Regular Session - February 4, 2020
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1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
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4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 February 4, 2020
11 4:02 p.m.
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13
14 REGULAR SESSION
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18 SENATOR BRIAN A. BENJAMIN, Acting President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: We have
9 with us today Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, from Oizrim
10 Jewish Council in Monsey.
11 Rabbi.
12 RABBI KAHAN: Good afternoon.
13 Thank you, Senator Carlucci, for the
14 invitation. It's a great honor.
15 In Judaism we are taught to hold a
16 high regard for law and order. As our sages tell
17 us: Pray for the well-being of government, for
18 in its absence, men would swallow one another
19 alive.
20 These are troubling times that we
21 live in today, barely 75 years after the
22 liberation of Auschwitz, and antisemitism is on
23 the rise again. The eyes of New Yorkers are upon
24 you to pass legislation for a better and brighter
25 tomorrow.
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1 As the Talmud says, "He who saves
2 one life is as if he has saved the world entire."
3 And the reasoning behind it being that all the
4 good deeds that the person will do from today on
5 will be attributed to the rescuer.
6 So whether you're passing laws to
7 improve education, additional resources for those
8 battling, struggling with mental illness,
9 providing security for houses of worship and
10 schools, or, as later today, you will be passing
11 Stephen's Law, in memory of Stephen Canastraro,
12 which will improve communication between -- with
13 the families of those struggling with substance
14 abuse addiction, you are the saviors of New York.
15 You are our heroes.
16 And so I will recite a prayer that
17 we do every Saturday in the synagogue: He who
18 has blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
19 may He bless the members of this chamber, along
20 with all bodies of government, and may all those
21 who engage with the needs of the public
22 faithfully, may He reward them abundantly, may He
23 cast away from them all illness, may He
24 rejuvenate their bodies, and may He bestow grace
25 and prosperity in all their endeavors.
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1 And let us all say amen.
2 (Response of "Amen".)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Reading
4 of the Journal.
5 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Monday,
6 February 3, 2020, the Senate met pursuant to
7 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, February 2,
8 2020, was read and approved. On motion, Senate
9 adjourned.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Without
11 objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
12 Presentation of petitions.
13 Messages from the Assembly.
14 Messages from the Governor.
15 Reports of standing committees.
16 Reports of select committees.
17 Communications and reports from
18 state officers.
19 Motions and resolutions.
20 Senator Gianaris.
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
22 can we begin by taking up Resolution 2690, by
23 Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, read it in its
24 entirety, and recognize Leader Stewart-Cousins on
25 the resolution.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 Secretary will read.
3 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
4 2690, by Senator Stewart-Cousins, memorializing
5 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
6 February 2020 as Black History Month in the State
7 of New York.
8 "WHEREAS, Black History Month,
9 previously known as Negro History Week, was
10 founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, and was first
11 celebrated on February 1, 1926; since 1976, it
12 has become a nationally recognized month-long
13 celebration, held each year during the month of
14 February to acknowledge and pay tribute to
15 African-Americans neglected by both society and
16 the history books; and
17 "WHEREAS, The month of February
18 observes the rich and diverse heritage of our
19 great state and nation; and
20 "WHEREAS, Black History Month seeks
21 to emphasize black history is American history;
22 and
23 "WHEREAS, Black History Month is a
24 time to reflect on the struggles and victories of
25 African-Americans throughout our country's
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1 history and to recognize their numerous valuable
2 contributions to the protection of our democratic
3 society in war and in peace; and
4 "WHEREAS, Some African-American
5 pioneers whose many accomplishments, all of which
6 took place during the month of February, went
7 unnoticed, as well as numerous symbolic events in
8 February that deserve to be memorialized
9 include: John Sweat Rock, a noted Boston lawyer
10 who became the first African-American admitted to
11 argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on
12 February 1, 1865, and the first African-American
13 to be received on the floor of the U.S. House of
14 Representatives; Jonathan Jasper Wright, the
15 first African-American to hold a major judicial
16 position, who was elected to the South Carolina
17 Supreme Court on February 1, 1870; President
18 Abraham Lincoln submits the proposed 13th
19 Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing
20 slavery, to the states for ratification on
21 February 1, 1865; civil rights protester Jimmie
22 Lee Jackson dies from wounds inflicted during a
23 protest on February 26, 1965, leading to the
24 historic Selma, Alabama, civil rights
25 demonstrations, including Bloody Sunday, in which
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1 600 demonstrators, including Martin Luther King,
2 Jr., were attacked by police; Autherine J. Lucy
3 became the first African-American student to
4 attend the University of Alabama, on February 3,
5 1956; she was expelled three days later 'for
6 her own safety' in response to threats from a
7 mob; in 1992, Autherine Lucy Foster graduated
8 from the university with a master's degree in
9 education, the same day her daughter, Grazia
10 Foster, graduated with a bachelor's degree in
11 Corporate finance; the Negro Baseball League was
12 founded on February 3, 1920; Jack Johnson, the
13 first African-American World Heavyweight Boxing
14 champion, won his first title on February 3,
15 1903; and Reginald F. Lewis, born on December 7,
16 1942, in Baltimore, Maryland, received his law
17 degree from Harvard Law School in 1968, and was a
18 partner in Murphy, Thorpes & Lewis, the first
19 black law firm on Wall Street, and in 1989, he
20 became president and CEO of TLC Beatrice
21 International Food Company, the largest
22 black-owned business in the United States; and
23 "WHEREAS, In recognition of the
24 vast contributions of African-Americans, a joyful
25 month-long celebration is held across New York
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1 State and across the United States, with many
2 commemorative events to honor and display the
3 cultural heritage of African-Americans; and
4 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body
5 commends the African-American community for
6 preserving, for future generations, its
7 centuries-old traditions that benefit us all and
8 add to the color and beauty of the tapestry which
9 is our American society; now, therefore, be it
10 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
11 Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize
12 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim February
13 2020 as Black History Month in the State of
14 New York; and be it further
15 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
16 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to
17 the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the
18 State of New York, and to the events
19 commemorating Black History Month throughout
20 New York State."
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
22 Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins on the
23 resolution.
24 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank you
25 so much, Mr. President.
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1 And I want to thank Rabbi Yisroel
2 Kahan for your prayer today. It's good to see
3 you, from my native -- my neighbor, as we're
4 Westchester County and I know you're Rockland.
5 And, Mr. President, every year I'm
6 proud at this time to honor African-American
7 culture and history during this special month.
8 Not only because I'm African-American, but
9 because it shines a light on American history.
10 And again, I recognize the rabbi because my
11 remarks have so much to do with what's gone on
12 over the past couple of months.
13 You know, over these past few months
14 our state and country reeled following the
15 horrific acts of antisemitism, and some
16 unfortunately by African-Americans. And I was
17 repeatedly asked at menorah lightings why was
18 there not more attention paid to the shared
19 experiences of the black and Jewish communities
20 in the struggle for justice.
21 You know, I knew that Dr. King's
22 1965 march on Selma was significant for so many
23 reasons, but also because he linked arm in arm
24 with Rabbi Heschel, forcing the nation to
25 acknowledge the exclusion of black Americans from
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1 the equality promised in our Constitution.
2 I was acutely aware of the critical
3 involvement of the Jewish community in the
4 founding of the NAACP, which happened right here
5 in New York.
6 And I also knew of Dr. King's
7 unequivocal and outspoken support of Jewish
8 people as he rebuked Hitler. Dr. King famously
9 said, and I quote, "We should never forget that
10 everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal,
11 and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did
12 in Hungary was illegal. It was illegal to aid
13 and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so,
14 I'm sure that had I lived in Germany at the time,
15 I would have aided and comforted my Jewish
16 brothers."
17 Sadly, it was shared oppression,
18 dehumanization and marginalization that brought
19 together blacks and Jews in a struggle to make
20 America and the world recall and condemn
21 injustice and inequality.
22 So with that thought, I asked my
23 friend and Jewish Senator Shelley Mayer, whose
24 district is intertwined with mine, to work with
25 me on an educational project. She agreed, and
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1 because it is an educational endeavor, we engaged
2 one of the schools where we shared mutual
3 constituents.
4 The meeting at the school took
5 place, and I was amazed that there was a
6 discussion about whether or not we should
7 actually celebrate Black History Month at all.
8 You have some kids who argue it's insulting that
9 the accomplishments of blacks are relegated to
10 one month, and the information was very often
11 redundant -- same names, same stories.
12 In the end, we assured them that
13 although this was being initiated during Black
14 History Month, it was an important enough
15 project, an important enough subject matter to be
16 shared long after the month, because the
17 achievements of black America and the
18 partnerships because of our belief in the
19 democracy and the ideals of this country are
20 very, very important.
21 So I'm personally grateful to
22 Dr. Carter G. Woodson for his insistence on
23 setting aside the month of February. As was said
24 in the resolution, it was initially a week, but
25 it was February because it celebrated the birth
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1 of Abraham Lincoln and the birth of Frederick
2 Douglass. That's why February was named.
3 And it was important to really
4 acknowledge the accomplishments of a community
5 who, in our founding documents, were classified
6 as three-fifths of a person. That thinking
7 allowed for the systemic exclusion and
8 appropriation of black contributions in America.
9 And we are still battling that thinking in 2020.
10 As a nation, we should be told,
11 reminded that blacks invented many of the things
12 we use every day: That Garrett Morgan invented
13 the technology for the traffic light, and
14 Frederick Jones invented refrigerated trucks, and
15 Sarah Boone invented the ironing board.
16 Dr. Patricia Bath, more recently, groundbreaking
17 cataract treatment through laser surgery.
18 We should hear the names of
19 Sojourner and Harry and Ida and Shirley and
20 Constance Baker Motley, who was the first
21 African-American Senator who served in this
22 chamber. We should hear about Martin and Malcolm
23 and Frederick Douglass, who the president seemed
24 to have thought was still alive last year.
25 Today, in a world teaming with
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1 information and misinformation, it's sometimes
2 hard for our new generation to imagine a time in
3 America when black people were forbidden to read
4 or, just a little more than 50 years ago, attend
5 school with whites in the South. It's hard to
6 imagine a time when black families were separated
7 and sold off to work for other people's profits.
8 Black History Month forces us to be reminded of
9 these not-too-distant historic realities.
10 Black history also gives context to
11 what we see today. When we see children
12 separated from their families, when we see
13 intergenerational poverty and over-incarceration
14 of black and brown bodies, it is contextual.
15 Black History Month serves as a
16 reminder that our stories are not always rooted
17 in pain, but the story of African-Americans in
18 America is also one of perseverance, ingenuity,
19 strength, courage and resilience. We celebrate
20 black history because black activism has helped
21 pave the way for others, other minorities, to
22 have equal opportunities here in America. Black
23 history is American history. Its lessons, its
24 partnerships should be learned and repeated and
25 understood daily.
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1 When thinking about why it's
2 important to celebrate Black History Month, I'm
3 reminded of a quote by Alexis de Tocqueville:
4 "The greatness of America lies not in being more
5 enlightened than any other nation, but rather in
6 her ability to repair her faults."
7 African-American community has helped repair
8 those faults.
9 As we recognize Black History Month,
10 I hope that we keep celebrating, keep leading,
11 keep learning, keep advancing our march towards
12 justice for all as we echo the resolve of our
13 Jewish brothers and sisters: Never again.
14 Thank you.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
16 Senator Bailey on the resolution.
17 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 That will be an incredibly difficult
20 act to follow, Madam Leader. You set the tone
21 for us in many ways in our conference, and I
22 thank you so much for being you and also just
23 being part of black history. You see, Black
24 History Month isn't just about MLK, it's about
25 ASC. In the other chamber it's about CEH. It's
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1 about Velmanette Montgomery. It's about that
2 three-fifths compromise that we spoke about.
3 Now, three-fifths of the statewide leaders are
4 African-American. That's the way we turn a
5 three-fifths compromise on its head here in the
6 State of New York.
7 It's about lifting every voice and
8 singing. Only the first verse, though.
9 (Laughter.)
10 SENATOR BAILEY: Because you know
11 what happens after the first verse of "Lift Every
12 Voice and Sing." There's a lot of humming.
13 (Laughter.)
14 SENATOR BAILEY: It's knowing about
15 those legendary names and their accomplishments,
16 but it's also knowing about somebody named Sylvia
17 Richardson Holder. Now, you might be wondering
18 who Sylvia Richardson Holder -- and please don't
19 Google her just yet.
20 June 22, 2015, from the Raleigh News
21 & Observer, telling a story in pictures in
22 Johnson County Revisited, the newest addition to
23 Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series:
24 "H. Smith Richardson of Vick Chemical Company
25 reconnects in the 1940s with his family's aged
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1 former slave, Sylvia Richardson Holder, who is
2 said to have had a hand in concocting the VapoRub
3 that became an American household name following
4 World War I."
5 Now, even while in slavery, people
6 who were thought to be inferior, they came up
7 with products that we use to this day. And I
8 want to illustrate that we're not that far
9 removed from slavery.
10 Now, why is Sylvia Richardson Holder
11 important to me? Well, Sylvia Richardson Holder
12 was the mother of Cora Holder Bailey, the mother
13 of U.T. Bailey, who was the father of J.T.
14 Bailey, who was the father of Stanley Bailey, who
15 was my father. My great-great-great-grandmother
16 was a slave -- 117 years old, born in 1835,
17 passing away in 1952, a year before my father was
18 born.
19 We're not that far removed from
20 slavery. So for those who like to say "Get over
21 it," we're not that far removed from slavery.
22 Not that many generations away.
23 Great-great-great-grandmother.
24 Now, I illustrate that brief family
25 history not just to say that the Vick Company
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1 probably owes us a little bit of money because my
2 great-great-great-grandmother came up with
3 VapoRub --
4 (Laughter.)
5 SENATOR BAILEY: We're going to
6 look into that, Mr. President.
7 But plain and simple, black history
8 is American history. There is no substitution,
9 there is no difference. Black history and
10 American history, period, point blank. People
11 must learn about black history because you have
12 to understand that in the fallacy of this
13 post-racial America, we still suffer from the
14 vestiges of slavery every day: Mass
15 incarceration, food insecurity, lack of
16 healthcare, subpar education. And these all stem
17 from slavery.
18 You see, if anybody is interested,
19 we can speak later. And I have her birth
20 certificate here. Very interesting to see how we
21 were considered in that day and time. Colored.
22 Negroid. Bills of sale. Bills of sale of
23 humans, a hundred and some years ago. We are not
24 that far removed.
25 So on a lighter note, I asked my
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1 father and many people in my family group chat --
2 and those of us who have family group chats, we
3 know how they can get. So I asked, What does
4 black history mean to you?
5 My father: It's the recognition
6 that black people -- their history, their culture
7 and their blood, sweat and tears -- are
8 inextricably woven into the fabric of America's
9 past, present and future.
10 My aunt Barbara: After teaching for
11 over 30 years, I've concluded that since the
12 majority of my students were black, and that most
13 of the grandparents had a Southern background, I
14 thought that I should have been preaching to the
15 choir. Black History Month should be a black
16 studies course that is taught starting in middle
17 school and part of the curriculum at all grade
18 levels, so that people of all backgrounds will
19 learn of the contributions that we made to
20 building this country.
21 Black history, to me, is my
22 ancestors, like Sylvia Richardson Holder, born a
23 slave but persevered to be over a hundred years
24 old. Black history is now and will be engrained
25 in this country whether people accept us or not.
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1 You see, even if you don't directly
2 see the struggle, we all have a front row seat.
3 Twenty-one years ago on this date, Amadou Diallo
4 was taken away from us, because he was black and
5 had a wallet.
6 Today is Rosa Parks' birthday,
7 another leader in the civil rights movement that
8 we speak about. We're grateful for her small
9 action that became so big in our society.
10 Speaking of front row seats, on the
11 heels of the Super Bowl, when we wonder why 12
12 black quarterbacks started games in the NFL this
13 year -- a unanimous MVP of the regular season,
14 the Super Bowl MVP and an offensive coordinator
15 who helped win the Super Bowl -- but not one
16 person of color got a head coaching job this
17 whole season. That's a problem. So we've tried
18 just speaking up. Because as Brother Malcolm put
19 it: Education is our passport to the future, for
20 tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it
21 today.
22 Now, education isn't just
23 traditional education, it's about knowledge,
24 knowledge of the role that black folks played in
25 our society. As I often do, I learn every day,
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1 Mr. President, I learn through the lens of my
2 daughters. So here's today's Giada and Carina
3 moment.
4 So I'm in the car the other day, and
5 I'm saying, "Hey, Giada, Black History Month is
6 coming up in school, you're going to start
7 learning things." And she's like: "Well, what's
8 that?" And she goes, "I think I heard something
9 about it," on YouTube or Nick Jr. or Disney Jr.
10 or one of these channels. I'm like, "All right.
11 Well, one, you have too much screen time. We've
12 got to cut that down. And the second thing is
13 I'm going to explain to you what it is."
14 I said, "Black History Month is
15 where we celebrate the accomplishments of great
16 African-Americans who have affected history."
17 And without skipping a beat, she says: "Dad,
18 like me?" "Absolutely like you." So Carina is
19 there, and Carina is not going to be outdone.
20 "Me too, Dad. I'm great."
21 So obviously me and my wife aren't
22 Nick Jr., but we're doing something okay.
23 (Laughter.)
24 SENATOR BAILEY: Our kids are that
25 passport to the future that we spoke about, that
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1 Malcolm X spoke about.
2 And then she said, "Well, are there
3 other great African-Americans?" So we go down a
4 list of people, and she's like, "Well, what about
5 Pa?" That's my dad. "Yeah." "What about
6 Grandma?" "Sure." So for the next 15 minutes
7 she starts naming everybody that she knows that's
8 a great African-American person. Because in her
9 mind, we're all great.
10 And that's the message that we
11 should be learning about in Black History Month.
12 We all have greatness within us. Some people's
13 greatness is in certain areas, while others are
14 great in others. But there is greatness in all
15 of us.
16 And it is incumbent upon us to have
17 Black History Month so that people understand not
18 only the struggle, but the triumph thereafter.
19 And we still have lots of firsts coming up.
20 We've done so much, but there's still so much
21 more to do.
22 I'm grateful for this opportunity to
23 sit in this body. I'm grateful for Black History
24 Month. And even though I can't sing, we lift
25 every voice and sing.
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1 Thank you, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
3 Senator Sanders on the resolution.
4 SENATOR SANDERS: I ask you,
5 Mr. President, to never have me go in back of my
6 colleague. But I'm back, I must go.
7 I want to thank our leader for
8 understanding and -- understanding the necessity
9 of this, and I applaud her for this resolution.
10 Mr. President, I have faith in
11 America. I have a great faith that one day we're
12 going to get it right and we're going to be at
13 such a place where these curriculums of everybody
14 is finally going to be put into one complete book
15 on American history. I have faith that that day
16 will come. That day, sadly, is not today. But I
17 have faith that that day will come.
18 I still think that we're not so far
19 from Arturo Schomburg. You may know the name;
20 he's the creator of the Schomburg Library,
21 arguably the greatest library on black history in
22 the world, who got into it because his teacher
23 told him that "You blacks have no history, none
24 at all." And he set out to collect and disprove
25 that notion. So we're not that far from it where
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1 Carter G. Woodson was able to create such a day.
2 But as my colleague before me said,
3 black history is American history. And American
4 history is black history. You cannot fully
5 understand American history -- it's like trying
6 to understand American history without looking at
7 George Wa -- Wa -- George Wallace? Mm. Him too.
8 Yes, him too -- George Washington, Alexander
9 Hamilton. Imagine trying to understand American
10 history and taking out all of these people. You
11 cheat yourself. You'll never get the idea right.
12 In fact, I'll show it to you real
13 quickly. Everyone -- as my colleague said, this
14 is the birthday of Rosa Parks. Everyone has seen
15 that famous picture of Rosa Parks sitting in the
16 bus not moving, and standing up by sitting down.
17 But if you look at that picture carefully, you'll
18 see a white gentleman sitting right behind her.
19 Careful, now. That white guy was from New York,
20 for one. He just happened to be on the bus. And
21 he stayed on the bus to make sure that she wasn't
22 beaten to a pulp. He's actually a Jewish
23 gentleman, also. He stayed on the bus to just
24 make sure.
25 You see, by focusing on one, you
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1 have to look at the whole. This is true American
2 history, the history of all of us, if you read,
3 if we just are taught right, which we're not.
4 I contend that by just looking at
5 it, if you scratch a Nazi, you're going to find a
6 racist. If you scratch a racist, you're going to
7 find a Nazi. Those types of thinking go
8 together. We beat the Nazis once; we'll beat
9 them again, if need be. I'm talking America.
10 And the world, for that matter, but I'm talking
11 America.
12 You see, we have to learn so that we
13 don't repeat these errors over and over. Had the
14 world population stopped the fascists when they
15 were invading Ethiopia and now Namibia, we might
16 not have had the Holocaust.
17 We are in all this together. We
18 don't have a choice here. We have to share this
19 planet. Therefore, we need to understand that.
20 I know that one day we're going to
21 have the ability to get real American history so
22 that we can have a real American future. That
23 day seems troubled today, Mr. President, as I
24 conclude. That day seems troubled today while we
25 have so many people dividing us and finding ways
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1 to say who is an American and who is not. And
2 that becomes so ever-more picayune.
3 I will say this. I have faith in
4 the youth of America. I have faith that by
5 understanding history -- and I encourage all of
6 us to study everyone's history. Start with black
7 history, but everyone's history and their
8 contribution to America. And by then, we can
9 really claim the great distinction of being part
10 of the American family.
11 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
13 Comrie on the resolution.
14 SENATOR COMRIE: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 I rise to thank our leader, the
17 Majority Leader of the Senate, Senator Andrea
18 Stewart-Cousins, a historic figure in her own
19 right, as the first woman leader of this house,
20 for bringing forth this annual resolution.
21 I also rise to declare that Black
22 History Month is February, but black history is
23 made every day, 365, 24/7. Our history is being
24 made each and every day here in New York State
25 and around the world.
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1 But the month of February being
2 designated as Black History Month provides us an
3 opportunity to reflect on our history,
4 particularly on the struggles that we have all
5 endured, and how we as black Americans as a
6 collective, as we as immigrants as a collective,
7 remain resolute in our fight for freedom,
8 justice, and basic fairness throughout centuries.
9 Often we highlight notable
10 individuals who have risen to great heights in
11 academia, government, business, athletics,
12 entertainment and other fields. My district,
13 Southeast Queens in particular, has been home to
14 some of the iconic names in black history:
15 W.E.B. Dubois, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, John
16 Coltrane, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Jackie Davidson,
17 Jackie Robinson, Lena Horne, LL Cool J,
18 Run-D.M.C., to name a few.
19 I could keep going, because we have
20 a lot of product in Southeast Queens, and product
21 that's happening every day. In fact, I met two
22 young people today that get up at 4:30 in the
23 morning just to get from one part of Queens to
24 another part because they want to be the next
25 black heroes of our time.
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1 Often we have a lot of local heroes
2 in Queens -- civil rights leaders like Stokely
3 Carmichael and Roy Wilkins, who was a Queens
4 resident; tennis player and coach William (Bill)
5 Briggs; Human Rights Commissioner for New York
6 City Kenneth Drew; the dean of Southeast Queens,
7 Archie Spigner, one of the first black
8 entrepreneurs citywide; Larry Cormier, who we
9 lost this year. We had our own Erin Brockovich,
10 who we lost this year, Linda Hazel, who pointed
11 out that the Jamaica water supply was
12 contaminated before anybody knew it and saved
13 thousands of people's lives because now Southeast
14 Queens is being taken care of by city water
15 instead of Jamaica water. And my personal angel,
16 Dorothy Harvey, who made sure that I got elected
17 when I first ran for office.
18 They are just indicative of the
19 thousands of people in my district that have
20 transformed lives and lifted entire communities
21 through their commitment to the success of
22 younger generations behind them.
23 We take pride in the accomplishments
24 of our ancestors as well as our brothers and
25 sisters today, because we know that in our
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1 society black women and black men invariably must
2 work harder in order to achieve equal
3 recognition. We similarly take pride in our own
4 accomplishments and those of our forebears and
5 our grandparents and those before us because they
6 too struggled to build our communities, provide
7 for us, and leave us with more opportunity than
8 they were ever given.
9 I'm proud to represent one of the
10 strongest African-American and Caribbean
11 communities in the entire country. I have often
12 said that I represent the best district in
13 New York State --
14 UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: Huh.
15 SENATOR COMRIE: "Huh" yourself.
16 (Laughter.)
17 SENATOR COMRIE: -- alongside other
18 elected and community leaders who, despite the
19 diversity of our backgrounds and upbringing,
20 share a common history. My success and good
21 fortune is only made possible by the community
22 that I am so blessed to have been raised in and
23 now represent here in Albany.
24 Highlighting the exemplary
25 contributions of African-Americans shouldn't be
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1 limited to one month. However, I think the best
2 way to honor the history of African-American
3 accomplishment is to continue to foster a climate
4 in New York State that facilitates more black
5 achievement in the future.
6 Passing stronger MWBE policy,
7 mandating diversity in our schools and in the
8 professional world, combating the systemic
9 economic inequality that continues to hamper the
10 financial well-being of black families are ways
11 that we can do this every day of the year.
12 I also want to take time and thank
13 the Governor for allowing a commission to
14 research the 400 years of history in New York
15 State to come forward. I'm glad of the fact that
16 he wanted to own the commission and take
17 responsibility for making sure that we move
18 around the state and find out our history, that
19 we can talk to every part of New York State and
20 find out those people that we're part of, making
21 sure that New York had a black history.
22 New York, as you know, was part of
23 the movement to move people from the South to the
24 North. We have burial grounds. We have people
25 that were part of this history that we need to
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1 highlight and illuminate, hopefully eventually in
2 our school curriculum in New York State. So I
3 want to take time to thank the Governor for
4 allowing that to happen.
5 I hope this month that we will all
6 take time to reflect on the distinct, important,
7 and sobering history of people throughout our
8 state and our country and celebrate the unbounded
9 contributions of black people past and present.
10 Thank you, Mr. President.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
12 Senator Parker on the resolution.
13 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you,
14 Mr. President.
15 Ladies and gentlemen, we've actually
16 reached that part of the program where
17 essentially everything has been said, but not
18 everybody has said it.
19 (Laughter.)
20 SENATOR PARKER: But let me just
21 associate myself with all of the comments that
22 were made today. I think that they're really
23 important. I'm going to keep my comments
24 relatively short, particularly given me and my
25 penchants for hyperbole.
507
1 That being said, this is a really
2 important month for not just African-Americans,
3 but for America -- and really not even just for
4 America anymore, but really for the world, a time
5 in which we remember the achievements of people
6 of African descent.
7 One of the first things to remember
8 about Black History Month or African-American
9 History Month, that it's not just about the
10 accomplishments of people of African descent once
11 they've reached the New World. That the history
12 of people of African-American descent doesn't
13 begin in 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia, but begins
14 on the continent of Africa. That it's important
15 when you start to study the history of
16 African-American people that you remember that
17 people of African descent were the first people
18 on this earth. Not saying they're better, just
19 first.
20 So when you look at Australopithecus
21 pithecus, the very first humanoid that they ever
22 found, found on the continent of Africa. But
23 what's important is not that the first person is
24 found there, but the last person is also found
25 there. So when you see Homo sapiens sapiens,
508
1 they're also first found on the continent of
2 Africa.
3 Then Africa becomes important
4 because it is the cradle of civilization. Then
5 it becomes the beginning of everything that we
6 understand about politics, economics, science,
7 mathematics, astrology, astronomy, architecture.
8 It all began on the continent of Africa.
9 And so that when you see people
10 talking about, you know, people were slaves --
11 and I'm going to disagree with my colleague
12 Senator Bailey for a minute, because his
13 great-great-great-grandmother, you know, wasn't a
14 slave. She was an African person who happened to
15 be in bondage. Slavery is a mentality. And I
16 would put forward to this body that African
17 people never were slaves. Yes, you know, forced
18 into bondage, forced into servitude, but always
19 kept the spirit to fight.
20 And so we call on the spirit now of
21 Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey and Gabriel Prosser
22 and all those unknown and unheard people who
23 fought their captors tooth and nail from the very
24 moment. And that you saw within the context of
25 the slave trade, right, a beginning of what's
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1 called the Maafa -- or, if you want to, in
2 American terms, the African Holocaust -- where
3 roughly 200 million people were killed during the
4 transporting of people into bondage. Two hundred
5 million. And that's a conservative estimate.
6 That we understand the notion of
7 holocaust, as we start connecting with our Jewish
8 brothers and sisters, the notion of holocaust --
9 not just of what happened in Germany and Poland
10 and other parts of Europe, but understand it as a
11 moral description, not a specific event. Because
12 there have been many people who have gone through
13 holocausts. And we have to understand in those
14 contexts that what happened to Jews in that
15 period and what happened to African people in
16 that period has also happened to Native
17 Americans, and can also happen to other people.
18 That if we forget this month to remember the
19 lessons of history, we're doomed to repeat them.
20 One of the things that's important
21 about this month is we reach into our cultural
22 ethos and we bring forward a symbol, out of
23 Ghana, of a bird looking backwards. That symbol
24 is called Sankofa. And Sankofa is the notion --
25 it literally means -- Sankofa, in Twi, among the
510
1 Akan people in Ghana, literally means "to go
2 fetch." Right?
3 But the notion, as my father would
4 say all the time, he says, How do you know where
5 you're going if you don't know where you've been?
6 Right? How do you know where you're going if you
7 don't know where you've been? And if you don't
8 know where you're going, any road will take you
9 there.
10 That during African-American History
11 Month we're called on as a people to remember
12 this history and remember, as we study it -- and
13 I'm not just talking about people back in the
14 Senate, I mean all of us in this chamber, as we
15 study the history of people of African descent,
16 we are studying all of our history. Because
17 there is no place in this world that African
18 people haven't impacted the development of the
19 culture.
20 Some of you should check out a
21 brother named Ivan Van Sertima, who wrote several
22 books: African Presence in Early Asia, African
23 Presence in Early Europe, African Presence in
24 Early South America -- sorry, in the Americas.
25 Right? They Came Before Columbus, we can go on
511
1 and on. Right?
2 But there's no place in which there
3 hasn't been an impact. Not to mention the things
4 that we've talked about in this chamber all the
5 time. There's only been two major musical forms
6 developed, you know, in the beginning of the
7 development of this country, right, jazz and
8 hip-hop, both out of the African ethos.
9 And so we remember Carter G.
10 Woodson, who in 1926 took his organization, the
11 Association for the Study of Negro Life and
12 History, and took the work that he had spent his
13 life working on, the Journal of Negro History,
14 and began as a week, just as a beginning, just to
15 say, look, we've got to start talking about this.
16 Because even at that point people were talking
17 about African people like they were tabula rasa;
18 that is, blank slates. Right?
19 Like we forget that the greatest
20 evil that was done by people to African people
21 here in this world was to tell them that they had
22 no history, they had no culture, that they come
23 from nothing, that they were less than human.
24 Right? We look at works of anthropology like --
25 you know, many people who have studied
512
1 anthropology don't know that literally that the
2 field of anthropology was actually created as a
3 scientific justification of the enslavement of
4 African people.
5 It actually began with skull
6 capacity tests in which they put seeds in
7 different skulls, took a black skull, took a
8 white skull, put smaller seeds in the white skull
9 and then counted the seeds and said there were
10 more seeds in the white skull and thus there was
11 a greater cranial capacity and thus more
12 intelligence, and then used the inverse to say
13 that African people were less than human.
14 We've got to remember that history,
15 because that becomes the basis, right, that fake
16 history and that fake science becomes the basis
17 of how we create public policy.
18 And so we study this month to
19 remember who we are -- not just where we came
20 from, but to understand where we're going. To
21 understand that history is just the documentation
22 of culture, of the development of culture, and
23 that culture is nothing but the living
24 manifestation of our history.
25 And I think that we will find, as
513
1 many of us find as we talk to each other in this
2 room, that as we understand this history, that
3 there's actually far more that binds us than
4 divides us.
5 And so I challenge us all to spend
6 some time this year studying this particular
7 culture and this particular history, because I
8 think that this becomes the basis for us to
9 understand a lot of things about ourselves no
10 matter where we are. Because there's no place in
11 which we don't find that people of African
12 descent have impacted those places or the
13 development of American life and culture.
14 And so my particular thanks to the
15 leader today for bringing this resolution
16 forward, and certainly her comments were
17 expansive and exhaustive.
18 And I'm looking forward to the
19 continued work that we do in this chamber to
20 continue to honor the history of people of
21 African descent and to make sure that everyone
22 has an opportunity to live their lives and to
23 continue a history that rejects the oppression
24 that we have seen amongst people across the
25 state.
514
1 Thank you, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
3 Jackson on the resolution.
4 SENATOR JACKSON: Well, I'm told I
5 must filibuster until tomorrow morning, so get
6 ready. Joking. Joking.
7 (Laughter.)
8 SENATOR JACKSON: But seriously,
9 with regards to the resolution and celebration of
10 Black History Month, I want to give you a little
11 story about myself and my family. And it's not
12 going to take long, seriously.
13 I'm still trying to find the history
14 of my family. So I go on all of the census
15 documents and what have you. My daughter, my
16 oldest daughter, is helping me. And so we have
17 traced our family back about five generations
18 into Athens, Georgia.
19 And if you know anything about
20 Athens, Georgia, going way back -- that's the
21 University of Georgia right now. But going way
22 back, you had a family, especially brothers, and
23 their last name was Willingham. And that was my
24 family's last name, Willingham. And Willinghams
25 married into Jackson, and so that's why my name
515
1 is Jackson.
2 My grandmother died at 22 years of
3 age during childbirth in Athens, Georgia. And so
4 my mother, who was 6 years old at the time, and
5 her younger sister, an aunt from Chicago came
6 back and took them to Chicago. And then an aunt
7 from New York went to Chicago and brought my
8 mother to New York, and that's how we winded up
9 there.
10 But also, going back as far as
11 looking at the census data to 1940, '30, '10,
12 1900, 1860, they only listed the owners and just
13 put the slave was either a female or a male, and
14 an approximate age. So you didn't know who it
15 was. And so even when doing some research trying
16 to find out where my mother was when I took my
17 daughter to apply for Spelman University down in
18 Georgia, I went to the city of Atlanta, Georgia,
19 and asked them to look up information about my
20 mother's birth. They said, Okay, we have to go
21 to the colored section, because that's what it
22 was referred to at that time, the colored
23 section, you know. We were not black, they
24 referred to them as colored and other words that
25 are not very positive. So they didn't find
516
1 anything.
2 But also in looking at where my
3 grandmother is buried, she's buried at a colored
4 cemetery in Athens, Georgia. And so the
5 university students and the trustees, the third
6 or fourth trustees that were involved with it,
7 they said, We know where your grandmother -- the
8 area where she was buried at, but we don't know
9 her specific grave. And why? Because at that
10 time when you're po' -- you know what "po'"
11 means, right? When you're poor and you're black.
12 Basically, if you weren't rich, then you were
13 poor. And then from a Southern point of view,
14 you don't say "poor," you say "po'."
15 They said at that time they put a
16 stick in the ground with the name on it. So the
17 stick is not there anymore. But they know the
18 geographical area.
19 And then looking at my family, my
20 great-aunt, my mother's aunt in Chicago -- my
21 great-grandmother is buried in Chicago, because
22 my great-aunt was, I guess, the oldest of the
23 family, and they brought their mother to Chicago.
24 And my great-uncle, who was a veteran of World
25 War II, is buried there also. So I'm learning a
517
1 little bit about my history, you know, in that
2 respect.
3 But I say to all of you that my
4 nephew -- my brother Donald Jackson, his son is
5 named Donald Jackson also. So he has a couple of
6 kids and what have you. And he texts me one
7 time, and let me just read you the text. He
8 said: "Uncle Rob, your grand-niece had to write
9 about a famous black person, so I told her she
10 had a famous uncle."
11 And so this is a picture of her
12 holding up a picture of me, and I'll read what
13 she wrote: "My uncle is a New York State
14 Senator, and he helps people in his community."
15 That's what my great-niece wrote about me.
16 So I say all that to say that, loud
17 and clear, as James Brown has said, "Say it loud,
18 I'm black and I'm proud." So all of you should
19 be proud of who you are and your family's
20 history. And so all of us, in reality, are
21 brothers and sisters of the human race. And
22 that's what it is.
23 As-salamu alaykum means "peace be
24 upon all of you." Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
518
1 Myrie on the resolution.
2 SENATOR MYRIE: Thank you,
3 Mr. President. I will be brief for as long as it
4 takes.
5 (Laughter.)
6 SENATOR MYRIE: No, in all
7 seriousness, my colleagues have said this much
8 more eloquently than I can.
9 As we take this time to recognize
10 the greatness of being black and being black in
11 this country, I would remind everyone here in the
12 chamber that we are still, as a people, under
13 siege. For every white woman that dies of a
14 pregnancy-related condition, 12 black women die.
15 The number-one cause of death in young black men
16 is homicide. We have a foreclosure crisis that
17 hit the country pretty hard in 2008 that is still
18 ravaging black communities today all over this
19 state. And in New York City, we still have the
20 most segregated school system in this entire
21 country.
22 So I would urge all of us, as we
23 celebrate the greatness of being black, that we
24 recognize the current pain and the current
25 tragedy that it is to be black in this country,
519
1 and that we use that to bring our people up
2 collectively and do it together.
3 So I want to thank the leader for
4 bringing this resolution, and I want to thank my
5 colleagues.
6 Thank you, Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
8 question is on the resolution. All in favor
9 signify by saying aye.
10 (Response of "Aye.")
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
12 Opposed?
13 (No response.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
15 resolution is adopted.
16 Senator Gianaris.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
18 can we now take up Resolution 2661, by
19 Senator Metzger, read that resolution in its
20 entirety, and recognize Senator Metzger.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
22 Secretary will read.
23 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
24 2661, by Senator Metzger, memorializing Governor
25 Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim February 22 through
520
1 29, 2020, as FFA Week in the State of New York.
2 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this
3 Legislative Body to support and promote the
4 historic and significant observance of Future
5 Farmers of America (FFA) Week in the State of
6 New York; and
7 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern,
8 and in full accord with its long-standing
9 traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud
10 to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to
11 proclaim February 22-29, 2020, as FFA Week in the
12 State of New York, in conjunction with the
13 observance of National FFA Week; and
14 "WHEREAS, The FFA motto -- Learning
15 to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to
16 Serve -- gives direction and purpose to those
17 students who take an active role in succeeding in
18 agricultural education and leadership; and
19 "WHEREAS, Growing from a handful of
20 students from agricultural classes who came
21 together to form Future Farmers clubs throughout
22 the country in the 1920s, to an FFA membership of
23 100,000 by 1935; today, the National FFA
24 organization has more than 610,000 members in
25 more than 7,600 chapters and encompasses all
521
1 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin
2 Islands; and
3 "WHEREAS, FFA develops members'
4 potential and helps them to discover their talent
5 through hands-on experiences, giving the tools
6 to achieve real-world success; these members are
7 future chemists, veterinarians, government
8 officials, entrepreneurs, bankers, international
9 business leaders, teachers, and premier
10 professionals in many career fields; and
11 "WHEREAS, In the past year alone,
12 New York FFA has experienced a 60 percent
13 increase; they have been recognized as having the
14 highest percentage of membership increase
15 nationally in 2019; with 12 new chapters in that
16 same year, that brings the total of new chapters
17 in the last few years to 41 across New York; and
18 "WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of
19 Education provides leadership and helps set
20 direction for the FFA as a service to state and
21 local agricultural education programs; and
22 "WHEREAS, In accomplishing its
23 mission, FFA has made a positive difference in
24 the lives of students by developing their
25 potential for premier leadership, personal growth
522
1 and career success through agricultural
2 education, promoting citizenship, volunteerism,
3 patriotism and cooperation; and
4 "WHEREAS, Agricultural education and
5 FFA ensure a steady supply of young professionals
6 to meet the growing needs in the science,
7 business and technology of agriculture; and
8 "WHEREAS, Agricultural education in
9 New York affects and instructs students in all
10 parts of the state, and through their efforts,
11 the officers and members of New York FFA are
12 achieving increased levels of national
13 recognition for themselves, and their schools and
14 communities, as well as New York agriculture; and
15 "WHEREAS, It is the custom of this
16 Legislative Body to recognize and applaud the
17 leaders of commerce and industry whose
18 accomplishments contribute to the economic health
19 and prosperity of the communities of the State of
20 New York and to the quality of life of its
21 people; now, therefore, be it
22 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
23 Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize
24 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
25 February 22-29, 2020, as FFA Week in the State of
523
1 New York; and be it further
2 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this
3 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to
4 the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the
5 State of New York."
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
7 Senator Metzger on the resolution.
8 SENATOR METZGER: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 With great pleasure I rise today to
11 sponsor this resolution proclaiming February 22nd
12 to 29th to be Future Farmers of America Week in
13 the State of New York.
14 We have a lot to be proud of here in
15 New York. As you heard in the resolution, we are
16 leading the nation in membership gains in FFA.
17 We nearly -- well, membership climbed in just
18 three years from 4,300 to 7,000, which is a huge
19 achievement.
20 I was very proud that my children's
21 school district, the Rondout Valley School
22 District, was one of 12 new FFA chapters in
23 New York. Young women are increasingly in
24 leadership roles in FFA across the state, and
25 represent 45 percent of New York FFA members. We
524
1 have the statewide leadership here, and it looks
2 like they represent about 50 percent. I think we
3 have more work to do in this chamber; you're a
4 model for us.
5 I want to mention I'm very proud
6 this past year one of the FFA chapters in my
7 district, the Delaware Academy, received the
8 New York State Chapter of the Year Award from the
9 New York State Agricultural Society in Grange for
10 their diverse programing, from their maple
11 sugaring and sap house enterprise, their advocacy
12 for the dairy industry, to their school garden
13 that contributes fresh vegetables to the school
14 lunchroom, and their community service, raising
15 nearly $1500 for the local food bank to help
16 address food insecurity.
17 FFA chapters across our state are
18 giving back to their communities. They're so
19 committed to agriculture, and they are our future
20 leaders. As I've seen firsthand, FFA members
21 demonstrate talent and dedication. And as
22 Commissioner Ball has so rightly said, "New York
23 FFA is clearly a model for the nation, shining
24 the spotlight on the many strengths of New York
25 agriculture. If these young agricultural leaders
525
1 are any indication, we can be assured that
2 agriculture is in good hands in the State of New
3 York."
4 I am so pleased that the leadership
5 could join us today. Mr. President, I
6 respectfully request that you extend them all the
7 privileges and courtesies of the Senate.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 question is on the resolution. All in favor
10 signify by saying aye.
11 (Response of "Aye.")
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
13 Opposed?
14 (No response.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 resolution is adopted.
17 To our guests, I welcome you on
18 behalf of the Senate. We extend to you all of
19 the courtesies and privileges of this house.
20 Please rise and be recognized.
21 (Standing ovation.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
23 Senator Gianaris.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you. At
25 the request of the sponsors, the two resolutions
526
1 we took up today are open for cosponsorship,
2 Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 resolutions are open for cosponsorship. Should
5 you choose not to be a cosponsor of the
6 resolutions, please notify the desk.
7 Senator Gianaris.
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: I now move to
9 adopt the remainder of the Resolution Calendar.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: All in
11 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar please
12 signify by saying aye.
13 (Response of "Aye.")
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
15 Opposed, nay.
16 (No response.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
18 Resolution Calendar is adopted.
19 Senator Gianaris.
20 SENATOR GIANARIS: And can we now
21 begin reading the calendar, but can we start with
22 Calendar Number 330 and then proceed with the
23 remainder from there.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
25 Secretary will read.
527
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 330, Senate Print 4741B, by Senator Harckham, an
3 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
7 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
8 shall have become a law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
13 Harckham to explain his vote.
14 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 Today we announced the release of
17 the report of our bipartisan Task Force on
18 Opioids Addiction and Overdose Prevention. I
19 want to thank all colleagues in the chamber who
20 participated in a number of hearings and meetings
21 all over the state.
22 We thank our leader, Andrea
23 Stewart-Cousins, for empowering us to get
24 together. And I certainly thanks my cochairs,
25 Senator Carlucci and Senator Rivera.
528
1 And one of the things that happens
2 in this process is that we met with hundreds of
3 advocates, hundreds of professionals, and we met
4 with hundreds of families and parents who had
5 been impacted by this crisis.
6 And it's a pain that I can't even
7 imagine as a parent, to lose a child. And yet
8 all across this state are people who are turning
9 their grief into positive energy and making a
10 positive difference in their community and moving
11 the needle forward to help us address this
12 crisis.
13 And we have a couple of people with
14 us today who have been exemplary role models and
15 pathfinders. And so with us today are Angela
16 Robertson and her daughter, Ashleah Canastraro,
17 and we also have Stephanie Marquesano from
18 The Harris Project. And Angela and Ashleah are
19 here in relation to the first bill. Stephanie,
20 who is from Lower Westchester, has really changed
21 the conversation about how we treat substance use
22 disorder and the need for co-occurring disorder
23 treatment at the same time.
24 So if it's appropriate with you,
25 Mr. Chair, before we take up this bill, I would
529
1 just like colleagues to acknowledge and if you
2 would, sir, offer them the privileges of the
3 house.
4 Thank you, sir.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: To our
6 guests, I welcome you on behalf of the Senate.
7 We extend to you all of the courtesies and
8 privileges of this house.
9 Please all rise and be recognized.
10 (Standing ovation.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
12 Harckham.
13 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you.
14 So now as we speak on the law, this
15 is a bill that was first brought to the chamber
16 by Senator Ortt. Thank you for your work on
17 this. And Senator Kennedy has done a great deal
18 of work on this bill as well.
19 And what it does is it increases the
20 formalized partnership between a treatment center
21 and a family. And this came about because
22 Stephen had signed his parents up, and another
23 group, Friends of the Michaels, to receive
24 information about his care, and didn't receive
25 that information. And unfortunately, because the
530
1 family didn't have the information to act,
2 Stephen passed away from an overdose.
3 And so we don't have any more
4 Stephens, we thank you for your persistence in
5 pursuing this law, and colleagues who wouldn't
6 let this go and also kept pushing this bill.
7 This will require substance use
8 providers, in consultation with the patient, that
9 they -- if they agree to provide the names of
10 people who are their caregivers and their
11 support, when there are signs of relapse or risky
12 behavior, they must inform them so that the
13 families and the caregivers can be involved.
14 So I want to thank you for your
15 persistence in everything that you've done, and
16 I'm proud to vote aye on this.
17 Thank you.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
19 Harckham to be recorded in the affirmative.
20 Senator Kennedy to explain his vote.
21 SENATOR KENNEDY: Thank you,
22 Mr. President.
23 As I rise today I'd like to
24 recognize, first of all, the sponsor of this
25 legislation. Senator Harckham, thank you so much
531
1 for your leadership. Also to all of our
2 colleagues that worked so hard to make this
3 happen, and to Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for
4 bringing this to the floor so expeditiously here.
5 I'd also like to recognize those
6 folks that have already been identified for
7 joining us here today in this session, people
8 that are making a difference each and every day
9 in the lives of those struggling with opioid
10 dependency. Because, heartbreakingly, they
11 personally understand these stories all too well.
12 Joining us again today is Angela
13 Robertson, who lost her son Stephen Canastraro,
14 who battled his own fight and for who this bill
15 is named after. We also have Ashleah Canastraro,
16 the sister of Stephen, and Stephanie Marquesano,
17 the founder of The Harris Project.
18 Thank you all again, and welcome to
19 the Senate chambers on this very auspicious day
20 as we recognize your family and your son and his
21 struggles.
22 The opioid epidemic has already
23 claimed far too many lives. Through this bill
24 we're passing here today in Stephen's memory,
25 we're working to save lives. By passing this
532
1 legislation we're giving individuals in treatment
2 the ability to identify people who can be
3 notified in case of an emergency or when red
4 flags arise, like missing critical appointments
5 or drug screenings.
6 This would have made a world of
7 difference in Stephen's recovery story. In the
8 days leading up to his death, he demonstrated
9 warning signs of relapse, but his mother and
10 other advocates were never notified. If this
11 legislation were enacted then, Stephen's story
12 may have ended differently. But instead, his
13 mother and her incredible support team have
14 committed themselves to making sure this doesn't
15 happen to another individual -- individuals who
16 have already been brave enough to take that first
17 step towards sobriety, but who need support
18 structures around them in order to stay on that
19 steady path.
20 Last year Angela and her team,
21 through her constant work in various recovery
22 ministries, helped thousands of individuals
23 looking for help. We must do our part to ensure
24 that those who need it the most are given that
25 opportunity and they're given the support that
533
1 they need in treatment and to stay on that path
2 toward recovery. To Angela, Ashleah, and all of
3 those that have been affected by this epidemic,
4 this is one small step, but one step that we take
5 today that we know will save lives and we know
6 it's worth every single second of your work and
7 your advocacy. And we recognize your entire
8 family for everything that you've done to get us
9 to this point.
10 And may Stephen rest in peace. And
11 may the work that you have done in his memory
12 save the lives that we intend to save with this
13 law. Thank you once again for being here, and
14 thank you to all my colleagues for supporting
15 this legislation.
16 Mr. President, I vote aye.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
18 Kennedy to be recorded in the affirmative.
19 Senator Ortt to explain his vote.
20 SENATOR ORTT: Thank you,
21 Mr. President.
22 I'd like to thank the sponsor, my
23 colleague Senator Harckham, for having the good
24 sense and the leadership to pick up this bill.
25 You know, everyone in this chamber,
534
1 most people over the last several years,
2 understand the opioid epidemic that we have faced
3 here in New York State. And I'm proud to say
4 that this body, on both sides of the political
5 aisle, have supported significant measures that
6 have absolutely, undoubtedly saved people's lives
7 in the State of New York and in each of our
8 communities.
9 But one of the things I always
10 recognize when you meet with parents like Angela
11 is that they're always looking for -- there's a
12 resolution. Right? They want to make sure that
13 their loved one did not die in vain, that they
14 did not die for nothing, that their struggle
15 means something. And even if they did not win
16 their struggle, that perhaps someone else could
17 win their struggle as a result of lessons
18 learned.
19 I can remember when Angela was in my
20 office, in my district office a couple of years
21 ago now, and she told me her story. And it was
22 heart-wrenching to listen to, but it was one of
23 those moments that we all -- one of the reasons
24 we all run for office, because you could clearly
25 see that there was an issue and there was an
535
1 easily identifiable solution where we could
2 actually do something to prevent future cases
3 like Stephen's. And that's why we all serve, I
4 think, in government, is to actually try to be
5 part of the solution.
6 And at the end of the day, none of
7 this would be possible if Angela hadn't had the
8 courage to sit in my office alongside others,
9 including Avi Israel, who many of you in this
10 chamber know. But she told her story in my
11 office, we put a bill together, and I'm proud to
12 say we're going to pass a version of this bill
13 for the second year in a row here in the Senate.
14 So I want to thank my colleague
15 Senator Harckham, but I want to thank Angela for
16 your courage and for your commitment to Stephen,
17 but also your commitment to numerous other young
18 people here in the State of New York whose lives
19 could be saved because of your work and your
20 actions. And it's really an honor to carry that
21 torch and to work on behalf of people like
22 Angela, and alongside on behalf of Stephen's
23 memory, to get something done, which we are doing
24 here today.
25 And I would certainly encourage my
536
1 colleagues in the Assembly to pass this bill, put
2 it on the Governor's desk, let's get it signed,
3 and we can save lives, continue to save lives,
4 and try to end the scourge of the opioid epidemic
5 here in New York State.
6 So Mr. President, thank you for your
7 indulgence.
8 I vote aye.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
10 Ortt to be recorded in the affirmative.
11 Announce the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 64,
16 Senate Print 1063A, by Senator Persaud, an act to
17 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
22 shall have become a law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
537
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 65,
7 Senate Print 2507, by Senator Kaplan, an act to
8 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
17 Senator Kaplan to explain her vote.
18 SENATOR KAPLAN: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 We all recognize by now that our
21 state is in crisis. Addiction has touched every
22 family, every school, and every community,
23 particularly on Long Island.
24 We've lost far too many innocent
25 young souls to this disease. And we've watched
538
1 our friends and family desperate to get help,
2 having been repeatedly failed by a system that
3 doesn't understand their struggle and doesn't
4 provide them with the support that they need.
5 I'm proud to stand here as a sponsor
6 of this bill that will help break the cycle of
7 addiction. And I'm proud to stand here as a
8 member of this Senate Majority as we stand
9 together and pass this sweeping agenda to combat
10 the opioid crisis in New York.
11 And I want every New Yorker whose
12 life has been touched by this crisis to know that
13 we are doing everything we can to help, and we
14 will continue to work tirelessly to fight
15 addiction and help every New Yorker to achieve
16 recovery.
17 Thank you. I vote in the
18 affirmative.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
20 Senator Kaplan to be recorded in the affirmative.
21 Announce the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 66,
539
1 Senate Print 4496A, by Senator Martinez, an act
2 to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
11 Senator Martinez to explain her vote.
12 SENATOR MARTINEZ: Good afternoon,
13 Mr. President, and thank you.
14 As we all know, we have heard, we
15 are in the middle of an opioid crisis, and many
16 of us, if not all, have been impacted by this
17 crisis.
18 This recovery living task force is a
19 step in the right direction. What we have seen
20 across the state, we have recovery homes -- well,
21 they've been known as sober homes, and that's one
22 of the reasons why I would like it to be known as
23 recovery homes. Because the issue is these
24 individuals that are in these homes are trying to
25 recover from substance abuse and chemical
540
1 dependency.
2 And what we're seeing across the
3 state is that these homes do not have the proper
4 management, they do not have proper protocol, no
5 guidelines in place to help someone recover. And
6 that is the point of these homes, and we are not
7 doing that. We have failed these individuals.
8 We need to do our job.
9 Many will say, why a task force? We
10 have to start somewhere. We have nothing in
11 place for our recovery homes. And what we keep
12 seeing is individuals leaving hospitals, going to
13 the recovery homes, and then instead of going
14 through the actual process of recovery, they're
15 going and they're getting set back because there
16 are drugs in the house, management is not there,
17 there is nothing to help them out, and we are
18 failing them.
19 This task force will charge these
20 members to create a protocol on how these homes
21 will be handled and further help these
22 individuals who are fighting and struggling with
23 chemical dependency.
24 So Mr. President, thank you for
25 allowing me to speak on behalf of my bill, and I
541
1 encourage my colleagues to please support me on
2 such an important task.
3 Thank you.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
5 Senator Martinez to be recorded in the
6 affirmative.
7 Senator May to explain her vote.
8 SENATOR MAY: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 I want to thank Senator Martinez for
11 putting this bill forward.
12 In my district there is a family
13 that created a foundation called Road to
14 Recovery, because they sent their son to a home
15 in Texas where he was able to really get the
16 treatment that he needed and put him on the road
17 to recovery. And now they fund other people who
18 are suffering from addiction to go to this home
19 in Texas to undergo the treatment that they get
20 there.
21 It saddens me that we don't have --
22 they're not sending them somewhere in New York.
23 And I think this bill offers us an opportunity to
24 look at models all around the country where
25 things are being done better than they are in
542
1 New York, and potentially create the kinds of
2 programs that we need here.
3 I vote aye.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
5 May to be recorded in the affirmative.
6 Announce the results.
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 67,
11 Senate Print 4599, by Senator Parker, an act to
12 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
17 shall have become a law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Parker to explain his vote.
23 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you,
24 Mr. President, to explain my vote.
25 This bill is important. As we've
543
1 heard through the day as we've been dealing with
2 this issue of the opioid crisis and trying to
3 address the myriad of issues that are going on in
4 our communities, our communities and our state is
5 in crisis. I've dealt with this before in the
6 context of even my own personal family.
7 And so the issue around treatment is
8 really, really critical. You heard
9 Senator Martinez talk about in the context of her
10 bill and what needs to happen.
11 The bill that I'm putting forward
12 today -- and I'm thanking everyone here for their
13 vote for -- is about a bill of rights for people
14 who are in treatment. And this bill of rights,
15 once this becomes law, will be posted around
16 every facility that provides treatment as well as
17 handed to people who come in to receive
18 treatment.
19 The bill of rights should include --
20 but not limited to -- that every patient has the
21 right to participate in developing an
22 individualized plan of treatment, to receive an
23 explanation of services in accordance with that
24 treatment plan, to fully be informed of the
25 proposed treatment plan. They have the right to
544
1 object or to terminate treatment unless otherwise
2 directed by a court order. They have a right to
3 privacy in treatment and care for personal needs.
4 They have the right of access to treatment
5 records and to receive courteous, fair,
6 respectful treatment that is appropriate to the
7 individual's needs. And these are just some of
8 the rights that they have.
9 It's going to be important that we
10 uphold those and that we help people along as we
11 fight our way out of this crisis.
12 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote
13 aye.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
15 Parker to be recorded in the affirmative.
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 68,
21 Senate Print 5457, by Senator Harckham, an act to
22 amend the Public Health Law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
24 the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
545
1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
3 the roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
6 Announce the results.
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 69,
11 Senate Print 6650, by Senator Harckham, an act to
12 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
13 SENATOR GRIFFO: Lay it aside.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Lay it
15 aside.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 71,
17 Senate Print 3159A, by Senator Harckham, an act
18 to amend the Insurance Law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
546
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 133, Senate Print 7132, by Senator Stavisky, an
8 act to amend the Education Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
12 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
13 shall have become a law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
18 Announce the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 171, Senate Print 5653A, by Senator Metzger, an
24 act to amend the Public Health Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
547
1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
8 Senator Metzger to explain her vote.
9 SENATOR METZGER: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 First, I rise to thank my
12 colleagues, Senators Harckham, Rivera and
13 Carlucci, for their really superb leadership on
14 the Joint Senate Task Force on Opioid Addiction
15 and Overdose Prevention. They did truly
16 outstanding work over these many months. The
17 task force has gathered extremely valuable
18 information and testimony from around the state
19 and developed a truly meaningful package of
20 legislation today to address substance use
21 disorder and stem the opioid crisis plaguing our
22 communities.
23 The communities in my district have
24 been deeply affected by the crisis. I represent
25 Ulster, Sullivan, Orange and Delaware Counties,
548
1 communities within them. They all face
2 staggering opioid-related deaths that far exceed
3 the state average. Ulster, Sullivan and Orange
4 Counties, the opioid-related death rate is almost
5 twice the state average.
6 The devastation this public health
7 crisis has caused is almost beyond words.
8 Parents losing their teenaged son or daughter,
9 children losing their parents and placed into
10 foster care, people losing their jobs, families
11 becoming homeless. I don't think I have yet to
12 meet someone who has not had a friend, a
13 colleague, or a relative touched by the impacts
14 of substance use disorder in some way. There's
15 no doubt that the package of opioid legislation
16 passed today will help save lives.
17 The bill I sponsor is intended to
18 prevent the illegal overprescribing of opioids.
19 Less than year and a half ago, in October 2018, a
20 Staten Island doctor was arrested for doling out
21 opioids to patients with visible signs of
22 addiction without appointments, at all hours of
23 the night, making them pay hundreds of dollars in
24 cash for each prescription. On that same day he
25 was charged, four other New York doctors were
549
1 charged with the same crime. Collectively, they
2 had prescribed 8.5 million opioid pills to
3 patients whose health and well-being they had
4 sworn to protect.
5 I have the greatest respect for the
6 medical profession and believe that these bad
7 apples are exceptions to the rule, but we cannot
8 afford any exceptions. They can cause outsized
9 harm and can cost lives.
10 This bill affirmatively directs the
11 Department of Health to periodically analyze data
12 in the prescription monitoring program registry
13 to see if any violations have occurred in the
14 prescribing of controlled substances, and to take
15 action on those violations. This is an important
16 step that will help prevent abuse in our state.
17 I'm proud to participate in this
18 package. I want to thank you all for your
19 leadership again. This is an important day, and
20 I vote aye.
21 Thank you very much.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
23 Senator Metzger to be recorded in the
24 affirmative.
25 Announce the results.
550
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 172, Print 6397, by Senator Carlucci, an act to
6 amend the Public Health Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
10 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
11 shall have become a law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 173, Senate Print 7102A, by Senator Benjamin, an
22 act to amend the Public Health Law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
24 the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
551
1 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
2 shall have become a law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
4 the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
7 Announce the results.
8 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
9 Calendar Number 173, those Senators voting in the
10 negative are Senators Funke, Griffo, Helming,
11 Jordan, Little, Ritchie and Serino. Also Senator
12 Jacobs.
13 Ayes, 53. Nays, 8.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 174, Senate Print 7115, by Senator Rivera, an act
18 to amend the Public Health Law and the
19 Education Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
23 act shall take effect on the first of January.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
25 the roll.
552
1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
3 Announce the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 183, Senate Print 6288A, by Senator Sepúlveda, an
9 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
18 Sepúlveda to explain his vote.
19 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Thank you,
20 Mr. President, for allowing me to explain my
21 vote.
22 We've heard many discussions today
23 about the failure of the opioid crisis and what
24 we're dealing with. But what this bill does is
25 deal with what happens when we fail with this
553
1 crisis, what happens to the individual. And
2 generally speaking, they wind up incarcerated.
3 So, you know, we know that about
4 60 percent of individuals that are incarcerated
5 are dealing with some level of abuse, substance
6 abuse. And what this bill does is going to
7 require the state to provide an annual report on
8 substance abuse disorder treatment programs in
9 our facilities.
10 This data will include what
11 substance abuse incarcerated individuals are
12 commonly using. And the importance of that is
13 that it will help us with treatment. It will
14 help us understand how many individuals are
15 receiving treatment and how we can provide them
16 with the services while incarcerated so that when
17 they come out, they don't return to drug use, to
18 opioid use, hopefully can cure their addiction
19 and become productive members of our society and
20 won't return to prisons where the cost is over
21 $300,000 per inmate to support them there.
22 I think we could do a better use of
23 our tax dollars by providing treatment and
24 getting people out there to get jobs, to stay in
25 their jobs and become taxpaying citizens.
554
1 So this is crucial to raise
2 awareness of our crisis. And let's raise it not
3 only outside of prisons, but certainly inside of
4 prisons where the need is greater.
5 Thank you.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
7 Sepúlveda to be recorded in the affirmative.
8 Senator Little to explain her vote.
9 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 I would just like to explain my
12 vote, because I do believe that in our prisons we
13 need more drug programs. And that's something
14 that they are trying to do. Currently drug
15 programs are given to inmates as they approach
16 the time -- within three years, I believe it
17 is -- of their first opportunity for parole.
18 But the fact that we are getting
19 drugs in our prisons is a problem. And it's a
20 problem that corrections and the Department of
21 Corrections is working on all the time. We have
22 seven-day visitation in the maximum-security
23 prisons. We have all kinds of ways of trying to
24 see that drugs are not coming into the prisons.
25 And yet they're still getting in.
555
1 And the vendor program, which is one
2 that would say that in order to send a package to
3 someone, you want to send food and stuff to your
4 inmate -- and I have people who call my office
5 who have sons and daughters who are in prison, so
6 I emphasize with them tremendously. But their
7 fear, too, is that, you know, they need to be
8 protected from drugs while they are in prison.
9 This vendor program, you would have
10 to go and you'd order what you wanted, buy it,
11 and the store itself would send it. But that has
12 been rejected, as have many of the things to try
13 to screen for drugs coming into the prisons.
14 So I'd be glad to find a better way
15 to do it. I know Corrections would like to find
16 a better way to keep drugs out of the prisons --
17 I think we all would -- and have more drug
18 rehabilitation programs in prison.
19 But this bill basically just
20 requires a lot more reporting, and they already
21 do a lot of reporting. But it's just a mandate
22 on them without any help to achieve the good
23 results that we're all looking for.
24 Thank you. I vote no.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
556
1 Little to be recorded in the negative.
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
4 Calendar Number 183, those Senators voting in the
5 negative are Senators Borrello, Funke, Helming,
6 Jacobs, Jordan, Little, O'Mara, Ortt, Ritchie and
7 Robach. Also Senator Akshar.
8 Ayes, 50. Nays, 11.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 184, Senate Print 6694, by Senator Carlucci, an
13 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
17 act shall take effect on the 90th day after it
18 shall have become a law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
23 Carlucci to explain his vote.
24 SENATOR CARLUCCI: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
557
1 I want to thank Senator Harckham and
2 Senator Rivera and especially our leader, Senator
3 Andrea Stewart-Cousins, for pushing forward this
4 legislative package today.
5 And unfortunately, in the
6 United States over 130 Americans pass away each
7 day from an overdose. In fact, in New York
8 State, every two hours another New Yorker passes
9 away from an overdose. Meaning the time that
10 we've spent together in this chamber today,
11 another New Yorker has passed away.
12 That means that the sirens need to
13 be running, the alarm bells need to be going off,
14 and we have to be doing everything we possibly
15 can to end this horrible epidemic that we're
16 facing.
17 The legislation that we have before
18 us right now is an effort to make the parity
19 real. We've seen the efforts from the federal
20 level to the state level to issue parity between
21 health and mental health services. The fact is
22 we have to treat addiction for what it is.
23 Addiction is a disease. Just like we fight
24 against heart disease or diabetes, we have to
25 address addiction the same way.
558
1 But the reality is that people
2 living with substance use disorder, the rates
3 have not kept up. In fact, most of the Medicaid
4 rates for substance use disorder have not changed
5 in the past 10 years.
6 This legislation before us will
7 require a workgroup to make sure that we're
8 meeting that parity, that we're lifting up the
9 reimbursement rates. Because when we've been
10 traveling around the state, the providers we talk
11 to can barely keep the doors open.
12 That means that we're not only
13 trying to keep these doors open, but what
14 incentive is there to provide more providers, to
15 provide more treatment? We have to make sure we
16 don't just talk about parity but we treat mental
17 health and substance use disorder the same way we
18 treat healthcare. And in doing this, in getting
19 people the treatment and the care that they need,
20 we can help people recover, live independent,
21 productive lives, and overall reduce the cost of
22 healthcare.
23 So I want to thank my colleagues for
24 supporting this important legislation. Let's
25 make sure we keep the momentum going and make
559
1 sure that other states and the nation are looking
2 to New York as leaders in finding the way forward
3 to ending the horrible overdose epidemic that
4 we've seen.
5 Thank you, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
7 Carlucci to be recorded in the affirmative.
8 Announce the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 321, Senate Print 5480, by Senator Rivera, an act
14 to amend the Public Health Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
23 May to explain her vote.
24 SENATOR MAY: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
560
1 I want to thank the members of the
2 task force for the important work they did and
3 for coming to my district.
4 I have the honor of representing the
5 exact geographical center of New York State, but
6 my region has the dubious distinction of having
7 almost double the rate of overdose deaths that we
8 see statewide and being among the very top
9 counties for neonatal -- or newborns born with
10 neonatal abstinence syndrome.
11 It meant a lot that the task force
12 came to my district, that they held a roundtable
13 specifically about rural issues with opioids, and
14 that they have responded now to some of the
15 specific concerns that they heard from the first
16 responders and the social service providers and
17 the parents and the addicts themselves that they
18 talked to in my district.
19 So this pilot program for infant
20 recovery centers across the state will help us
21 keep children alive and healthy. And that --
22 what could be more important than that?
23 So I want to congratulate
24 Senator Rivera on this bill, and I proudly vote
25 aye.
561
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
2 May to be recorded in the affirmative.
3 Announce the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 331, Senate Print 5150B, by Senator Harckham, an
9 act to amend the Public Health Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
14 shall have become a law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
19 Announce the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
21 Calendar Number 331, those Senators voting in the
22 negative are Senators Gallivan, Griffo, Jordan
23 and Little. Also Senator O'Mara. Also
24 Senator Ortt. Also Senator Helming.
25 Ayes, 54. Nays, 7.
562
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 bill is passed.
3 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
4 reading of today's calendar.
5 SENATOR GIANARIS: Can we now go to
6 the reading of the controversial calendar,
7 please.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 Secretary will ring the bell.
10 The Secretary will read.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 69,
12 Senate Print 6650, by Senator Harckham, an act to
13 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
15 Senator Akshar.
16 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
17 thank you.
18 Would the sponsor be so kind to
19 yield to a few questions?
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Will
21 the sponsor yield?
22 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
24 sponsor yields.
25 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you,
563
1 Mr. President.
2 Can the sponsor tell me what the
3 genesis of the bill was?
4 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
5 Through you, Mr. President, we have
6 found a lot of gaps in the system as we toured
7 the state and we listened to folks. And the two
8 spots where we lose folks the most and we have
9 the highest rate of fatality for overdose is
10 after people leave a hospital and after people
11 leave a correctional facility -- especially after
12 a correctional facility.
13 Because if they've been there a
14 while and their underlying substance use disorder
15 or co-occurring mental disorder is not diagnosed
16 and treated, they may be abstinent, but the
17 craving for drugs is still there. They go out
18 and use the same amount, but they've lost their
19 tolerance. And that's why we have such a high
20 rate of fatalities.
21 And also immediately after an
22 overdose hospitalization, when people have come
23 back, come to, and they leave a hospital without
24 going into treatment, they are especially at
25 especially high risk for overdose.
564
1 So those are the two gaps that we're
2 trying to fill with this law.
3 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you.
4 Mr. President, through you, if the
5 sponsor would continue to yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
7 the sponsor yield?
8 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President, the
12 sponsor talks about specifically -- I want to
13 focus my attention on Section 2 of the particular
14 piece of legislation as it pertains to
15 correctional facilities. That's where my line of
16 questioning will be.
17 In all of the statute, though, it
18 references opioid use disorder. I'm wondering if
19 the sponsor could tell me who, within the
20 confines of a correctional facility, will make
21 that diagnosis of an inmate.
22 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely,
23 Mr. Chair.
24 There is an intake that is now done
25 through Department of Corrections where they do a
565
1 screening of behavioral and physical and
2 psychosocial matters, and that's where many
3 people are diagnosed. And if not, there are
4 other people who come forward while they're
5 incarcerated. And it needs to be a formal
6 diagnosis by a physician, by a CASAC, somebody
7 who is professionally certified to diagnose
8 someone with opioid use disorder.
9 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
10 through you, if the sponsor will continue to
11 yield.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
13 the sponsor yield?
14 SENATOR HARCKHAM: I continue.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR AKSHAR: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 Within the confines of a
20 correctional facility, who is expected to
21 administer this program?
22 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Yes, absolutely,
23 it would -- through you, Mr. President, it would
24 be through the medical professionals at the
25 facility upon discharge.
566
1 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
2 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
3 yield.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
5 the sponsor yield?
6 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR AKSHAR: This statute that
10 we're discussing, does this all pertain both to
11 county correctional facilities as well as state
12 correctional facilities?
13 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Through you,
14 Mr. President, no, it does not. It's only state
15 facilities.
16 We were concerned about another
17 unfunded mandate coming from this body. So it is
18 for state facilities only. And we estimate it to
19 be a cost of about $4.3 million.
20 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
21 through you, if the sponsor will continue to
22 yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
24 the sponsor yield?
25 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
567
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR AKSHAR: So let me just ask
4 you quickly, if I may, about that particular sum
5 or cost. How do we arrive at that $4.3 million?
6 And what are we doing to address
7 that particular issue? I'm encouraged, actually,
8 when I hear you say we're not talking about it at
9 the county level because we were genuinely
10 concerned about the cost that the counties would
11 have to incur. So how are we addressing the
12 $4.3 million that we expect this program to cost?
13 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Sure. Through
14 you, Mr. Chair, this is something that we will
15 have to put in our one-house budget, we will
16 fight for as we need to.
17 And this is really the first step of
18 a greater expansion of treatment in the
19 correctional facilities. And when we get to the
20 county facilities, we need to invest a larger
21 share. We started that process last year, we
22 need to continue it this year. But this
23 $4.3 million needs to be put in by this body as a
24 prerogative that we're catching people at a
25 vulnerable time, and we're hoping to fill that
568
1 gap.
2 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
3 through you, if the sponsor will continue to
4 yield.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
6 the sponsor yield?
7 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
11 through you. Does the inmate need to be in an
12 approved substance use disorder jail-based
13 program in order to receive the Narcan and the
14 education upon their departure?
15 SENATOR HARCKHAM: This is upon
16 discharge. They don't necessarily need to be in
17 a program. In fact, there are some state
18 facilities that do not have formal programs
19 addressing opioid use disorder, which is
20 unfortunate. Most of them are centered in a
21 cluster of prisons where that's a specialty.
22 So it's really upon determination of
23 the physician upon discharge.
24 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
25 through you, if the sponsor will continue to
569
1 yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
3 the sponsor yield?
4 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR AKSHAR: Just so I
8 understand, then, if I were to go through the
9 intake process and then be diagnosed with a
10 substance use disorder upon my arrival or my
11 intake, I spend some time in the correctional
12 facility, however long that may be. Upon my
13 release, whether I've gone through a substance
14 use disorder program or not, I'm going to be
15 given this education as well as two doses of
16 Narcan.
17 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Yes, that is
18 correct. Through you, Mr. President.
19 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
20 through you, if the sponsor will continue to
21 yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
23 the sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely,
25 Mr. President.
570
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR AKSHAR: Did we seek the
4 input of the Department of Corrections prior to
5 the statute, you know, making its way to the
6 floor of the Senate and during your
7 deliberations?
8 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Sure. We
9 received testimony and we had lengthy
10 conversation with the Department of Corrections.
11 I do not know if they viewed this draft of the
12 bill, to be quite honest.
13 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
14 through you, if the sponsor would continue to
15 yield.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
17 the sponsor yield?
18 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR AKSHAR: Did you have
22 conversations with the corrections officer union
23 or anybody else about the implementation of this
24 particular piece of legislation?
25 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Through you,
571
1 Mr. President, no, we did not. Because the
2 correction officers themselves will not be
3 involved in this. This will be done through a
4 physician.
5 And again, this is part of
6 addressing a very vulnerable population as they
7 leave the correctional facility. So this is not
8 an ongoing mandate or a responsibility to the
9 security guards, to the union. This is done by
10 the medical staff upon discharge.
11 SENATOR AKSHAR: Mr. President,
12 through you, if the sponsor will continue to
13 yield.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
15 the sponsor yield?
16 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR AKSHAR: All right, so just
20 so we're on the same sheet of music, the
21 corrections officers will not be required to
22 administer this program.
23 SENATOR HARCKHAM: No. Through
24 you, Mr. Chair, no.
25 SENATOR AKSHAR: On the bill,
572
1 Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
3 Senator Akshar on the bill.
4 SENATOR AKSHAR: Let me thank the
5 sponsor for the bill. I thank him for -- I have
6 the good pleasure of serving as the ranking
7 member on the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
8 committee, so appreciate the work that we're
9 doing.
10 I appreciate the work that this body
11 is doing and continues to do in this area. I
12 would argue -- respectfully, of course -- that
13 it's probably one of the only areas in which we
14 really work in a bipartisan fashion. And, you
15 know, we're doing really great work.
16 You know, at the end of the day this
17 is an incredibly robust calendar, a robust
18 agenda. And I think most of what we saw today by
19 way of legislation was good, and it's going to
20 help New Yorkers.
21 But to the chairman of the committee
22 and to this body as a whole, I implore us, as we
23 move forward with the budget process, that we
24 properly allocate funds to deal with this issue.
25 I think that we fell flat last year. To keep the
573
1 number at 240 million, I think we did a
2 disservice to the community-based providers that
3 are fighting on the front lines every single day.
4 And I go back to what I said
5 yesterday, and people are probably tired of
6 hearing me say it, but in an environment in which
7 we can spend $300 million to reface the
8 Erie Canal, we must be able to find additional
9 monies to spend to increase funding in this
10 particular area. Because all of the legislation
11 that we've passed and all of the good things we
12 are doing by way of statute, Mr. President, we
13 can't implement that on the ground unless the
14 people who are fighting on the front lines have
15 the resources they need.
16 So Mr. President, again, I
17 appreciate the sponsor's willingness to answer my
18 questions. When it comes time, I'll be voting in
19 the affirmative.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
21 Lanza.
22 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you,
23 Mr. President. Mr. President, would the sponsor
24 yield for just a couple of questions?
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
574
1 the sponsor yield?
2 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you,
6 Mr. President. Through you.
7 First I want to commend my colleague
8 for his work with regard to this very important
9 issue that is ravaging our state. And I think --
10 I want to say you're doing a great job, and I
11 appreciate it.
12 I do have a slight concern with this
13 legislation, and so my question is this. Is the
14 Narcan provided directly to the person suffering
15 through the addiction?
16 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Through you,
17 Mr. President, I'm not sure I got your question.
18 Is it how is it administered?
19 SENATOR LANZA: No. So --
20 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Or how is it
21 given when someone leaves?
22 SENATOR LANZA: Through you,
23 Mr. President. When the person is leaving, is
24 the Narcan provided directly to that person?
25 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Yes. Through
575
1 you, Mr. President, what happens is the
2 healthcare provider will explain how Narcan is
3 used, when it should be used, how it is
4 administered. And then after that education
5 process they will be handed a Narcan kit. It
6 comes in a pouch -- similar to the ones that when
7 many of us do trainings in our district, it comes
8 in a pouch, there are gloves, there's a mask, and
9 there are two doses of Narcan in squirt vials.
10 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President,
11 would the sponsor yield for a question?
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
13 the sponsor yield?
14 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 sponsor yields.
17 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you. Through
18 you, Mr. President.
19 Over the last eight years I've
20 sponsored dozens upon dozens of Narcan training
21 programs where we've handed out thousands of
22 Narcan kits to people across the community of
23 Staten Island that I represent. Typically the
24 people that come to these programs are not the
25 people that are suffering through the addiction
576
1 but their family and friends and just concerned
2 residents. The thought being that the more these
3 kits are out there, the more likely it is that
4 someone might be at the scene of where a person
5 is suffering through an overdose.
6 My question to you is, I don't think
7 we can expect a person who is suffering an
8 overdose to be able to self-administer Narcan.
9 So wouldn't it be more efficient or effective if
10 these kits were handed to that leaving -- that
11 departing person's family or friends?
12 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Through you,
13 Mr. President. Not everybody has family and
14 friends. And certainly they are not in the
15 facility when someone is being discharged.
16 The thought is that in harm
17 reduction strategies, the point is if people are
18 going to use, we want to keep them alive until
19 they're ready for treatment. That's the point of
20 harm reduction.
21 So the point is to encourage people,
22 if they're going to use, to use with somebody
23 else. I'll watch you, you watch me. That's why
24 there are two doses. So the thought is that
25 whoever this person either is using with or
577
1 living with -- so, for instance, they may go to a
2 shelter, as often happens when people come out of
3 prison, and they don't have family there. But
4 maybe they have a buddy there who can watch them,
5 who can be their supervisor while they need to do
6 what they need to do.
7 If someone goes to a location that
8 has a family, great, even better. Like you, I
9 have a lot of families who come to our Narcan
10 trainings as well.
11 But at least we're getting them
12 started on the process initially, in the hopes
13 that -- obviously our hope is that they get
14 linked to treatment immediately. But we know
15 that relapse is part of this disease, and so
16 especially when they're that vulnerable, we want
17 them to have this on them.
18 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President, on
19 the bill.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
21 Lanza on the bill.
22 SENATOR LANZA: Again, I want to
23 thank the sponsor.
24 I'm going to support this
25 legislation for the simple reason that I believe
578
1 the more of these kits that are out there in the
2 community, the better it is for all of us. And,
3 you know, this issue is so widespread and
4 devastating that every little bit helps.
5 I just think it might be better in
6 this case to make sure that if someone is leaving
7 and they do have friends and they do have family,
8 that we somehow get the kits into their hands.
9 Because clearly we all understand if you're going
10 through -- if you're overdosing, you're not going
11 to be in a position to be able to save yourself,
12 you need somebody to be there with this kit.
13 Again, the more kits in the
14 community, the better it is for all of us, so I
15 support the legislation.
16 Thank you, Mr. President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
18 Harckham on the bill.
19 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 I want to thank both my colleagues
22 for their good and probing questions. And I
23 agree with them, we should put our money where
24 our mouth is, not just in terms of this
25 legislation but in terms of the whole safety net
579
1 in terms of mental health treatment and substance
2 use disorder treatment.
3 We heard out in the field very
4 clearly from the professionals that we are
5 $100 million short of where we need to be to
6 address this crisis. And a subway platform, a
7 homeless shelter, a correctional facility should
8 not be the first location that somebody gets
9 treatment for substance use disorder or mental
10 health. If that's the case, we have failed them.
11 We as a society have failed them, and we as a
12 government body have failed them.
13 So are we going to come up with
14 $100 million tomorrow? No. But last year we did
15 add 7.5. I think we need to do much more than
16 that this year, in challenging times.
17 But if we are all committed to this,
18 as it sounds like everybody is, you know, we're
19 going to have some tough decisions to make about
20 how we raise this revenue, because a lot of the
21 things that we talk about as flash-button issues,
22 at the heart of it is the lack of treatment for
23 mental health disorders, substance use disorders,
24 and the two combined.
25 So I thank my colleagues, I agree
580
1 this has been a good area for us to work in a
2 bipartisan fashion, and I support the bill.
3 Thank you.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Are
5 there any other Senators wishing to be heard?
6 Seeing and hearing none, debate is closed.
7 Senator Gianaris.
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
9 by consent, can we return this to the
10 noncontroversial calendar and take up the vote,
11 please.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Without
13 objection, so ordered.
14 Read the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
16 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
17 shall have become a law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
22 Announce the results.
23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
24 Calendar Number 69, those Senators voting in the
25 negative are Senators Flanagan, Gallivan, Griffo,
581
1 O'Mara, Ortt, Ritchie and Robach.
2 Ayes, 54. Nays, 7.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 bill is passed.
5 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
6 reading of the controversial calendar.
7 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
8 if we can return to motions for a second, on
9 behalf of Senator Kaminsky, on page 11, I offer
10 the following amendments to Calendar 161,
11 Senate Print 5786A, and ask that said bill retain
12 its place on Third Reading Calendar.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 amendments are received, and the bill shall
15 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
16 SENATOR GIANARIS: There will be,
17 at the conclusion of session, a meeting of the
18 Labor Committee in Room 124.
19 And with that, is there any further
20 business at the desk?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: There
22 will be an immediate meeting of the Labor
23 Committee in Room 124 of the Capitol.
24 There is no further business at the
25 desk.
582
1 SENATOR GIANARIS: I move to
2 adjourn until tomorrow, Wednesday, February 5th,
3 at 11:00 a.m.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: On
5 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
6 Wednesday, February 5th, at 11:00 a.m.
7 (Whereupon, at 5:52 p.m., the Senate
8 adjourned.)
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