Regular Session - January 15, 2019
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1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
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3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 January 15, 2019
11 11:22 a.m.
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13
14 REGULAR SESSION
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18 LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will
3 come to order.
4 And I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 THE PRESIDENT: Our invocation
9 today will be given by Rabbi Yael Rooks Rapport,
10 from the Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, in
11 New York City.
12 We look forward to hearing from you.
13 And you are also from -- the Rabbi is also from
14 Senator Hoylman's district. Rabbi.
15 RABBI RAPPORT: Members of the
16 New York State Senate, good morning.
17 SENATORS: Good morning.
18 RABBI RAPPORT: I bring you
19 greetings from Congregation Beit Simchat Torah,
20 the world's largest LGBTQ synagogue, in New York
21 City.
22 You gather here today as
23 representation of something greater than
24 yourself, one individual image which encompasses
25 the dreams, the challenges, and the possibility
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1 of each of your districts and the many
2 constituents you represent.
3 In the Jewish tradition, we believe
4 that each of us individually is one small spark,
5 one unique reflection of the divine.
6 In the first chapter of Genesis, it
7 is written that humanity was created {Hebrew}, in
8 the image of God. It is the source of our belief
9 that every individual brings to the world some
10 unique relevance of God's image exactly as we
11 are, exactly as we were created, that no one else
12 could bring.
13 May we see in ourselves this beauty
14 and wholeness. May we know that exactly the way
15 we are made shines with holiness because our
16 image is part of something much more expansive
17 that requires our representation, because of our
18 gender identification, because of our sexual
19 orientation, because of our religious
20 affiliation, our race, our ethnicity, our
21 national origin.
22 May we strive to recognize this same
23 holiness in others in moments when we feel alike,
24 and in moments when we feel completely different.
25 May each of you, representations of
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1 representation, continue to act as sources of
2 blessing to all you serve, as only you can.
3 Let us say together, amen.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very
5 much, Rabbi Yael Rapport.
6 Reading of the Journal.
7 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Monday,
8 January 14, 2019, the Senate met pursuant to
9 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, January 13,
10 2019, was read and approved. On motion, Senate
11 adjourned.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Without objection,
13 the Journal stands approved as read.
14 Presentation of petitions.
15 Messages from the Assembly.
16 Messages from the Governor.
17 Reports of standing committees.
18 Reports of -- may we have order.
19 Reports of standing committees.
20 Reports of select committees.
21 Communications and reports from
22 state officers.
23 Motions and resolutions.
24 Senator Gianaris.
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
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1 good morning.
2 I now move to adopt the
3 Resolution Calendar, with the exception of
4 Resolutions 9 and 60.
5 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of
6 adopting the Resolution Calendar, with the
7 exception of Resolutions 9 and 60, signify by
8 saying aye.
9 (Response of "Aye.")
10 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
11 (No response.)
12 THE PRESIDENT: The Resolution
13 Calendar is adopted.
14 Senator Gianaris.
15 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
16 can you please call up Resolution Number 60, read
17 that resolution in its entirety, and recognize
18 Senator Stavisky to speak.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
20 read.
21 THE SECRETARY: Legislative
22 Resolution Number 60, commemorating the work of
23 the Korean American Association of Greater
24 New York and its President, Minsun Kim, for their
25 historic work in advancing the interests and
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1 well-being of the Korean American community of
2 New York, and honoring their visit to the State
3 Capitol of New York in Albany.
4 "WHEREAS, It is the custom of this
5 Legislative Body to honor and commemorate those
6 illustrious organizations and individuals of the
7 State of New York whose focus and intent have had
8 a substantial impact on the many, diverse
9 residents of the State of New York; and
10 "WHEREAS, The Korean American
11 Association of Greater New York was founded in
12 1960 as a nonprofit to advocate for the welfare
13 and rights of over half a million members of the
14 Korean American community of Greater New York;
15 and
16 "WHEREAS, Korean Americans, who form
17 a large, vibrant community in New York, represent
18 a long and storied part of the American fabric,
19 having made numerous contributions to science,
20 law, business, art, and many other fields; and
21 "WHEREAS, The Korean American
22 Association of Greater New York acts as an
23 umbrella organization for over 500 other
24 Korean American groups that provide assistance
25 and services in numerous areas, such as culture,
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1 education, and community outreach, for people of
2 all ages and socioeconomic status; and
3 "WHEREAS, Minsun Kim was elected to
4 serve as the 34th President and the 35th
5 President of the Korean American Association of
6 Greater New York; as the first female leader of
7 the organization, she has successfully led it
8 towards achieving numerous goals of long-standing
9 consequence; and
10 "WHEREAS, The Korean American
11 Association of Greater New York and
12 President Minsun Kim have endeavored to advance
13 the causes of women's equality and the principles
14 of democracy, and spearheaded efforts to
15 recognize the historical legacy of Yu Gwan-sun
16 and her importance in the March 1st movement; and
17 "WHEREAS, Yu Gwan-sun, introduced
18 by Alice H. Sharp, a missionary sent from
19 New York to Korea, attended the Ewha Women's
20 School, Korea's first women's educational
21 institute established by an American missionary,
22 where she learned the American values of
23 freedom, justice, equality and human rights, and
24 became a national symbol of the human rights
25 movement; and
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1 "WHEREAS, The Korean American
2 Association of Greater New York and
3 President Minsun Kim will be joined by a variety
4 of organizations and their representatives in
5 visiting the New York State Capitol in Albany on
6 January 15, 2019; and
7 "WHEREAS, Many Korean Americans in
8 the State of New York maintain profound ties to
9 other members of their community, both in
10 America and around the world, and through their
11 family and culture, this visit represents a
12 momentous event for both them and countless
13 other New Yorkers; and
14 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this
15 Legislative Body to commemorate the historic
16 occasion of the visit of the Korean American
17 Association of Greater New York and President
18 Minsun Kim; now, therefore, be it
19 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
20 Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate
21 March 1, 2019, as the Centennial of the March 1st
22 Movement, and to honor the lasting impact of
23 Yu Gwan-sun's legacy as one of the youngest
24 female human rights movement leaders; and be it
25 further
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1 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
2 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to
3 Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea;
4 Minsun Kim, President of the Korean American
5 Association of Greater New York; and the
6 Korean American community of New York."
7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Stavisky on
8 the resolution.
9 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
10 Madam President.
11 We are delighted to welcome our
12 friends from South Korea and from the Korean
13 American community.
14 We are joined not only by the
15 Consul General, Hyo-Sung Park, but by members of
16 the Korean National Assembly, which is the
17 equivalent of our Congress. And we are happy to
18 welcome Young Sun Park, Kyung Hyub Kim, Chang Won
19 Pyo, Jin Gyu Hahm, and Dong Seob Lee.
20 (Applause.)
21 SENATOR STAVISKY: And to them we
22 say: Annyeong haseyo.
23 (Laughter; cheers.)
24 SENATOR STAVISKY: The resolution
25 talks about how the Korean American Association
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1 of Greater New York, KAAGNY, was founded almost
2 60 years ago -- 58 years ago -- to speak for the
3 new immigrants, to speak for the Korean Americans
4 who have chosen to come to our country.
5 And it also talks about how,
6 116 years ago, 102 Koreans left their home in
7 Korea and came to the United States and they
8 landed in Hawaii aboard the SS Gaelic on
9 January 13, 1903.
10 And that is why we have the
11 resolution on the floor today. People have asked
12 me why these dates, and that's the answer. They
13 came to our country on January 13th -- actually,
14 to work in the sugar fields in Hawaii. And
15 amongst the 103, interestingly, there were
16 21 women. And we celebrate the inclusion of
17 women in our chamber and Minsun Kim, her election
18 as the first woman from KAAGNY. And that was the
19 start of a migration to the United States.
20 They have been such an important
21 part of our community over the years. We fought
22 together in World War II, in the Korean conflict,
23 in Vietnam, and today in the Middle East. They
24 have become such an important part of the
25 American fabric, particularly in economic ways,
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1 social ways. Their cultural heritage is visible
2 in New York City, and they are an important part
3 of our society.
4 And in fact, Congress declared
5 January 13th as Korean American Day. And we are
6 doing the same thing in this chamber today, as
7 the Assembly did earlier.
8 There are 100,000 Korean Americans
9 living in New York City, many in Queens County.
10 And March 1st is mentioned. We
11 celebrate March 1st because it is the centennial
12 of the March 1st Movement, the movement for
13 Korean independence, which is so important. And
14 Korea is such an important part of our world
15 economy and our world democracy. Because we have
16 very few democracies in that part of the world,
17 and Korea is certainly one of them.
18 We talk about Yu Gwan-sun, the
19 symbol of the March 1st Movement, the symbol for
20 freedom and human rights.
21 So we welcome you all and we wish
22 you a very happy and prosperous Lunar New Year,
23 the Year of the Pig that's coming up. And
24 "Saehae bog manhi badeuseyo," which is the -- I
25 don't know why the Korean transliteration is so
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1 long; it's "Happy New Year." Simple, and yet we
2 appreciate your presence here today, and we
3 welcome you.
4 Kamsamida.
5 (Applause.)
6 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator
7 Stavisky.
8 Senator Liu on the resolution.
9 SENATOR LIU: Distinguished
10 colleagues, I am proud and honored to join
11 Senator Stavisky in welcoming this distinguished
12 delegation led by Ambassador Park, Minsun Kim,
13 our historic president of the Korean American
14 Association of Greater New York, and this very
15 venerable delegation of National Assembly members
16 from the Republic of Korea.
17 Senator Stavisky has already
18 mentioned the most salient points. I will say
19 that this is a very historic day for this
20 delegation to visit these chambers. It is the
21 116th anniversary of the first Korean immigrants
22 to the United States of America. And it is also
23 a very important anniversary, 100 years since the
24 unofficial founding of the Republic, with a
25 heroine in the name of Yu Gwan-sun, to this day
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1 100 years later remains a symbol of the national
2 identity of the Republic of Korea.
3 It is very important that we
4 recognize this in the State of New York because
5 the Korean American community continues to be
6 such a vital part of our state -- economically,
7 culturally, educationally, and politically,
8 especially as we have the first and still only
9 Korean American legislator, in the name of
10 Ron Kim, in the State Assembly.
11 This is a very special moment for me
12 personally, because I grew up with the
13 Korean American community my whole life. And so
14 I want to say welcome to these distinguished
15 visitors here. The Korean American community
16 stands for a lot, not just small businesses, not
17 just dry cleaners. Now the generation of
18 Korean Americans are attorneys, physicians, other
19 professionals.
20 And we're very proud of the American
21 pop culture that we export throughout the rest of
22 the world, but I've got to tell you, if you talk
23 to a lot of our young people, Korean or not, they
24 love Korean pop culture. They call it K-pop.
25 And I know many Senators know the Gangnam dance.
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1 (Laughter.)
2 SENATOR LIU: And so we are very
3 happy to welcome our fellow brothers and sisters
4 from halfway around the world to these humble
5 chambers of the New York State Senate.
6 Thank you very much. Saehae bog
7 manhi badeuseyo. Kamsamida.
8 (Applause.)
9 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
10 Senator Liu. Thank you.
11 The question is on the resolution.
12 All those in favor signify by saying aye.
13 (Response of "Aye.")
14 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed?
15 (No response.)
16 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
17 adopted.
18 (Applause.)
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Gianaris.
20 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
21 Madam President.
22 Let me add my words of welcome as
23 well to the Assembly members, the Consul General,
24 and the Korean American Association.
25 At Senator Stavisky's request, this
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1 resolution is open for cosponsorship. Should any
2 member choose not to be a cosponsor, please
3 notify the desk.
4 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
5 open for cosponsorship. Should you not desire to
6 be a cosponsor, please notify the desk.
7 Senator Gianaris.
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: Can we now
9 please call up Resolution Number 9, read that
10 resolution's title only, and recognize
11 Senator Seward to speak.
12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
13 read.
14 THE SECRETARY: Legislative
15 Resolution Number 9, commending John D. Heller
16 posthumously upon the occasion of his designation
17 as recipient of a Liberty Medal, the highest
18 honor bestowed upon an individual by the New York
19 State Senate.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Seward on
21 the resolution.
22 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you,
23 Madam President. It's a great honor for me to
24 stand today and recognize the life and heroism of
25 John Heller.
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1 You know, John lost his life on
2 December 29, 2018, during a fire at his Oneonta
3 residence. While John was taken from us on that
4 night, he made sure that others would live on.
5 John was a former part-time Oneonta firefighter,
6 and he acted heroically on that tragic night.
7 His four young nephews were spending
8 the night at his apartment, an apartment that he
9 shared with his fiancee, Amber Roe. When the
10 fire broke out, John did what all first
11 responders do. He put the well-being of others
12 first, and he rushed to that point of danger to
13 help others.
14 He was able to help his fiancee,
15 Amber, and his four young nephews, Donovan,
16 Maddox, Macall and Rawley Heller -- he got them
17 to safety before perishing in the fire. John
18 displayed great courage in saving the lives of
19 five others, and he made the ultimate sacrifice.
20 His final act here on earth was one
21 of bravery, valor and heroism, and love of
22 others. John's heroic actions embody the reason
23 that the Senate Liberty Medal was created in the
24 first place.
25 I was able to present the Senate
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1 Liberty Medal posthumously to John Heller, and I
2 presented it to his fiancee, Amber Roe, and his
3 parents, John and Gayle Heller, at a memorial
4 service earlier this month in Oneonta. More than
5 300 people were on hand to honor and remember
6 John. It was an inspirational outpouring of love
7 and respect from the entire community, and it
8 spoke volumes about the type of person John was
9 and how he lived his life and how he died.
10 So I'm honored this morning to take
11 a moment to remember the life of John Heller and
12 to ensure that his name and his heroism are a
13 permanent part of our Senate records and New York
14 State history. And I would greatly appreciate
15 the support of this body in honoring the memory
16 of John D. Heller.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
18 The question is on the resolution.
19 All those in favor signify by saying aye.
20 (Response of "Aye.")
21 THE PRESIDENT: All those opposed,
22 nay.
23 (No response.)
24 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
25 adopted.
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1 Senator Gianaris.
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
3 Madam President.
4 At the request of Senator Seward,
5 this resolution is also open for cosponsorship.
6 Should any member choose not to be a cosponsor,
7 please notify the desk.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
9 open for cosponsorship. Should you not choose to
10 be a cosponsor of the resolution, please notify
11 the desk.
12 SENATOR GIANARIS: Can we now take
13 up the noncontroversial reading of the calendar,
14 but I would ask that we go out of order and take
15 up Calendar Number 2 first.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
17 read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2,
19 by Senator Hoylman, Senate Print 1047, an act to
20 amend the Executive Law, the Civil Rights Law,
21 and the Education Law.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
23 section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 25. This
25 act shall take effect on the 30th day after it
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1 shall have become a law.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Hoylman to
5 explain his vote.
6 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you,
7 Madam President.
8 And thank you to my colleagues.
9 It's been a long road. But I was thinking about
10 this bill, which is called, of course, the Gender
11 Expression Non-Discrimination Act. But much more
12 than an acronym, it is the transgender human
13 rights law for the State of New York.
14 And I was thinking about it in terms
15 of my daughter. And last summer my daughter and
16 I were at a swimming pool with some other LGBTQ
17 families. And we were paddling along in the
18 ice-cold water, and this little girl swam up to
19 Sylvia, my 7-year-old, and she said "Who's that?"
20 And Sylvia said "That's my daddy." And without
21 missing a beat, the other little girl said,
22 "Well, then where's your other daddy?"
23 (Laughter.)
24 SENATOR HOYLMAN: And to me that's
25 an example of the quantum leap forward that we've
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1 taken as a chamber, thanks to the support of so
2 many colleagues, and we've taken as a society,
3 thanks to popular culture and leadership in this
4 Capitol, including our Governor and our President
5 and our Supreme Court.
6 But there was and remains unfinished
7 business in the civil rights movement, in
8 particular the LGBTQ civil rights movement, for
9 the reason that the last 17 years, in our
10 Human Rights Law, transgender people have been
11 expressly excluded. That wasn't by accident.
12 Back in 2002, when the Sexual Orientation
13 Non-Discrimination Act was passed in this very
14 chamber, there was a motion, there was a motion
15 made by my esteemed predecessor, Senator Tom
16 Duane, to include transgender and
17 gender-nonconforming people in that bill.
18 But they were jettisoned. They were
19 left on a desert island in the world of human
20 rights. And we told them, We'll be back to get
21 you. Our lifeboat will be coming back, don't
22 worry. Well, it's taken 17 years.
23 So to them, that speck on the
24 horizon is not a mirage, it is the State Senate
25 finally coming back to pick you up and bring you
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1 into civil society, with all rights and
2 protections that New Yorkers deserve.
3 (Applause; cheers.)
4 SENATOR HOYLMAN: And I've been
5 asked: Why is this necessary? Well, here are
6 the facts. Under New York State law, if you are
7 transgender or gender-nonconforming, according to
8 the statute you can be fired from your place of
9 employment, you can be denied a lease for your
10 apartment, you can be kicked out of a restaurant
11 just because you are transgender or
12 gender-nonconforming.
13 In addition to that, while some of
14 that has been covered by Executive Order -- not
15 with the force of law, and always subject to
16 change -- the one thing that has not been
17 addressed is protections for transgender and
18 gender-nonconforming people under our state Hate
19 Crimes Law.
20 And it's not lost on me or
21 transgender activists, many of whom are here in
22 the galleries, that transgender people are the
23 number-one target of hate violence in these
24 United States of America. We have to do
25 something to protect them.
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1 And the symbolism of us passing our
2 transgender human rights law is profound. It's
3 profound at every level of our society, among the
4 very young and among the very old.
5 Let me just share with you some
6 results of the United States Transgender Survey.
7 It found that 30 percent of transgender and
8 gender-nonconforming people have been fired from
9 their jobs because of their gender identity --
10 30 percent. Twenty-three percent of those folks
11 have been denied housing, 31 percent have been
12 denied service in a place of public
13 accommodation. And yes, that great American
14 bathroom debate, which I'm glad we're not having
15 today: 59 percent have avoided using public
16 restrooms out of fear of being confronted.
17 That's the reality for transgender
18 and gender-nonconforming people in our society
19 today.
20 And I took the liberty of soliciting
21 some thoughts from some of our transgender
22 New Yorkers about how they felt about this
23 historic day here in Albany.
24 And a woman named Kristen Browde --
25 she was recently elected as the board president
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1 of the LGBT Bar Association in New York -- wrote
2 to me. She said: "Your legislation means
3 everything. We can now be assured that in public
4 accommodation, in business and in every aspect of
5 life, we'll be on the same footing as everyone
6 else, that no longer we'll have to fear
7 professional or personal repercussions when we
8 come out or when our gender is revealed. And we
9 will help erase some of the fear that every
10 transgender person has about coming out."
11 "That fear," Kristen writes, "has
12 led me not to come out publicly until I reached
13 the age of 65."
14 "GENDA," she says, "will go a long
15 way toward ending the fear of legalized
16 discrimination, a fear that so many in this state
17 rightly, though unfortunately, have lived with."
18 A fear, I have to add, colleagues,
19 is compounded by decisions being made in
20 Washington, D.C., to undermine the civil
21 liberties that were put forward through
22 Executive Order by President Obama and now are
23 being decimated by President Trump.
24 Then there's Wendy Marie from
25 Buffalo, who writes in to say: "I've been
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1 refused medical appointments due to being trans.
2 I've been turned down for employment and told
3 outright that if I dress as a male, then there is
4 an open position. I have been refused lodging
5 and entrance to food establishments and openly
6 ridiculed in public. Passing GENDA would show
7 that our elected state representatives will no
8 longer tolerate discrimination against any
9 citizens regardless of their gender expression."
10 And finally, there's a constituent
11 of mine named Sam, a young boy in my district
12 who's 14 and lives in the East Village. I called
13 his mom. She was so proud.
14 All of these New Yorkers have been
15 waiting so long. They've been waiting too long.
16 But we're going to fix that today.
17 So I just want to thank my
18 colleagues who have pushed this issue forward.
19 So many of us have our own experiences with the
20 LGBT community. Senator Duane, who was the first
21 openly LGBT member of this body.
22 Senator Squadron -- a straight ally,
23 but a good guy nonetheless --
24 (Laughter.)
25 SENATOR HOYLMAN: -- who carried
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1 this bill for so many years.
2 Senators Skoufis and Stavisky, who
3 moved these bills quickly through committee.
4 My colleagues in the LGBT Caucus:
5 Deborah Glick, Danny O'Donnell, Harry Bronson,
6 Dick Gottfried -- who's not a caucus member, but
7 is carrying GENDA in the other house -- and
8 former Assemblymember Matthew Titone.
9 And Senator Krueger, whose brother
10 lived during the plague years.
11 Senator Savino, who gave that killer
12 speech on marriage equality.
13 Senator Ramos, who understands that
14 transgender women of color are now a political
15 voting bloc and we should be listening to them.
16 Senator Benjamin, who said the other
17 day, "Wow, we're dealing with democracy and human
18 rights in the first two days of our legislative
19 session. Can it get any more real than that?"
20 And Senator Gianaris, for pushing
21 forward not just GENDA, but being the original
22 coprime sponsor and in fact the originator of the
23 bill to ban conversion therapy.
24 And finally, our leader, Andrea
25 Stewart-Cousins. It's no coincidence that we're
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1 addressing this issue in the first week of our
2 legislating, because Andrea Stewart-Cousins wrote
3 the human rights law in Westchester County. She
4 knows what it's like to be discriminated against.
5 She knows the value of standing up for our fellow
6 citizens no matter what they look like, no matter
7 what their gender identity or expression is, no
8 matter who they love.
9 So to my colleagues, thank you. Let
10 us move forward. Let us all rise up and support
11 civil liberties for everyone. Thank you.
12 (Extended standing ovation.)
13 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
14 Senator Hoylman.
15 To explain her vote, Senator Ramos.
16 SENATOR RAMOS: Thank you,
17 Madam President.
18 It's true, I am the proud
19 State Senator of the largest transgender Latinx
20 community in this country. And I'm proud to be
21 voting yes, because I'm here to ensure they're
22 protected from hatred and discrimination. These
23 communities have long faced an assault on their
24 rights, and it's time New York State finally
25 commits to protecting them.
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1 (Cheers, applause from galleries.)
2 SENATOR RAMOS: But I do want to
3 note that I believe we must go further. We must
4 acknowledge that communities of color bear the
5 brunt of the criminal justice system.
6 (Cheers, applause from galleries.)
7 SENATOR RAMOS: So after passing
8 GENDA, we need to work to clarify this
9 language -- and I know that this issue will be
10 addressed -- so this historic bill cannot be
11 weaponized against people of color.
12 Passing GENDA signifies monumental
13 progress for our state, and we will continue to
14 acknowledge how people of color in every
15 community are disadvantaged as a result of
16 systems meant to criminalize us. GENDA is a
17 significant first step in committing ourselves to
18 the betterment of all vulnerable communities, and
19 must pave the way for equity and dignity for all
20 New Yorkers.
21 Thank you.
22 (Enthusiastic applause.)
23 THE PRESIDENT: I need to remind
24 the Senators as well as our guests here today
25 that we will reserve all of our applause to the
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1 conclusion and the passage of the bills, all
2 right?
3 (Laughter.)
4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Savino to
5 explain your vote.
6 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you,
7 Madam President.
8 I want to rise first to acknowledge
9 and thank our leader, Senator Stewart-Cousins,
10 for moving this agenda so quickly.
11 I want to thank Senator Hoylman for
12 that beautiful, passionate speech and for taking
13 up this issue after Senator Squadron left, after
14 Tom Duane. And I wanted to talk a bit about a
15 moment nine years ago when this chamber, this
16 body failed the LGBT community and particularly
17 the transgender community.
18 When we took the majority in 2009,
19 we had 32 elected Democrats, but we only had 24
20 that were willing to vote to stand up for the
21 LGBT community, whether it was marriage equality
22 or GENDA. We tried to bring GENDA through the
23 Judiciary Committee. And some of you in the
24 community may have come to that Judiciary hearing
25 on June 8th of 2010, where the bill went down in
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1 defeat because Democrats didn't stand up for the
2 LGBT community.
3 So I am so proud to be here today,
4 nine years later -- but nine years too late for
5 the community, in many respects -- to be able to
6 correct that wrong that was done in the Senate
7 Judiciary committee when we defeated GENDA,
8 because today we have the votes.
9 And during that last nine years, we
10 have seen counties in this state, 11 cities in
11 this state, 11 counties adopt their own GENDA
12 statute to protect the transgender community.
13 But it's not enough. We saw the Governor
14 introduce an Executive Order, but that's still
15 not enough, because it doesn't have the force of
16 law everywhere in every county in the state.
17 And what we're doing here today,
18 Brad, what we're doing is saying regardless of
19 where you live in New York State -- upstate,
20 downstate, the East End to the West Side -- this
21 state recognizes your civil rights and your
22 humanity no matter who you are. And we're doing
23 that today, and I am so proud to finally be able
24 to help correct a wrong that was done the last
25 time we held the majority.
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1 So congratulations to everyone, and
2 especially to our leader for bringing this out in
3 the first week and not making us wait until June.
4 Thank you.
5 (Applause.)
6 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator
7 Savino.
8 I have to repeat the request to
9 restrain yourselves, despite the apparent
10 excitement, with respect to the applause. We
11 have business to attend to in the chambers today.
12 Senator Sepúlveda to explain your
13 vote.
14 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Thank you.
15 First I want to thank, again, the
16 leader, who's pushed an agenda that's been
17 necessary in this state for many years. I want
18 to thank Brad. I also want to thank Tom Duane,
19 and of course Mike Gianaris.
20 To me this is important. In 1994 I
21 lost my oldest brother to AIDS. He was a
22 nonconforming transgender male who died and was a
23 victim of a couple of attempts at hate crime. So
24 this, to me, is something I'm very proud in his
25 honor to be voting for.
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1 There are moments that are shared in
2 our American history that serve as inflection
3 points along our long march towards justice, and
4 this morning we've reached one of those proud
5 moments. The GENDA act will add gender identity
6 and expression as a protected class in our
7 state's Human Rights and Hate Crime Laws. GENDA
8 will prohibit discrimination in employment,
9 housing, public accommodations and other areas.
10 GENDA will also provide stronger penalties for
11 crimes motivated by hatred. And again, I wish my
12 brother was here to share this moment with me.
13 Today we recognize the T in LGBT.
14 We are transgender and gender-nonconforming
15 siblings. We recognize your full and equal place
16 in the fabric of our community. We enter a
17 covenant with both those harmed by society's lack
18 of understanding and the millions of children who
19 trust us to provide a just future. Our vote in
20 this chamber is one of love, solidarity with the
21 LGBT community. Thank you for the value you
22 bring to this American family. We will do better
23 by you, and we will continue to listen.
24 May this vote serve as the first of
25 many civil rights reforms that serve to recognize
356
1 the inherent worth and dignity living inside
2 every single person in this country and in this
3 state.
4 Thank you.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
6 Senator Krueger to explain your
7 vote.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
9 Madam President.
10 I also want to thank Senator Hoylman
11 for his hard work to get us here, and all our
12 other colleagues. I also do -- also don't want
13 to point out that I served with Senator Tom Duane
14 the years he was fighting so hard for this bill,
15 and lived through the times we failed, we failed
16 the T community.
17 And I even remember when we passed
18 SONDA but we couldn't get GENDA added on as an
19 amendment. And there were many at the time in
20 the gay and lesbian community who weren't
21 comfortable enough to actually fight for GENDA
22 rights then. But look how far we've come.
23 And I distinctly remember some of my
24 colleagues at those times, when we failed to get
25 this done, saying to me: "Who are those
357
1 transgender?" I said, "They're people. They're
2 people who just want equal rights with everyone
3 else and who deserve equal rights with everyone
4 else."
5 And not only am I so proud we're
6 going to pass this on the floor today, but we're
7 going to pass it with votes on both sides of the
8 aisle. And I think that's another incredibly
9 important message for those of us who fought so
10 long and hard to have the opportunity to set the
11 agenda of what comes to the floor of the Senate.
12 Because I knew that this bill, like so many
13 others we will be moving, would have support in
14 both parties if we could just get the discussion
15 rolling, the bills through committee to the
16 floor.
17 I'm so proud to vote yes today. I'm
18 so happy and proud for the State of New York that
19 we are finally taking this long past-due step. I
20 vote yes, Madam President. Thank you.
21 (Applause from gallery.)
22 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator
23 Krueger.
24 Senator Kaplan to explain your vote.
25 SENATOR KAPLAN: Thank you,
358
1 Madam President.
2 Transgender people have faced
3 injustice for far too long in this country. And
4 in the past two years, the pace and intensity of
5 these attacks on the rights and existence of
6 trans people has exploded, leading to a dramatic
7 increase of anti-transgender discrimination and
8 violence.
9 We should be doing everything we can
10 to stand up and say we reject hate and bias in
11 New York, because no one should be subject to
12 discrimination just for being their true
13 authentic selves.
14 And today, by finally bringing GENDA
15 to the floor, and passing it, we are sending a
16 message to transgender people across this state
17 that we want to make sure you are safe, affirmed,
18 and protected. We are sending a message that
19 we've got your back.
20 So that is why I am proud to stand
21 here today as a cosponsor of this legislation and
22 proudly cast my vote in the affirmative.
23 Thank you.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
25 Senator Kaplan.
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1 Senator Serrano to explain your
2 vote.
3 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you so
4 much, Madam President.
5 And I rise to congratulate my
6 colleague and my friend Senator Hoylman for his
7 steadfast leadership on this issue and the
8 courageousness that you've put forth in all the
9 items that you work on.
10 And I want to thank the leadership
11 of Andrea Stewart-Cousins, our leader, for
12 bringing this to a vote today, and all of my
13 colleagues in this chamber. And I hope that we
14 see broad and universal support for something so
15 important.
16 This vote and this issue is so
17 important now when you consider the years and
18 legacy of violence against the transgender
19 community and communities all across our nation.
20 In East Harlem and the South Bronx, too many
21 candlelight vigils for those who have been the
22 victims of murder, of violence, simply because of
23 their gender identity and expression. No more.
24 We say no more.
25 At a time when walls are being built
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1 and policies are being implemented that make us
2 less free, this bill does the complete opposite.
3 It embraces the very essence of what freedom is,
4 the very essence of what it is to be an American.
5 That we say that we are all free and that we all
6 should be protected by the laws and the rights
7 that any others take for granted.
8 So again, it is just so amazing to
9 be part of this historic day. I've been in the
10 Senate for many years, but today feels so
11 special. And again, when we think about the
12 legacy of the work that we do, this day will be
13 one that we remember for many, many years.
14 And again, referring back to my good
15 friend Senator Hoylman, your legacy is so deep
16 with the work that you've done, but none more
17 important than the legacy to your two children
18 and how this day will be impactful for
19 generations to come.
20 So thank you.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kennedy to
22 explain your vote.
23 SENATOR KENNEDY: Thank you,
24 Madam President.
25 First of all, let me start by
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1 thanking and congratulating once again this
2 bill's sponsor, Senator Hoylman, for your
3 steadfast attention and aggressive advocacy on
4 this issue.
5 You know, it's fitting that we stood
6 up and applauded Senator Hoylman. It's not very
7 often that that happens on this floor. But this
8 is that important of an issue, with such an
9 overarching impact, not only on New York but on
10 society. And not just in this country, but
11 across the globe. Because we know how New York
12 goes, so goes the rest of the nation and so goes
13 the rest of the international community.
14 And New York has demonstrated that
15 particularly as it pertains to LGBT issues. And
16 if we go back and we think about where this body
17 has come from -- one of the proudest moments I've
18 ever had on this floor was voting for marriage
19 equality. And that was eight years ago. I can't
20 remember since then when we voted on another
21 LGBTQ issue in this chamber.
22 It is so fitting that we move this
23 today, because this is what the people of the
24 State of New York need, this is what the people
25 of this country need. We need to demonstrate
362
1 what New York is all about. It's standing up and
2 fighting against those that want to commit hate
3 crimes because someone is different. It's
4 standing up and fighting against those that want
5 to discriminate against anyone for any reason
6 because they are different.
7 But what this says today is that we
8 are -- no one is different, we are all normal.
9 We are all New Yorkers. We are all Americans.
10 We all deserve the same rights and respect and
11 dignity as anyone else, regardless of who we are,
12 what we look like, what our sexual orientation
13 is, where we come from, what our socioeconomic
14 status is. That's what New York is all about.
15 And by passing GENDA today, we are
16 putting all New Yorkers in the same boat, moving
17 forward and demonstrating to the rest of the
18 nation that New York will lead on these human
19 rights issues.
20 I want to recognize some folks in
21 this chamber today. From the Human Rights
22 Campaign, Marty Rouse is here. From Buffalo we
23 have, from the Stonewall Democrats, the
24 president, Bryan Ball. And from the transgender
25 community, and the vice president of Stonewall,
363
1 we have Ari Moore.
2 And from Buffalo to the tip of
3 Long Island and everywhere in between, we can
4 celebrate that New York cares about human rights
5 today. I'm proud once again, as never before, to
6 stand on this floor and vote in favor of this
7 all-important, all-encompassing human rights
8 bill.
9 I vote aye, Madam President. Thank
10 you.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
12 Senator Kennedy.
13 Senator Sanders to explain your
14 vote.
15 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you,
16 Madam President.
17 In a few days we'll celebrate Martin
18 Luther King's birthday. I want to remind you
19 that he said that injustice anywhere is a threat
20 to justice everywhere.
21 (Applause from galleries.)
22 SENATOR SANDERS: This is how we
23 need to look at this. We need to understand that
24 it's not going to happen to just one group. If
25 they come for the transgenders in the morning,
364
1 they're coming for others at night.
2 So with that understanding and the
3 understanding that there has to be solidarity to
4 beat back all of these folks who talk of hate and
5 finding ways of closing people out all -- all of
6 that stuff needs to be pushed back, and the best
7 that we can do it with is solidarity and an
8 understanding that we are one family, and that's
9 the human family. And if we can just get that,
10 we'd make some difference.
11 I'm honored to sit next to my
12 esteemed Senator, who's got a rousing hand clap
13 today. Probably may be your last, but that's all
14 right.
15 (Laughter.)
16 SENATOR SANDERS: That's all right.
17 You got it, and it still echoes.
18 We are going to ensure that this law
19 does not further penalize and criminalize people
20 of color. We're going to do some other things to
21 make sure that we have a fair accounting of all
22 of these things.
23 My friends, let's do one thing and
24 understand this. By today's action we are saying
25 New York State will not tolerate bullying or
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1 violence against any of its residents, anyone.
2 No one will be left out this time around, any of
3 its residents.
4 It also shows great things about the
5 leadership of this conference. Is this the
6 second day? It sounds like we moved a million
7 things already. A million more to go. The
8 leadership is doing some incredible things, and
9 that should be pointed out.
10 And I'm glad to vote for this
11 measure to ensure that, again, that everyone
12 understands that a threat to justice anywhere is
13 a threat to justice everywhere.
14 Thank you.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
16 Senator Sanders.
17 Senator Akshar to explain your vote.
18 SENATOR AKSHAR: Madam President,
19 thank you.
20 Before I begin, allow me to
21 congratulate my colleague on something that I
22 know he's incredibly passionate about.
23 I think we can all agree that
24 government exists to protect the rights and to
25 protect the safety of all of its citizens. Let
366
1 me be clear about something. No one in our great
2 state should be discriminated against because of
3 their race, their religion, their sexual
4 preference, their gender or their beliefs. And
5 we should work every day, Republicans and
6 Democrats, to ensure that our laws that we
7 advance do so.
8 I agree with some of the provisions
9 of this bill and have no doubt that in fact it is
10 well-intentioned. But so often in government,
11 well-intentioned actions have unintended
12 consequences. The bill as currently authored has
13 far too many unintended consequences for me to be
14 able to support it. In my humble opinion, it
15 goes too far and crosses over into the rights of
16 the safety and privacy of other New Yorkers.
17 The vague language used in this bill
18 leaves open the door for misuse and abuse by
19 individuals that none of us in this body have any
20 intention of protecting. And my fear is is that
21 the broad scope of this bill will leave the door
22 open for child predators and sexual predators to
23 abuse and misuse the law for their own purposes.
24 (Vocal disagreement.)
25 THE PRESIDENT: Order. Maintain
367
1 order in the chambers.
2 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you,
3 Madam President.
4 And for that, I cannot support this
5 bill.
6 Let me be clear about something.
7 And let us all agree that we are in fact all
8 God's children. We all agree that no individual
9 should ever be discriminated against or feel
10 unsafe because of their sexual preference, their
11 gender, the color of their skin or their religion
12 or their beliefs.
13 But it frustrates me and disappoints
14 me that a bill aimed at fighting discrimination
15 itself includes the kind of broad, ill-defined
16 and irresponsibly drafted language that could be
17 used to target and discriminate {against} other
18 New Yorkers. Well-intentioned, terribly
19 executed. For that, I vote no.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator May to
21 explain your vote.
22 SENATOR MAY: Thank you,
23 Madam President.
24 I'm proud to cast my vote in favor
25 of this bill, and I do it in honor and memory of
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1 Marthe Reed. Marthe was an American poet and
2 educator. She was my neighbor and friend. And
3 she was the mother of a trans child, the loving
4 mother of a trans child.
5 Martha was angry and passionate
6 about a lot of forms of injustice, but GENDA was
7 her particular concern. I think her passion may
8 have taken her life last year; she died of a
9 massive stroke during a political meeting. And I
10 vowed to myself after that that if I got elected,
11 that one of the first things I would do was push
12 to pass GENDA.
13 So I'm very grateful to Senator
14 Hoylman, to the Majority Leader, and to my
15 colleagues for helping me keep that promise.
16 Thank you.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
18 Senator Salazar to explain your
19 vote.
20 SENATOR SALAZAR: Thank you,
21 Madam President.
22 I want to thank Senator Hoylman for
23 his leadership on this. I'm thrilled for us to
24 finally act to protect trans and
25 gender-nonconforming New Yorkers from
369
1 gender-based discrimination.
2 I remain concerned about the hate
3 crimes component of the bill. We know that due
4 to racial bias in our criminal justice system,
5 New Yorkers of color are disproportionately
6 prosecuted for hate crimes, among other offenses,
7 and subjected to enhanced sentencing.
8 This concern has been raised by
9 advocates in my district, and I share their
10 concern. I look forward to working with
11 Senator Hoylman and with all of you to find a way
12 to address this concern by fighting to eliminate
13 racial bias as well as gender bias in our
14 criminal justice system.
15 In this instance, as no new crimes
16 and no new penalties are being created, I'm proud
17 and honored to vote for GENDA and to support the
18 human rights of all transgender and nonbinary
19 New Yorkers.
20 Thank you.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
22 Senator Jackson to explain your
23 vote.
24 SENATOR JACKSON: Thank you,
25 Madam President.
370
1 Good afternoon to my colleagues and
2 people that are present here to witness this
3 historic event in the Senate chambers.
4 As I indicated to my colleagues
5 yesterday, I represent Manhattan, all parts of
6 it, all type of individuals -- young and old,
7 straight and gay, transgender or not. The bottom
8 line is that we are all brothers and sisters of
9 this human race.
10 And, you know, as an individual
11 growing up in New York City, I've given blood.
12 I've given, you know, my body; I've signed the
13 back of my driver's license so if I'm brain-dead,
14 I'm going to use myself to help other people
15 live, and it doesn't matter what your race,
16 color, creed, national origin or sexual
17 orientation.
18 I rise today also to let you know
19 that on my Twitter account it says, besides who I
20 am and that I'm a district leader, that I'm an
21 advocate for education, I'm an advocate for
22 affordable housing, I'm an advocate -- and the
23 last thing I say, I'm an advocate for GENDA. And
24 so if I did not stand up today to let you know
25 that, then I'm not doing my job, I'm not
371
1 advocating for the people that I represent.
2 And I say to all of you that members
3 of my immediate family and extended family are
4 part of the LGBTQT group. And not only that,
5 I've had staff in the City Council, and currently
6 in the State Senate. And I'm here to represent
7 all of them, and I don't want anyone
8 discriminating against them or anyone else.
9 And I hear all the time in the news
10 about people discriminating against blacks,
11 against whites, against Jews, against Muslims.
12 Enough of this hate stuff. And that's what this
13 is about today: Giving people the right to say
14 who they are, to be proud of who they are and be
15 able to say that if in fact someone discriminates
16 against me for my job or employment or any other
17 type of expressions of hate, there's a penalty
18 you're going to pay.
19 But our job is to try to educate
20 people about the differences of all of us in our
21 community. And with that, Madam President, I ask
22 those individuals that have been involved from
23 day one, from 13 years ago, to be involved in
24 this GENDA being passed today, and those that
25 have worked on it, I ask you to raise your hand
372
1 if you're in the audience. I thank you for your
2 advocacy on behalf of not only yourselves, but
3 all of the people of out of great state.
4 I vote aye, Madam President.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
6 Senator Harckham to explain your
7 vote.
8 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you,
9 Madam President.
10 And I want to congratulate Senator
11 Hoylman for his great advocacy. And colleagues
12 who have been here a while, much longer than I, I
13 thank you for your efforts and your perseverance.
14 I just wanted to mention Kristen
15 Browde, who Senator Hoylman referred to. She is
16 a constituent and a friend -- and what a fierce
17 advocate she is. I congratulate her on this day.
18 This, ladies and gentlemen, is just
19 about basic human rights. We are talking about
20 equal protection under the law for all
21 New Yorkers. It's a simple concept, and yet it
22 has not applied to all for far too long. I come
23 out of the affordable housing world, and so many
24 people have lost housing because they did not
25 have a law like this to protect them from
373
1 discrimination because of their gender identity.
2 Nobody should live in fear of losing an
3 apartment, a house, a lease because of their
4 gender identity.
5 And we heard about the violence
6 against our trans brothers and sisters. Higher
7 rates of suicide, higher rates of substance
8 abuse, higher rates of homelessness.
9 So again, this is about basic human
10 rights, equal protection under the law. I am
11 proud to vote aye. Thank you.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
13 Senator Biaggi to explain your vote.
14 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you,
15 Madam President.
16 Equal treatment is a core of a real
17 democratic society. I am proud that in our first
18 week of passing legislation that we are taking on
19 the long-overdue task of expanding full rights
20 and equal treatment to the LGBTQ community.
21 I applaud my colleague Senator
22 Hoylman for your bravery, for your tenacity, for
23 your perseverance. You represent what I hope to
24 also have as a State Senator in this conference.
25 I'm proud to stand with this
374
1 conference. I am proud to vote yes. And I am
2 dedicating my vote to my friend and a fierce
3 advocate who is right up there, Kristen Browde.
4 Thank you for all that you've done for all of us
5 to get here today as well.
6 Thank you.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
8 Senator Skoufis to explain your
9 vote.
10 SENATOR SKOUFIS: Thank you,
11 Madam President.
12 For the past six legislative
13 sessions, across the Capitol in the Assembly I
14 have seen and participated in this debate. We
15 have passed GENDA year after year after year only
16 to see it die on arrival here in the State Senate
17 for the past six years.
18 And I am so proud that on our third
19 legislative day, our second day of legislative
20 activity here in the State Senate, that we will
21 now finally move this bill forward and get it
22 enacted into law in the next two weeks.
23 Let me be clear. In the Assembly
24 this was always the most, the most disheartening
25 debate to listen to and, quite frankly, offensive
375
1 debate to listen to. Where year after year, I
2 had to hear from opponents, and my colleagues who
3 strongly believe that this bill is a matter of
4 human rights and equality across the state, we
5 had to listen to opponents talk about not the
6 housing equality in this bill, not the education
7 equality in this bill, not the employment
8 equality that is in this bill, but talk about
9 bathrooms and locker rooms.
10 And I had thought we were going to
11 get through this debate without talking about
12 bathrooms and locker rooms. And I'm so
13 disappointed that we could not quite get through
14 this debate without doing so.
15 Putting aside the bizarro
16 circumstances, this bizarro world where people
17 are dressing up as men and women to sneak into
18 locker rooms and bathrooms -- that's just not
19 happening, ladies and gentlemen. Putting that
20 aside --
21 THE PRESIDENT: Order in the
22 chamber.
23 SENATOR SKOUFIS: -- to my
24 opponents who bring this up, are you more
25 comfortable with someone who is dressed as a
376
1 woman and is a woman in a men's bathroom? That
2 is crazy. Even if you don't believe, if even if
3 you don't respect the gender identity of that
4 person, are you more comfortable with someone who
5 looks like a woman in a men's bathroom? Come on.
6 This is the right thing to do. I
7 congratulate Senator Hoylman and all the
8 advocates. This is a proud day.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
10 Senator Benjamin to explain your
11 vote.
12 SENATOR BENJAMIN: Thank you,
13 Madam President.
14 I don't want to repeat what's been
15 said, but there's a couple of things I want to
16 say.
17 First of all, I want to thank
18 Senator Hoylman for his leadership, and those
19 before him. I want to thank our leader, Senator
20 Andrea Stewart-Cousins, for helping us bring this
21 bill to the floor so soon.
22 I just want to thank all of the
23 activists who are here. I cannot imagine what
24 some have been through. I know my family has had
25 a lot of division because some members of my
377
1 family were proud to stand forward and say "I am
2 what I am, and everyone needs to accept it."
3 I know in all of our families we
4 have had these issues. Some of us don't want to
5 talk about it. But the bottom line is we as
6 society have to be clear that every single human
7 has the right to be who they are, they have the
8 right to be respected, and they have the right to
9 live God's true vision for themselves. Whatever
10 it is that anyone wants to do in life, they
11 should be able to do it and they should not feel
12 ashamed of who they are, particularly within
13 their own families.
14 I am honored today to vote for this
15 bill. It's part of the reason why I am a part of
16 this party, the Democratic Party -- not to get
17 political, I apologize. I believe so strongly
18 that when we stand here and vote for this bill,
19 we are moving society forward in the right way.
20 And whether you support this bill or
21 you don't support this bill, this will be one of
22 the most historic moments of this New York State
23 Senate, and I'm glad to be here and glad to be a
24 public servant on this very day.
25 Thank you, Madam President.
378
1 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
2 Senator Gounardes to explain your
3 vote.
4 SENATOR GOUNARDES: Thank you,
5 Madam President.
6 I went home yesterday after our long
7 marathon session and I thought to myself how
8 proud I was for all the votes that we took in
9 this chamber yesterday. And I thought, you know,
10 we have such an ambitious agenda, I'm going to
11 hopefully have many more nights like this where I
12 come home and I'm proud. But today will probably
13 take the cake for me in my legislative career in
14 this chamber, because today is an especially
15 proud moment for me.
16 I teared listening to my colleague
17 Senator Hoylman give his incredibly beautiful
18 remarks. And I think back to my entry into
19 political activism. It was about seven years ago
20 in my neighborhood when I went to a rally in
21 support of marriage equality in front of my State
22 Senator's office. And the response that we were
23 met with at that rally was that "Constituents in
24 my district don't give a rat's behind about
25 marriage or about civil rights for individuals."
379
1 What a difference, what a difference
2 today is. I'm proud to be a cosponsor of this
3 legislation. I'm proud that today on my second
4 day of legislative business, one of the first
5 votes I'm casting in this chamber is to reverse
6 that trend that we so long dealt with in our
7 state, and to stand here as an ally and to say
8 it's a new day in New York. It's a day when we
9 reaffirm the basic principle that it doesn't
10 matter who you are or who you love, you will be
11 treated with equal protection and dignity under
12 the law. How far we've come.
13 Today is a proud day. Today is a
14 special day. And I'm so honored to cast my vote
15 in support of this legislation. Thank you.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
17 Senator Carlucci to explain your
18 vote.
19 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Thank you,
20 Madam President.
21 And I too want to lend my voice to
22 what we've spoken about today and thank
23 Senator Hoylman for his advocacy and all of the
24 advocates that are here in the chamber and so
25 many that I've met throughout the years.
380
1 We're fortunate, we've got the
2 Rockland Pride Center that's here today and has
3 really been helping so many people in our
4 community.
5 But today is about updating the
6 laws, about changing a flaw in the law. The fact
7 that we do not treat everyone equally in all the
8 protections of the laws under New York State is
9 so wrong.
10 And I'm so proud to be here today,
11 part of this chamber, casting this vote to
12 finally have equal protections. Over the years
13 as a Senator and hearing the stories from
14 hundreds of people sharing their stories, having
15 that courage to talk about the situations of
16 harassment and discrimination and all of that
17 work, I'm so thankful to all of you for standing
18 up, for sharing your stories, to give us the
19 power to have this vote today.
20 So I'm honored to cast my vote in
21 favor of this legislation. Thank you,
22 Madam President.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
24 Senator Mayer to explain your vote.
25 SENATOR MAYER: Thank you, Madam
381
1 Speaker.
2 I'm proudly casting my vote in the
3 affirmative and want to give thanks to the
4 sponsor and those who were here before him who
5 have been fighting this battle for so long.
6 But I also want to give special
7 thanks to those in all of our communities,
8 including some of New York's conservative
9 communities, who have stepped forward and entered
10 into civic life, and through that process they
11 have changed the minds of those who years before
12 would never have considered supporting this
13 legislation. They have shown extraordinary
14 bravery by their presence, by their determination
15 to make sure that they were seen as individuals
16 deserving of respect.
17 One of those people is here from the
18 great City of Yonkers, Angie Powinski. And there
19 are so many others in every one of our
20 communities. And they have changed the minds of
21 others because they have been courageous, they
22 have not hid in fear, and they have forced the
23 rest of the world to recognize that they are our
24 neighbors, our family, and our citizens. And we
25 owe them this bill.
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1 And I'm so pleased to cast my vote
2 in the affirmative.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
4 Senator Bailey to explain your vote.
5 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you,
6 Madam President.
7 I would echo the sentiments of all
8 of my colleagues in thanking our leader for
9 expeditiously bringing this important bill to the
10 floor.
11 And Senator Hoylman, you are a
12 profile in courage, sir. Thank you for your
13 passionate and extremely emotional statements
14 today.
15 I'll be very brief. Senator Sanders
16 invoked Martin Luther King, Jr., earlier and
17 today was his birthday. While it is observed
18 Monday, today, January 15th, is his birthday.
19 And to quote him again: The time is always right
20 to do what's right.
21 Whether you come from a religious
22 family like me, where you've grown up in the
23 church and you heard nonsensical statements
24 thrown around which I won't repeat on this floor,
25 to going to law school and speaking to people of
383
1 the LGBTQ community and understanding how they
2 live their lives. Understanding that it's not
3 much different than a boy from the Bronx. We all
4 want the same basic things. Respect and rights,
5 that's what it comes down to.
6 And when we pass legislation like
7 this, Madam President and my colleagues, the time
8 is right to do what's right. I proudly vote aye,
9 Madam President, and I salute my colleagues who
10 do as well.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
12 Senator Stavisky to explain your
13 vote.
14 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
15 Madam President.
16 Somebody here earlier today said
17 that one of their proudest moments was sitting on
18 the floor and voting for marriage equality. I
19 agree. And today we're going to pass the GENDA
20 bill and hopefully the ban of conversion therapy.
21 These are monumental changes in
22 attitudes. We discovered that the world didn't
23 come to an end when we let people marry whomever
24 they choose.
25 And I too congratulate
384
1 Senator Hoylman. You are absolutely a role
2 model, not just for your two children but for the
3 entire community, whether you be straight or gay.
4 And I was thinking, sitting here,
5 what caused this breath of fresh air? It's as
6 though a door opened and a rush of cold air came
7 in. And I think a lot of it has to do with our
8 new members. Because we are embarking on a new
9 journey. It's going to be a great journey. The
10 world's not going to come to an end when we
11 support everybody, we don't exclude anybody.
12 So I vote aye very proudly. Thank
13 you.
14 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
15 Senator Thomas to explain your vote.
16 SENATOR THOMAS: Thank you,
17 Madam President.
18 First and foremost, I want to thank
19 the sponsor of the bill. And I want to thank the
20 leadership in the Democratic Conference for
21 pushing this forward on the second day here.
22 I also want everyone to remember
23 something. We are all human beings, and we
24 should treat each other with respect. I have
25 listened to my Republican colleagues here, and I
385
1 completely disagree with their logic and why they
2 oppose this bill.
3 The LGBTQ community, they are not
4 asking for special rights. They are asking for
5 the same rights that all of us have here in this
6 country.
7 I also want to recognize David
8 Kilmnick, the president of the LGBTQ Network of
9 Long Island, for his leadership in pushing
10 forward this bill.
11 And I vote yes on this bill as well.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
13 Senator Gianaris to explain your
14 vote.
15 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
16 Madam President.
17 It was my first year as a member of
18 this body when I got to cast a vote in favor of
19 marriage equality, and it's one of my proudest.
20 I actually replaced a member who had previously
21 voted no, and so I felt a special pride in
22 helping to make it a reality after the
23 unsuccessful vote a few years prior. I know
24 Tim Kennedy was in a similar circumstance at the
25 time.
386
1 But it's been eight long years since
2 we've taken up anything relevant to the LGBTQ
3 community since. And I can think of no better
4 example of this new New York Senate, of this new
5 Majority, than that we don't treat people like
6 members of an interest group whose box we check
7 and then tell them "Wait a few years till you get
8 the next thing on your list."
9 We do things here because it's the
10 right thing to do, because we care about our
11 neighbors and we oppose discrimination. That's
12 what this bill is. It is a simple bill that says
13 people should not be discriminated against. It
14 should have happened a long time ago, but it's
15 happening today. And we can take pride that our
16 new leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, is leading
17 the way in making sure that this and other bills
18 can happen.
19 The next bill is also a great bill,
20 to ban conversion therapy. Another one that
21 should be easy, that other states have done a lot
22 more easily than us.
23 And so I want to give special thanks
24 to Brad Hoylman, someone who has been fighting
25 this fight year after year and has been a
387
1 tremendous champion of this community and of this
2 state.
3 And say that after eight years it's
4 a great bookend. One of my first votes was one I
5 was very proud of, to make sure that our brothers
6 and sisters in the LGBT community are treated
7 equally, and this vote today is doing the same
8 thing.
9 It is such a momentous occasion,
10 Madam President, I would also ask you as I
11 conclude my remarks to welcome a great leader to
12 this chamber. He's clean-shaven, so you may not
13 recognize him --
14 (Laughter.)
15 SENATOR GIANARIS: -- but the
16 Speaker of the City Council, Corey Johnson, has
17 joined us as well.
18 (Applause.)
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: And I proudly
20 cast my vote in the affirmative.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
22 Seeing and hearing no other Senator
23 that wishes to explain their vote, I call on
24 Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to close.
25 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank
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1 you, Madam President.
2 So here we go again. I'm excited.
3 I'm always excited. But it's just another day of
4 tearing down barriers. So obviously there's
5 great anticipation and there's great energy in
6 this chamber, and it's for the right reasons.
7 But as Senator Bailey said, I think
8 of it as a great tribute to Dr. King on his
9 birthday. He stood, as you know, for equality,
10 and he wasn't thinking about how that could be
11 packaged. He just understood that essentially it
12 was not okay to say "this person is more equal
13 that that person."
14 And here we are at a moment on his
15 birthday saying not only his words and respecting
16 his memory, but doing what he would expect us to
17 do.
18 He always said "Darkness cannot
19 drive out darkness. Light is the only thing that
20 can do that. Hate can't drive out hate, only
21 love does that."
22 What we are doing today is bringing
23 the light, we're bringing the love, and we're
24 saying that New York State is a place for
25 everyone.
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1 It is, as Senator Gianaris said, a
2 new New York Senate. It's a new day. And like
3 he and many of us here in the chamber, we were
4 proud when we were able to pass marriage equality
5 eight years ago. None of us would have thought
6 that it would take eight years to get to this
7 place. But we're here. We are all here.
8 And I want to thank Senator Hoylman
9 in particular, because you have been steadfast,
10 you have been patient.
11 Every day that people -- in one way
12 or another, by not addressing the LGBTQ
13 community, you were being told maybe that you
14 just weren't -- didn't matter. Today this
15 chamber is saying that you matter. That we all
16 matter. It is a great day when we can pass
17 legislation that impacts people's lives, and that
18 we can impact people's futures. We're doing that
19 today.
20 So when we go out into our districts
21 over the weekend, and I know we will, and we will
22 be with community and we'll be invoking the
23 memory of Dr. King and talking about the
24 importance of his message, especially at a time
25 like this, we can also say that we did something,
390
1 that that memory is alive in the New York State
2 Senate.
3 I vote aye.
4 (Applause.)
5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
6 Majority Leader.
7 Announce the results.
8 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
9 the negative on Calendar Number 2 are
10 Senators Akshar, Amedore, Antonacci, Felder,
11 Funke, Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan,
12 LaValle, O'Mara, Ortt, Ranzenhofer, Ritchie,
13 Robach, Serino, Seward, Tedisco and Young.
14 Ayes, 42. Nays, 19.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
16 (Loud cheering; lengthy standing
17 ovation.)
18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Gianaris.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: Okay.
20 (Laughter.)
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
22 as we take up the remainder of the
23 noncontroversial reading of the calendar, I would
24 remind my colleagues we do have the Governor's
25 presentation to go to at 2 p.m., so I would
391
1 ask -- I know Senator Hoylman is speaking on this
2 next bill, and any members that haven't had a
3 chance to speak on the one we just passed should
4 feel free to speak. But I would ask my remaining
5 colleagues to please try and withhold your
6 comments, if you just made some, so we can make
7 it to the Governor's presentation.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
9 read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Senator Hoylman
11 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
12 Assembly Bill Number 576 and substitute it for
13 the identical Senate Bill Number 1046, Third
14 Reading Calendar 1.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The substitution is
16 so ordered, and the Secretary will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 1,
18 by Assemblymember Glick, Assembly Bill 576, an
19 act to amend the Education Law.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
21 section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
392
1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Metzger to
2 explain your vote.
3 SENATOR METZGER: Thank you very
4 much, Madam President.
5 I want to thank Senator Hoylman and
6 the leader and everyone for their work in the
7 passage of both of these important bills. The
8 fact that we are in the position of having to
9 adopt this legislation, the fact that there is a
10 need for this legislation, demonstrates that the
11 passage of GENDA does not mark the end of our
12 work by any means.
13 We, all of us, have a lot of work to
14 do in our communities, in our schools and in our
15 institutions to model the values enshrined in
16 that legislation and to educate and elevate
17 awareness that discrimination in all forms is
18 unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
19 I proudly cosponsor both of these
20 bills and am committed to doing this work.
21 Thank you.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
23 Seeing and hearing no other Senators
24 that wish to explain their vote, Senator Hoylman
25 to close.
393
1 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you,
2 Madam President.
3 I only have one epic speech in me
4 per lifetime, so I'm going to be very brief, by
5 just thanking my colleagues and in particular,
6 again, Senator Gianaris who was the original
7 prime cosponsor of this legislation.
8 We held a forum back on May 14th of
9 2014 with a number of advocates, one of whom is
10 here today who I wish to recognize: Mathew
11 Shurka, from the Born Perfect Campaign. Mathew
12 has shared his story about the pernicious effect
13 of so-called conversion therapy on him personally
14 and on his family structure.
15 Those personal stories,
16 Madam President, have compelled us today to join
17 other states in banning this practice of gay
18 conversion therapy.
19 Groups such as the New York State
20 Psychiatric Association, the New York State
21 Psychological Association, the New York State
22 Academy of Family Physicians have condemned
23 conversion therapy. We've been helped, though,
24 by organizations like HRC, Rise Out, Equality
25 New York, the National Association of Social
394
1 Workers, Lambda Legal, the LGBT Bar, NYCLU, and
2 the New York Transgender Advocacy Group.
3 The bottom line is our children are
4 born perfect. That's the tag line of the
5 campaign, and that's the message we are sending
6 to families and children today.
7 I vote aye, Madam President.
8 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator.
9 Announce the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
11 the negative on Calendar Number 1 are
12 Senators Amedore, Felder, Gallivan and LaValle.
13 Ayes, 57. Nays, 4.
14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
15 (Cheers; applause.)
16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
17 read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10,
19 by Senator Bailey, Senate Print 1190, an act to
20 amend the Judiciary Law.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
22 section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
395
1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE PRESIDENT: Announce the
3 results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 the negative on Calendar Number 10 are
6 Senators Antonacci, Funke, Gallivan, Griffo,
7 Helming, Jordan, Kaminsky, Little, O'Mara, Ortt,
8 Ranzenhofer, Ritchie, Robach, Seward, Tedisco and
9 Young.
10 Ayes, 45. Nays, 16.
11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11,
13 by Senator Comrie, Senate Print 1191, an act to
14 amend a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
16 section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
18 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
19 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12,
25 by Senator Bailey, Senate Print 1192, an act to
396
1 amend the Economic Development Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13,
13 by Senator Stewart-Cousins, Senate Print 1193, an
14 act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
19 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
24 Announce the results.
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
397
1 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14,
4 by Senator Sanders, Senate Print 1194, an act to
5 amend a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
10 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
15 Announce the results.
16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
17 the negative on Calendar Number 14 are
18 Senators Akshar, Ortt and Skoufis.
19 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15,
23 by Senator Bailey, Senate Print 1195, an act to
24 amend a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
398
1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
4 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
9 Announce the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16,
14 by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 1196, an act to
15 amend the Insurance Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
19 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
20 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
25 Announce the results.
399
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17,
5 by Senator Metzger, Senate Print 1263, an act to
6 amend the Tax Law and the Alcoholic Beverage
7 Control Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
11 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
12 same manner as Chapter 522 of the Laws of 2018.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
17 Announce the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18,
22 by Senator Gianaris, Senate Print 1264, an act to
23 amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Hold
25 on. Hold on.
400
1 Senator Gianaris.
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President, I
3 mentioned yesterday we were going to be doing a
4 lot of this. But let's pause and recognize that
5 Senator Metzger just passed her first bill in the
6 Senate.
7 (Applause.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
9 Secretary will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18,
11 by Senator Gianaris, Senate Print 1264, an act to
12 amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
16 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
17 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
22 Announce the results.
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
25 bill is passed.
401
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19,
2 by Senator Funke, Senate Print 1276, an act to
3 amend the Education Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
8 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
13 Announce the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20,
18 by Senator Gounardes, Senate Print 1277, an act
19 to amend the Tax Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
23 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
24 same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2018.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: Call
402
1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
4 Announce the results. Oh, hold on.
5 Senator Ortt to speak.
6 SENATOR ORTT: Yes, thank you,
7 Mr. President, I just want to explain my vote.
8 I actually applaud the fact that
9 this bill speeds up the expiration of what I feel
10 is an unbelievably massive giveaway of taxpayer
11 dollars to an industry which also happens to
12 overwhelmingly support the Governor and the
13 Majority in this house, to the tune of about
14 $450 million.
15 So we're giving half a billion
16 dollars away to an industry -- and I'm certain
17 there's jobs that have been created, but I don't
18 know if the return on investment and the jobs
19 created even come close or that anyone has been
20 able to tell me that it comes close to justifying
21 the $450 million giveaway that we have done in
22 this state for several years.
23 I opposed it when it was carried by
24 my colleague in this house, and I will continue
25 to oppose it even though it is now carried by the
403
1 member of the Majority.
2 So I applaud that we're speeding up
3 the expiration, but I would hope that we would
4 just let it expire, let it die. Let's take that
5 half a billion dollars and put it either to tax
6 cuts, put it to infrastructure spending, or some
7 other use that I think is much more in line with
8 the needs of all New Yorkers.
9 I vote no, Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
11 Senator Sanders to explain his vote.
12 SENATOR SANDERS: Yes. The points
13 that my colleague has raised are worthy points
14 and should be looked into. We have an obligation
15 to the people of New York. They are worthy.
16 Every tax dollar that we do should return at
17 least one, if not many more so. So we should
18 look into the points that he has made.
19 I have been led to believe that this
20 is a good thing for the state. I have other
21 concerns on this. I toured one of the leading
22 film studios, and I saw an incredible lack of
23 diversity there. I did not see the State of
24 New York reflected.
25 I have shared this with the industry
404
1 and look forward to continued dialogue with them
2 to see what we can do, especially if we're using
3 taxpayer dollars to ensure that they're hiring
4 the people of New York and not just one group,
5 the traditional group.
6 So I believe that they are going to
7 look into this. I'm not opposed to looking into
8 every part of this to make sure that it is doing
9 what it's supposed to do. At this moment, I'm
10 going to vote yes for this.
11 Thank you.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
13 Announce the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
15 the negative on Calendar Number 20 are
16 Senators Akshar, Antonacci, Boyle, Ortt,
17 Ranzenhofer and Salazar.
18 Ayes, 55. Nays, 6.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
20 bill is passed.
21 Recognize Senator Gianaris.
22 SENATOR GIANARIS: And that was
23 Senator Gounardes's first bill passage in the
24 Senate. Congratulations.
25 (Applause.)
405
1 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA:
2 Congratulations, Senator.
3 The bill is passed.
4 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
5 on behalf of Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, our
6 leader, there are hand-ups related to conference
7 memberships and committee assignments. I ask
8 that they be filed in the Journal.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
10 hand-ups have been received and will be filed in
11 the Journal.
12 SENATOR GIANARIS: And on behalf of
13 Senator Flanagan, Leader Stewart-Cousins also
14 hands up additional committee assignments and
15 conference membership lists that I ask be filed
16 in the Journal.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: The
18 hand-up is received and will be filed in the
19 Journal.
20 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
21 is there any further business at the desk?
22 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: There
23 is no further business at the desk.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: That being the
25 case, I move to adjourn until Tuesday,
406
1 January 22nd, at 2:00 p.m., intervening days
2 being legislative days.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT SEPÚLVEDA: On
4 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
5 Tuesday, January 22nd, at 2:00 p.m., intervening
6 days being legislative days.
7 (Whereupon, at 1:04 p.m., the Senate
8 adjourned.)
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