Regular Session - April 15, 2025
1902
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
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4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 April 15, 2025
11 11:17 a.m.
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14 REGULAR SESSION
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19 SENATOR SHELLEY B. MAYER, Acting President
20 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
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1903
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, Monday,
16 April 14, 2025, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Friday, April 11,
18 2025, 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 The Secretary will read. No?
25 Messages from the Governor.
1904
1 Reports of standing committees.
2 Reports of select committees.
3 Communications and reports from
4 state officers.
5 Motions and resolutions.
6 Senator Gianaris.
7 SENATOR GIANARIS: Good morning,
8 Madam President.
9 Amendments are offered to the
10 following Third Reading Calendar bills:
11 By Senator Sanders, page 17,
12 Calendar Number 452, Senate Print 3071;
13 And by Senator Jackson, page 27,
14 Calendar Number 627, Senate Print 6600.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
16 amendments are received, and the bills will
17 retain their place on the Third Reading Calendar.
18 Senator Gianaris.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: At this time
20 there will be an immediate meeting of the
21 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
1905
1 stands at ease.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
3 will stand at ease.
4 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease
5 at 11:18 a.m.)
6 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at
7 11:25 a.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 1718B, by
20 Senator Hinchey, an act to amend the
21 Real Property Tax Law;
22 Senate Print 7285, by Senator S.
23 Ryan, an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law;
24 Senate Print 7399, by
25 Senator Krueger, an act making appropriations for
1906
1 the support of government.
2 All bills ordered direct to third
3 reading.
4 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to accept
5 the report of the Rules Committee.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: All those
7 in favor of accepting the report of the
8 Rules Committee please signify by saying aye.
9 (Response of "Aye.")
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Opposed,
11 nay.
12 (No response.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The report
14 of the Rules Committee is accepted.
15 Senator Gianaris.
16 SENATOR GIANARIS: Please take up
17 the supplemental calendar.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
19 Secretary will read.
20 There is a substitution at the desk.
21 The Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Senator Krueger
23 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
24 Assembly Bill Number 7923 and substitute it for
25 the identical Senate Bill 7399, Third Reading
1907
1 Calendar 684.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 substitution is so ordered.
4 The Secretary will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 684, Assembly Bill Number 7923, by
7 Assemblymember Pretlow, an act making
8 appropriations for the support of government.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 Gianaris.
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Is there a
12 message of necessity and appropriation at the
13 desk?
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is a
15 message of necessity and appropriation at the
16 desk.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: I move to accept
18 the message.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: All those
20 in favor of accepting the message please signify
21 by saying aye.
22 (Response of "Aye.")
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Opposed,
24 nay.
25 (No response.)
1908
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
2 message is accepted, and the bill is before the
3 house.
4 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
6 is laid aside.
7 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
8 reading of the supplemental calendar.
9 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's move on to
10 the controversial calendar, please.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
12 Secretary will ring the bell.
13 The Secretary will read.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 684, Assembly Bill Number 7923, by
16 Assemblymember Pretlow, an act making
17 appropriations for the support of government.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
19 O'Mara, why do you rise?
20 SENATOR O'MARA: Yes, thank you,
21 Madam President. I'm wondering if
22 Senator Krueger would yield for a few questions
23 on this extender.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
25 Krueger, do you yield?
1909
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 Senator yields.
4 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
5 Senator.
6 This -- to my understanding, this
7 extender gets us through or gets us until
8 Thursday, anyways. So just two days from today.
9 And it gives appropriation authority for a little
10 bit over $400 million, is that correct?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: It provides
12 6.5 billion in appropriation authority to make
13 payroll costs. And it's an increase of
14 434 million over the prior extender.
15 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
16 Madam President, if the Senator will
17 continue to yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
19 continue to yield?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
22 Senator yields.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, with this
24 past weekend having been Passover and
25 Palm Sunday, and reading about the Governor
1910
1 having been in New York City seemingly all day
2 yesterday, can you tell us have the three leaders
3 met on this budget since we were here last
4 Thursday? And what are the status of budget
5 negotiations today?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
7 Madam President. I actually don't know whether
8 the three leaders met over the religious weekend.
9 I think a lot of us were busy with our family
10 events in different religions.
11 We're going to conference after
12 session today, so I'll probably know more later
13 in the day.
14 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
15 Madam President, if the Senator will
16 continue to yield.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
18 continue to yield?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
21 Senator yields.
22 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
23 Now, is it your opinion, based on
24 what you know, Senator, that it's still these --
25 really these three or four main policy issues
1911
1 that are holding up the entire budget?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
3 Madam President. It is my understanding that the
4 Governor is continuing to take the position that
5 nobody really cares if the budget is done on
6 time. And so she is following her own pattern of
7 what issues she seems to want to prioritize or
8 even talk about.
9 So it's hard to know how much of the
10 substance of the actual budget is still left to
11 be resolved. And it is frustrating, I think, to
12 all of us in this room, on both sides of the
13 aisle.
14 I'm not sure I personally agree with
15 her that no one cares whether the budget gets
16 done on time. Although I do think, based on what
17 I'm hearing at home, people are far, far more
18 worried about what's happening in the real world
19 coming out of Washington and the situation. So
20 it may be true that there's only a handful of us
21 who actually seem to care very much about what's
22 going on in Albany right now.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
24 Madam President, if the Senator will
25 continue to yield.
1912
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
2 continue to yield?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
5 Senator yields.
6 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, do you
7 have concerns that since there really seem to be
8 no negotiations going on on these major issues,
9 that the Governor could just drop an extender on
10 us with those policy issues in it and you, on
11 your side, either take them or shut down
12 government?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
14 Madam President. I do think there are continuing
15 discussions about many issues that just have not
16 made it to the leader level where they need to be
17 before we can complete the budget. So there are
18 discussions going on. Our staffs are actually
19 working very hard.
20 And as far as the Governor throwing
21 other things into extenders, we've asked and she
22 has said, no, just straight extenders. So that's
23 what I know right now.
24 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
25 Madam President, if the Senator will
1913
1 continue to yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
3 continue to yield?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
6 Senator yields.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, can you
8 tell us, aside from these four or so major policy
9 issues that seem to be holding up the budget,
10 what discussions are happening regarding the
11 actual budget part of the budget? And by that I
12 mean dollars and cents -- what they're being
13 appropriated for, what programs are being funded,
14 and the operations of government.
15 That more important side of the
16 budget, is that resolved?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: It's not
18 resolved, Madam President.
19 But there are substantive
20 discussions on many issues, and they were
21 included in the one-house budget documents of
22 both the Senate and the Assembly. And so there
23 are three-way discussions among staff going on
24 around those issues.
25 Some of the really big and important
1914
1 ones, of course, are money for housing. There's
2 a separate shortage of affordable housing
3 throughout the State of New York, so there were
4 proposals about housing both in the City of
5 New York and outside of the City of New York.
6 There's serious discussion going on
7 about commitments for capital funds and operating
8 funds for environmental issues, for public
9 education, Foundation Aid, health concerns --
10 now, those are added to with the complications of
11 the stories coming out of Washington that they
12 have already or intend to make dramatic cuts in
13 healthcare and environmental funding, in
14 contracts and grants, in education funds.
15 I mean, there are estimates that the
16 State of New York could lose well over $2 billion
17 in lost education funds if the Trump
18 administration's proposals move forward.
19 Pretty much everyone in
20 healthcare -- whether it's hospital care,
21 healthcare, preventive care, research at our
22 universities and our major teaching hospitals --
23 no doubt are reaching out to all of us, saying do
24 you know what we've been told might be happening
25 next?
1915
1 So there's a great deal of concern
2 out there, particularly in light of the hits the
3 state -- all 50 states could take from the
4 Trump administration. And I know many of us
5 spend a decent part of each day trying to urge
6 our congressional representatives to stand up for
7 our state and make sure that we don't take these
8 hits. And I hope those conversations are taking
9 place on both sides of the aisle.
10 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
11 Madam President, if the Senator will
12 continue to yield.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
14 continue to yield?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
17 Senator yields.
18 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, with
19 regards to all the issues you just went through,
20 have table targets been handed out so that those
21 issues being discussed, they know what parameters
22 of spending they have?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: No,
24 Madam President, there are no table targets at
25 this time.
1916
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
2 Madam President, if the Senator will
3 continue to yield.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
5 continue to yield?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
8 Senator yields.
9 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, it's
10 April 15th today. You know, we all have to have
11 our taxes done by today or we get penalized.
12 But more importantly than that and
13 our individual concerns with that and meeting
14 that deadline, our school districts a week from
15 today have to have their budgets finalized to be
16 voted on in May.
17 What can we tell our school
18 districts as far as them putting together their
19 budgets, which actually have to go out to a vote
20 of the citizens in those districts?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
22 Madam President, I agree that school budgets are
23 probably the one issue each year that is very
24 real in relationship to the time frame of the
25 state budget.
1917
1 I would urge all of us to reach out
2 to the Governor and urge our communities, our
3 school districts, our boards, our associations of
4 school boards and teachers to be making those
5 exact requests of the Governor.
6 Because I think we could probably
7 give some level of assurance to the local
8 districts about what the estimated education
9 funds will be even in light of not having a
10 budget completed, but of course we would need to
11 get that information through the Governor.
12 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
13 Madam President, that's all I have.
14 Thank you, Senator Krueger.
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
16 Thank you, Madam President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Are there
18 any other Senators wishing to be seen and heard?
19 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
20 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
21 Read the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
25 roll.
1918
1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
3 the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
5 Calendar 684, voting in the negative:
6 Senator Weik.
7 Ayes, 52. Nays, 1.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
9 is passed.
10 Senator Gianaris -- who is joined
11 today by his wife Mariana and Zoe and Orla.
12 Welcome to the Senate chamber.
13 (Applause.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: That
15 completes the reading of the controversial
16 calendar.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
18 Madam President.
19 This is what passes for a family
20 vacation, since we're stuck here.
21 (Laughter.)
22 SENATOR GIANARIS: I think
23 Senator Weik wanted to explain her vote on the
24 last bill, if we can give her that opportunity.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Oh, I'm
1919
1 sorry.
2 Senator Weik to explain her vote.
3 SENATOR WEIK: Thank you,
4 Madam President.
5 This budget that we've got this year
6 is a quarter of a trillion dollars. That's an
7 enormous amount of money. It's billions and
8 billions of dollars more than last year's budget.
9 Using national issues to pause and
10 to stall and to not have a budget conversation at
11 the state level, it causes so many problems,
12 especially for our school districts. Right now
13 they're struggling to try to put together a
14 budget. And I've had lots of conversations with
15 my superintendents. They need information. They
16 need Albany to be doing their job. And right now
17 stalling is not a good idea. We need to be
18 pushing and making sure.
19 And using the Governor as an excuse
20 is also not -- this may be her budget. We have a
21 one-house in the Senate, there's a one-house in
22 the Assembly. It's time to start bringing these
23 conversations to the table. Having no table
24 targets is unacceptable, it's irresponsible, and
25 that's why I'm a no.
1920
1 Thank you.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3 Weik to be recorded in the negative.
4 Senator Gianaris.
5 SENATOR GIANARIS: Is there any
6 further business at the desk?
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is
8 no further business at the desk.
9 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to adjourn
10 until Thursday, April 17th, at 11:00 a.m., with
11 the intervening days being legislative days.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: On motion,
13 the Senate stands adjourned until Thursday,
14 April 17th, at 11:00 a.m., with the intervening
15 days being legislative days.
16 (Whereupon, the Senate adjourned at
17 11:37 a.m.)
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