21                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Let's go to the 

22    controversial calendar, please.  

23                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

24    Secretary will ring the bell.

25                 The Secretary will read.


                                                               1562

 1                 THE SECRETARY:   Calendar Number 

 2    619, Assembly Bill Number 3002, Budget Bill, an 

 3    act making appropriations for the legal 

 4    requirements of the state debt service.

 5                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Senator 

 6    O'Mara, why do you rise?

 7                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Yes.  

 8    Mr. President, if the sponsor or chair of the 

 9    Finance Committee would answer some questions.

10                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: 

11    Senator Krueger, do you yield?  

12                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   I will be happy 

13    to be Senator Budget at the moment, yes. 

14                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Senator 

15    Budget yields.

16                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Very good.  

17                 Senator Krueger, here we are, 12:30 

18    on March 27th, taking up the first budget bill.  

19    There are nine other bills that make up this 

20    budget that we do not have before us at this 

21    time.  

22                 Can you explain to us where we stand 

23    in this budget process?  

24                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Thank you very 

25    much.  Mr. President, through you.  We are still 


                                                               1563

 1    in negotiations on the remainder of the budget.  

 2                 But as is the pattern of this 

 3    legislative body for I don't actually know how 

 4    many years, we always end up doing this 

 5    budget bill first because I think most of us 

 6    recognize this budget bill, the debt service 

 7    bill, is an assurance and guarantee to all 19 and 

 8    a half million New Yorkers, and anyone who we 

 9    have borrowed money from through the bonding 

10    system, that we are going to continue to make our 

11    payments on time.  

12                 So that is why this bill always 

13    comes first and why it's critical that this bill 

14    get done before April 1st.  While we always hope 

15    to get the complete budget done by April 1st, we 

16    often -- again, look at the history, you'll 

17    notice we often do not hit that target.  But we 

18    always try to hit the target with this bill 

19    first.

20                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Through you, 

21    Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to 

22    yield.

23                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Will the 

24    sponsor yield?

25                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Of course.


                                                               1564

 1                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

 2    sponsor yields.

 3                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Senator Krueger, 

 4    do you believe it's important for this 

 5    State Legislature and the Governor to pass a 

 6    budget by April 1st?

 7                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Through you, 

 8    Mr. President.  I get concerned if the budget is 

 9    so late that it could actually impact the people 

10    of New York.  

11                 If you look at our record over the 

12    last -- goodness, probably now close to a decade, 

13    we are usually very close to April 1st, and so 

14    the actual impact on anyone in the real world is 

15    not even noticeable.  Because we also have the 

16    budget extender option -- which, if that was 

17    going to be asked of me, would likely happen on 

18    Tuesday when we return to session so that we can 

19    assure, yet again, all New Yorkers that while we 

20    continue to negotiate to get the best budget we 

21    can on very complicated issues, that the business 

22    of the State of New York will continue, the 

23    people of the State of New York will get paid if 

24    they work for the state, the payments due by the 

25    State of New York will continue to get made.  


                                                               1565

 1                 So if there were no other options 

 2    and flexibility allowed, April 1st could be a 

 3    scarier number.  But in fact we know from 

 4    experience and history that the exact date of 

 5    April 1st is not necessarily particularly 

 6    significant as long as we are getting our work 

 7    done.

 8                 And I know most of my constituents, 

 9    when I explain to them why usually we are some 

10    number of days late but we are fighting for a 

11    better budget outcome for them, recognize that 

12    they also want us to fight for a better budget 

13    outcome.

14                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Mr. President, if 

15    the Senator will continue to yield.

16                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Will the 

17    sponsor yield?

18                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Absolutely.  

19                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

20    Senator yields.

21                 SENATOR O'MARA:   I'm glad you 

22    mentioned other people in the real world.  

23                 Fortunately, other people in the 

24    real world, when they have a deadline, like an 

25    April 15th tax filing and payment deadline, they 


                                                               1566

 1    have to make that on time.  Yet here we are, year 

 2    after year, disregarding the constitutionally 

 3    mandated March 31st to have the budget by 

 4    April 1st.  Yet we continue to disregard that.  

 5    But that's par for the course around here.

 6                 But I'll get to my question, 

 7    Senator.  There's currently, to my understanding, 

 8    about $55 billion in outstanding debt owed by the 

 9    state.  

10                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   My numbers show 

11    56.5 billion.  But I think it's close enough for 

12    the discussion.

13                 SENATOR O'MARA:   All right.  

14    Through you, Mr. President, if the sponsor will 

15    continue to yield.

16                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Does the 

17    sponsor yield?  

18                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Of course.

19                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

20    sponsor yields.

21                 SENATOR O'MARA:   So 56-point- 

22    whatever-you-said billion in outstanding debt, 

23    which we need to authorize to pay.  I can 

24    guarantee you that every member on this side of 

25    the aisle wants to assure that we will be paying 


                                                               1567

 1    and making our payments.  

 2                 Yet this bill, this budget bill, 

 3    this debt service bill, I believe totals 

 4    65.1 billion, so nearly 10 billion more than what 

 5    the outstanding debt is.  Why is that?  

 6                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   So yes, the debt 

 7    service appropriations compared to last year will 

 8    be $10.7 billion.  

 9                 And I want to make sure I heard the 

10    second part of the question.  Could you please 

11    repeat that?  Through you, Mr. President.

12                 SENATOR O'MARA:   We have some 

13    $56 billion in outstanding debt, yet this debt 

14    service bill to authorize payments on that is for 

15    65 billion.  Why is it 10 billion more than what 

16    is actually outstanding and owed?

17                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Because we -- 

18    even though we have not resolved the final budget 

19    yet, we are -- I think you and I are both 

20    assuming here that we will be accepting the 

21    Governor's analysis that for next year it will be 

22    $64.9 billion.

23                 SENATOR O'MARA:   So through you, 

24    Mr. President, if the sponsor will yield. 

25                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Will the 


                                                               1568

 1    sponsor yield?

 2                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Yes.

 3                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

 4    sponsor yields.  

 5                 SENATOR O'MARA:   So in a bill yet 

 6    to be -- yet to be negotiated, yet to be put in 

 7    print, yet to be put before us, which I assume is 

 8    going to be the capital budget, there's going to 

 9    be an extra $10 billion that we're going to 

10    commit the state to paying.  Yet none of us -- on 

11    this side of the aisle, for sure -- know what is 

12    all in there.

13                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Through you, 

14    Mr. President.  The debt service bill obligates 

15    us to pay our debts.  It doesn't assume that we 

16    must make payments that aren't put into a budget 

17    and actually need to be paid for.  So it gives 

18    the flexibility to the state to be able to 

19    increase payments if money is bonded and borrowed 

20    at those levels.  But there's nothing in this 

21    bill that would make us have to pay out money 

22    that we have not borrowed.

23                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Through you, 

24    Mr. President, if the Senator will continue to 

25    yield.


                                                               1569

 1                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Will the 

 2    sponsor yield?

 3                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Yes.

 4                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

 5    Senator yields.

 6                 SENATOR O'MARA:   So we're 

 7    authorizing that if we come up with these new 

 8    debt expenditures, we'll have the authority to 

 9    make payments on those.  

10                 You know, my general take on life, 

11    and certainly in this Legislature, is that when 

12    you have that cushion and ability to spend, 

13    you're going to spend it.

14                 And there's $10 billion here that we 

15    have no idea what it is, what the new spending, 

16    what the new debt is being incurred for.  So 

17    that's the concerning part about this bill -- not 

18    about authorizing payments on the 55 billion.  

19                 And as I've asked you in prior 

20    years, why don't we just authorize the 55 -- 

21    56 billion at this juncture, since the other nine 

22    budget bills are not in print, and then come back 

23    and amend this bill at the time the rest of the 

24    budget bills are in place?

25                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Through you, 


                                                               1570

 1    Mr. President.  I accept that my colleague and I 

 2    can have differing opinions on that.  What I'm 

 3    confident of is we want to get the debt service 

 4    bill done.  

 5                 And frankly, we do take a long time 

 6    on the budget.  As he's pointed out, we probably 

 7    won't get there by April 1st, and I have agreed.  

 8    So why make extra work for ourselves to have to 

 9    do double duty on the one bill that's relatively 

10    clearcut, simple to understand, a necessity for 

11    the State of New York?  

12                 And just to clarify, that April 15th 

13    tax deadline also has flexibility, because of 

14    course you can ask for extensions, you can prepay 

15    your taxes on a quarterly basis.  There are a 

16    variety of reasons why individuals also end up 

17    finding that nothing -- they don't necessarily 

18    get everything done by April 15th.  

19                 We would like to get everything done 

20    by April 1st.  And it was recently brought to my 

21    attention it's not in the Constitution that we 

22    have to, either.  That was a shock to me as well.  

23    But I still support our goal of getting to the 

24    April 1st target.

25                 And as far as having the flexibility 


                                                               1571

 1    within our law to allow the state to potentially 

 2    borrow more than we know the details of today, 

 3    that would still require a process and a 

 4    legislative process and all kinds of review and 

 5    sign-off.  It's not so different than when you as 

 6    an individual might go and ask for a line of 

 7    credit from your bank, just in case, even though 

 8    you haven't made the final decisions about 

 9    whether you're adding the extra room to your 

10    house or whether you need to put a new roof on.

11                 So I think the state model for this 

12    is not actually inconsistent with what 

13    individuals make decisions about and need the 

14    flexibility for in their personal lives either.

15                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Thank you, 

16    Senator.  

17                 Mr. President, if the Senator will 

18    continue to yield.

19                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Will the 

20    sponsor yield?  

21                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Yes.

22                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

23    Senator yields.

24                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Now, this is 

25    covering the $56 billion of existing debt that's 


                                                               1572

 1    out there.  But there's a lot more debt in this 

 2    state through various authorities and everywhere 

 3    else that I think the general public would say 

 4    56 billion, that's not all that's owed by the 

 5    state.  

 6                 But between all those other -- other 

 7    debts that are out there, by those various 

 8    things -- and I'm just going to mention one of 

 9    many of those that's not included in this, is the 

10    $6.5 billion owed to the federal government for 

11    the Unemployment Insurance Fund that was borrowed 

12    during COVID.  There are no payments in this debt 

13    service bill to pay that down.  And the state 

14    continues to pay about $200 million a year in 

15    interest on that.  

16                 Is another portion of this budget 

17    coming going to deal with this Unemployment 

18    Insurance Fund debt that we owe?  

19                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Through you, 

20    Mr. President.  In our one-house budget through 

21    the Senate, we did factor in helping to pay the 

22    interest rate owed by the businesses of the State 

23    of New York in order to help them with the 

24    interest rate payments on what we still owe the 

25    federal government because of the pandemic 


                                                               1573

 1    unemployment period.  We also build in a tax 

 2    credit to assist businesses with that.  

 3                 But the reason that's not part of 

 4    the debt service bill is because the unemployment 

 5    system is not part of the state budget.  It is a 

 6    separate independent insurance system paid for by 

 7    workers and businesses to have a UIB system.  So 

 8    it has never been part of the state budget.  

 9    Hence, it has never been part of debt service in 

10    the state budget.

11                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Through you, 

12    Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to 

13    yield.  

14                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Will the 

15    sponsor yield?

16                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Yes.

17                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

18    sponsor yields.

19                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Do you consider 

20    that 6.5 billion unemployment debt that's owed to 

21    be an obligation of the state and the state 

22    taxpayers?

23                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   It is legally an 

24    obligation of businesses who are obligated to be 

25    under the unemployment benefits system in our 


                                                               1574

 1    state, as in every other state.

 2                 So no, it is not legally an 

 3    obligation of the state budget.

 4                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Through you, 

 5    Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to 

 6    yield.

 7                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Will the 

 8    sponsor yield?

 9                 SENATOR KRUEGER:   Yes.

10                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The 

11    sponsor yields.

12                 SENATOR O'MARA:   Well, I would 

13    argue that it certainly should be, because it was 

14    much of the policy of this state to shut down 

15    businesses and make those employees unemployed 

16    during that period.

17                 Thirty-five or so other states in 

18    the country used their federal COVID relief money 

19    to pay down their Unemployment Insurance Fund 

20    debt.  Yet we're still not doing that in this 

21    bill.  And from what I'm hearing, it's not 

22    proposed to be in any other bill.

23                 I'll just go on the bill, I guess, 

24    Mr. President.  Thank you, Senator.

25                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Senator 


                                                               1575

 1    O'Mara on the bill.

 2                 SENATOR O'MARA:   It is extremely 

 3    important that we pay our obligations in this 

 4    state.  Fully supportive of that.  Yet there's a 

 5    lot to be desired here.  

 6                 And the excuse that, Well, we're 

 7    just going to do it now to save us the hassle of 

 8    coming back and amending it when we know exactly 

 9    what the number is, exactly what these other nine 

10    budget bills, primarily the capital bill, is 

11    going to require or authorize as appropriate debt 

12    to be incurred, and then we would have a more 

13    accurate figure here to deal with -- if this was 

14    a debt service bill in the interim to get us from 

15    April 1st till whenever we pass the budget, and 

16    we were doing $56 billion, I would certainly be 

17    voting aye.

18                 But I have to vote no for the 

19    $10 billion that we have no idea what it might be 

20    for.

21                 Thank you, Mr. President.

22                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Are there 

23    any other Senators wishing to be heard?

24                 Seeing and hearing none, debate is 

25    closed.


                                                               1576

 1                 The Secretary will ring the bell.

 2                 Senator Gianaris.

 3                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Mr. President, 

 4    we've agreed to restore this to the 

 5    noncontroversial calendar.

 6                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Upon 

 7    consent, the bill has been restored to the 

 8    noncontroversial calendar.

 9                 Read the last section.

10                 THE SECRETARY:   Section 2.  This 

11    act shall take effect immediately.

12                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Call the 

13    roll.

14                 (The Secretary called the roll.)

15                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   Announce 

16    the results.

17                 THE SECRETARY:   In relation to 

18    Calendar 619, voting in the negative are 

19    Senators Borrello, Griffo, Helming, Lanza, 

20    O'Mara, Ortt, Stec, Tedisco, Walczyk and Weik.

21                 Ayes, 49.  Nays, 10.

22                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   The bill 

23    is passed.

24                 Senator Gianaris, that completes the 

25    reading of today's supplemental calendar.


                                                               1577

 1                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   Is there any 

 2    further business at the desk?  

 3                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   There is 

 4    no further business at the desk.

 5                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   I move to 

 6    adjourn until April Fools' Day, Tuesday, 

 7    April 1st -- 

 8                 (Laughter.)

 9                 SENATOR GIANARIS:   -- at 

10    11:00 a.m., with the intervening days being 

11    legislative days.

12                 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY:   On 

13    motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 

14    April Fools' Day, April 1st, at 11:00 a.m., with 

15    the intervening days being legislative.  

16                 And it's Opening Day, so let's go, 

17    Mets!

18                 (Whereupon, at 12:44 p.m., the 

19    Senate adjourned.)

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