New York State SmartTranscripts:

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Madam speaker, would you please call the house to order?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The house will come to order. Good afternoon, colleagues and guests. Rabbi Vebel Butman will offer a prayer.

[Rabbi Velvl (Velvo/Velvo) Butman]: Almighty god, master of the universe, bless the members of the New York State Assembly to fulfill their divine mission to make our world a better place for all of humanity, living by your divine will and divine providence and unity, peace, and harmony with dignity and respect for every human being. We are all created in your image. Guide us all to live exemplary lives of goodness and kindness, inspired by the seven Noah high lord commandments which you gave to Adam and then to Noah. Number one, to worship you alone and not to worship idols. Number two, not to commit adultery, incest, sodomy, or any other abomination. Three, not to murder, and four, not to eat and not to be cruel to any living creature or animal. Five, not to blasphemy your holy name. Six, not to steal and not to lie or cheat. Seven, that every society should be governed by just and moral laws, which are based on the recognition and acknowledgment of you, o God, as the sovereign ruler of every human being. As we proudly proclaim in our pledge of allegiance, one nation under god with liberty and justice for all, grant that New York State Assembly enact laws with the awareness of your divine providence and presence with wisdom, integrity, and compassion, recognizing that in establishing just laws, they are fulfilling your will. Bless the members of this New York State Assembly with good health, clarity of mind, wisdom, compassion, and good fellowship. And may they always recognize that in establishing just laws, they are fulfilling your will. Almighty God, we dedicate this prayer in honor of the Rebbe's 120 birthday and the eighty fifth anniversary of his miraculous escape from Nazi Europe and arrival in New York in 1941 with his wife, Rebbe Sinhaim Mushkashnirs in a blessed memory. From New York, the rabbi established the world's largest Jewish global network with thousands of centers worldwide in more than 100 countries to welcome and to inspire all of humanity toward a world of peace, unity, and harmony, a world of redemption as prophesied in your holy bible. May we be inspired by the rabbi's teachings, especially in the sacred responsibility of educating the youth. You, almighty god, have created every human being regardless of race, color, or creed and endowed each with a divine spark. Grant us the wisdom and leadership to ensure that every child is loved unconditionally and educated with morality, faith, and respect for all of humanity. As it is written in our dour bill, in god we trust, reminding us that there is an eye that sees and an ear that hears. Bless us to guide each child to recognize their infinite beautiful soul and to fulfill their unique purpose with joy, peace, and love for all people. As the rabbi asks to publicize in his prophecy that Moshiach is on the way, and by doing acts of goodness and kindness, we usher in that great day speedily. May we merit to see a world of redemption, a world of peace, divine knowledge, and a life of joy and happiness and purpose. Bless us to be successful and have leaders who serve to strengthen our beloved New York State and all of its communities. So may it be your will, almighty god, and together, let let us please all say, amen. Amen. If I may take a moment off the record, my dear father, unfortunately, lost about twenty months ago, was asked by the rabbi that when he comes here, he should put a dollar bill in the pushka. I wanna make it clear this is not a solicitation. I don't want anybody to participate because we're not here to collect dollars. But I do wanna show the community what is the power of a dollar bill. By taking a dollar and putting into the charity box, each of you in your own charities, you will merit to be a partner with almighty god to make this world a better place. Thank you all very, very much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Visitors are invited to join members in the pledge of allegiance. A quorum being present, the clerk will read the journal of Monday, March 23. Miss People Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Miss speaker, I move to dispense with the further read of the journal of Monday, March 23, and that the same stand approved.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Without objection, so ordered.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Thank you, so much, madam leader. I do have a quote I would like to share with colleagues and guests that are in our chambers today. This one is coming from former president Dwight D. Eisenhower, the thirty fourth president of The United States, who served from 1953 to 1961. He also, during World War two, became a general of the army and was supreme commander of allied expeditionary force in Europe. Again, these words from former president Dwight Eisenhower. For every obstacle, there is a solution. Persistence is the key. The greatest mistake is giving up. Again, these words from president Eisenhower. Members have on their desk a main calendar and a debate list. After you have done any housekeeping and or deductions, madam speaker, we're gonna begin our floor work by taking up resolutions on page three. Our principal worker today will begin taking up our sixth bill that deals with problem game game gambling issues. These bills include calendar two forty by miss Warner, calendar three zero four by miss Kasay, and calendar three zero eight by mister Boris. After that, we're gonna then work off the debate list by taking up the following bills, calendar one fifty five by mister Otis, and calendar 52 by miss Rosenthal. There may be a need for additional floor activity, madam speaker. If that is the case, we will advise at that moment. However, this is the general outline of where we're going today. If you could begin by using in in doing introductions and or housekeeping.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. We have a piece

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: of

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: housekeeping on a motion by mister Havassey, page five, calendar number two, bill number a six five a. The amendments are received and adopted. We have several introductions today. We will start with mister Waprin for the purpose of an introduction.

[David I. Weprin (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. I am happy to introduce rabbi Velvo Butman, who's here today in the People's House for his second invocation before this legislative body. Rabbi Velvo is distinguished rabbi and executive director of the Chabad Lubavitch of Westchester County. He is the son of the late rabbi Shmuel Butman, who passed away in July on 07/22/2024. The Butmans are long standing friends of the Wepprin family. Rabbi Shmuel, who you may remember who came up every year for over thirty years to this house, was a good friend of my late father, Saul Wepprin, and my late uncle, Jack Wepprin, and served as the executive director of the Lubavitch Youth Organization for many decades. I'm very proud to sponsor a resolution today which commemorates the anniversary celebration of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson's 120 birthday. The resolution calls for a hundred and twenty four days of education in honor of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson who served over forty five years of dedicated leadership as the Rebbe of the Lubavitcher movement and the Jewish community at large. Rabbi Schneerson established over 1,500 Lubavitch centers helping people of all walks of life throughout the world. From Australia to Africa, from Holland to Argentina, from Moscow to Jerusalem. Rabbi Schneerson's educational activity throughout the globe have enriched and strengthened the religious, educational, cultural, moral, and ethical fibers of all citizens of the world. He is a remarkable and holy man who inspired millions of Jews and non Jews to greater dedication, loyalty, and commitment in all matters between man and God and between man and man. Rabbi Schneerson called upon the citizens of the world to make a personal commitment to increase all activities of goodness and kindness. In this year, we are commemorating his birthday on March 29 before the holiday of Passover. Thank you, madam speaker.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. On behalf of mister Wepren, the speaker, and all members, we welcome you, rabbi, to the people's house, our ex assembly chamber, and extend to you the privileges of the floor. We hope you enjoy the proceedings today. We always are so happy to see you. Thank you so very much for joining us

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: today.

[Rabbi Velvl (Velvo/Velvo) Butman]: Thank you very, very much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Raj Kumar for the purpose of an introduction.

[Jenifer Rajkumar (Assembly Member)]: Madam speaker, today I rise with great pride to introduce Bangladesh society, one of the oldest, most respected, and most consequential Bangladeshi American organizations in North America. I am honored to welcome to our chair chair chamber, chairman of the board of trustees, Shah Nawaz, president Ator Rahman Salim, general secretary and community board area chair, Mohammed Ali, senior vice president, Muhudin Dwan, and all of the distinguished executive members and trustee members who are joining us today. Founded in November 1975 at Columbia University's Earl Hall, Bangladesh Society began with a simple but powerful mission to unite Bangladeshis living abroad, preserve and promote their cultural identity, and build strong bridges with the broader American community. What began with just a handful of visionaries has grown into a cornerstone of the Bangladeshi diaspora. Today, Bangladesh society has an impressive 25,000 registered members and serves over a quarter million Bangladeshis across North America. It is widely recognized as the mother organization of the community, a unifying institution that has uplifted immigrants, strengthened families, preserved heritage, and brought Bangladeshi Americans and their voices into the mainstream. From humble beginnings to a powerhouse institution, Bangladesh society stands today as a symbol of unity, identity, strength, and progress for Bangladeshis across North America. And we are proud to recognize them on the floor of the New York State Assembly today. Madam speaker, today, please grant Bangladesh society and its leaders all the privileges of the floor.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, male)]: Thank you, and welcome to the Bangladeshi American delegation and the Bangladesh society. On behalf of missus Raj Kumar, the speaker, and all the members, we welcome you to the chambers. I extend the privileges of the floor and hope you enjoy the proceedings of today. Thank you for joining us, and we always welcome you back. Thank you. Ms. Hooks, for an introduction please.

[Assembly Member Hooks (first name unknown)]: Mister speaker, I rise today to welcome a group of young people visiting us from Queen's Community House's Queen's Community House's Youth Build program, proudly serving my district and communities across Queens. These students are doing the work, earning their high school equivalency diploma while gaining real industry recognized credentials like OSHA 10, NCCER, and the PACT certificate. These are not just certificates, they are pathways to stable careers and economic mobility. They are joined by their program director, Fleance Mason, whose leadership reflects what this work is really about. Meeting young people where they are and helping them move forward in purpose along with my daughter's best friend, EJ. Programs like YouthBuild are exactly how we build a stronger workforce and stronger communities from the ground up. They create access, restore opportunity, and invest in people who are ready to show up and succeed. And that's what these young people represent, commitment, resilience, and the future of our workforce in Queen's. Today, we don't just welcome them, we recognize them. We believe in them. And we are committed to building systems that make sure their path forward is real, accessible, and lasting. Mister speaker, I respect respectfully ask that they be afforded the cordialities of the floor and the house.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, male)]: It is always a pleasure to welcome the future generations in here and all the positive work that you've done already. Please keep it up. On behalf of missus Hooks, the speaker, and all of the members, we welcome you to the chamber, the privileges of the floor, and hope you enjoy the proceedings as you watch them today. Thank you very much for coming. For an introduction.

[Chris Burdick (Assembly Member)]: You should got me.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, male)]: Mister

[Michael R. Benedetto (Assembly Member)]: speaker, thank you so much for recognizing me. I have the great honor today to introduce several people who are residing in my district. Okay? Because the college of Maritime College, SUNY Maritime, is located within my district. And it is truly one of the gems of the SUNY system. They are known. Their graduates are known around the world for their expertise and ability for engineering and and motoring, boats around this world. Let me tell you, it is a great honor to recognize Rear Admiral John Orkin, who is president of SUNY Maritime. Also with him is Doctor. Todd Lindt, Proverst, Vice President of Academic Affairs. With them also is captain Thomas Murphy, chief of staff and executive director to the president. Along with captain Christopher Zolo, who's master of the Empire State. That, by the way, the Empire State being the ship that they learned to sail on. Also with him is LCDR, Alex Fitzsimmons, and Lieutenant Barnabas Alley, both regimental officers. And also accompanying them are several students, excuse me, cadets, from the Maritime College. And too numerous to mention, but they were all scholars in their own right. And every one of them, by the way, are members of the CAP program. The CAP program is the cadet appointment program which gives everybody here a chance to appoint somebody on a scholarship going to this wonderful SUNY institution. Mister speaker, will you please welcome these distinguished people to our chamber?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, male)]: Mister Benedetto, you certainly have one of the greatest districts in the entire assembly with such a great institution in your district. On behalf of Mr. Benedetto and the speaker and all the members of the House, we welcome you young cadets and officers here to the chamber, extend the privileges of the floor, and hope that you enjoy the proceedings. Thank you for everything that you've done. Thank you for everything you will do in the future, and thank you for attending this academy or being part of it. Thank you very much. Slater for an introduction.

[Matthew Slater (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, mister speaker. I'm thrilled to be able to welcome several very special guests and neighbors of mine from the town of Yorktown. We are joined today by Ryder Gus, his sister Piper, his mom Danielle. Ryder is a fifth grader at Crompon Elementary School in Yorktown, the same elementary school that I attended growing up in Yorktown. And he's taken a great interest in state government. In fact, he even created his own PowerPoint presentation about our state government here in Albany. And they are here today to tour the capital, to see government work firsthand, to see the great work that we can do together in this chamber. And it's just a great thrill to be able to welcome them here today. And if you could, Madam Speaker, if you could please extend the privileges of the floor, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On behalf of Mr. Slater, the speaker, and all members, welcome Ryder, Piper, and Danielle to the People's House. We extend the privileges of the floor to you. It's always wonderful to see young people in our chamber. We wish you continued academic success. Thank you so very much for joining us today. Mister De La Santos, for the purpose of an introduction.

[Manny De Los Santos (Assembly Member)]: Thank you madam speaker. Today I have the honor of introducing a group of students from iMentor who represent not just hard work and dedication but also resilience, curiosity, and the courage to imagine bigger futures for themselves. Programs like iMentor remind us that success is not just achieved by itself but built through community, mentorship, and the belief that every student deserves access to guidance and opportunity. Madam speaker, can you please extend the privilege of the floor to this group of young men and women and they from iMentor, my district.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On behalf of mister De La Santos, the speaker, and all members, welcome future leaders from iMentor to the Assembly Chamber, our people's house. We extend to you the privileges of the floor. We're so very glad to see you here today. We hope you enjoy the proceedings and hope you visit us again. Thank you so very much for joining us today. Mister Weider, for the purpose of an introduction.

[Aron Wieder (Assembly Member)]: Good afternoon madam speaker and esteemed colleagues. Today I rise to recognize two dedicated public servants from the East Rambo Central School District who have demonstrated unwavering commitment to education, community and most importantly the students they serve. It is my distinct honor to introduce Shuman Rose, President of the Board of Education and Pierre Charles, a valued member of the board. In a district as diverse and dynamic as the East Ramapo leadership requires not only vision but patience, collaboration and a deep sense of responsibility. President Rose and board member Charles have worked diligently to ensure that every child, regardless of background, have access to quality education and the opportunity to succeed. Education is where opportunity begins. And public service is how we ensure it reaches every single child. Their service is not easy, involves making difficult decisions, balancing competing needs, and always striving to do what is best for the students, family, and taxpayers. Yet, they have approached these challenges with integrity, thoughtfulness, and genuine dedication to their beloved community. Today, we recognize their hard work and thank them for their continued service. It is leaders like them who strengthens our schools and in turn our future. Madam speaker, please extend them the courtesies of this house and offer them the warmest welcome and cordiality of the people's house. Thank you very much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. On behalf of mister Weeder, the speaker, and all members, welcome to the assembly chamber from the East Ramapo Central School District, the board president, and additional board member. Thank you for all of the hard work that you do every day for educating our young people. I know it's very challenging and rewarding at the same time. We hope you enjoy our proceedings today. Thank you so very much for joining us. Miss People Stokes, the purpose of an introduction.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Thank you, madam speaker. On behalf of our colleague, mister Raga, representing District 30 in Queens, we are joined in our chambers by mister Wenano Adi, who's the council general of The Republic Of Indonesia and members of the community and representatives of different organizations, the Indonesian Gastotomy Association, the Indonesian culinary, the Bangsta Batak Social Club, the Indonesian senior club, the Mesea America, and Perwakan USA. District 30 is home to the largest and diverse Southeast Asian community. We are delighted to have them representing the Indonesian community here in Albany today as they share their culture throughout the legislature. We thank them for their presence, and we ask you, madam speaker, if you would please extend to them the cordiales of the four and the privileges of being in our chambers. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. On behalf of miss Peoples Stokes, mister Raga, the speaker, and all members, we welcome our community, friends from the Indonesian community for their annual community day. It's great to see you back here again today. Extending the privileges of the floor to you, all of the distinguished leaders, the Indonesian council, community leaders. Thank you for all of the extra advocacy that you've been doing here today. We extend the privileges of the floor to you and hope you enjoy our proceedings today. Thank you so very much for

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: joining us.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mister Burdick, for the purpose of an introduction.

[Chris Burdick (Assembly Member)]: Thank you so much. It is my privilege and honor to introduce four students from SUNY Purchase, which I represent. And they are Julia Wojciech, Zach Barrera, Kalia Nesbeth, and Matthew Paolucci. These are students who traveled up from SUNY Purchase today to deliver a message on the critical maintenance crisis, not only on the Purchase campus, but across all 64 SUNY campuses and for that matter, across the CUNY campuses as well. Over the past three weeks, these students have been working with NIPER to collect signatures in support of expanded critical maintenance and have collected a thousand signatures in a three week timeframe. From bursting pipes to no heat in these dorms and academic buildings, these students stood up to say, we need to fix these facilities. Madam Speaker, kindly welcome these outstanding students and confer upon them the privileges and cordialities of the people's house.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On behalf of mister Burdick, the speaker and all members, we welcome our young student leaders from SUNY Purchase and we extend to you the privileges of the floor. We thank you for showing us what advocacy in action looks like. That is exactly what you're supposed to be doing. So we wish you continued academic and future success. We hope you enjoy our proceedings today. Thank you so very much for joining us. Us. Resolutions. Page three. Clerk will read.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number one zero eight one, Ms. Barrett. Legislative resolution memorializing governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim 03/24/2026 as agriculture day in the state of New York.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mr. Tague on the resolution.

[Chris Tague (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, Madam Speaker. First of all, I just want to say thank you to the sponsor, Assembly Member Barrett, for bringing this forward every year. On behalf of the 30,650 farms in the state of New York, I wanna say thank you to everybody in this body, especially as we're looking into the budget that's coming up, hopefully, this week. Hopefully, everyone will remember that no farms, no food when we look at that budget. But I just wanna say thank you to each and every person that works in the agriculture industry in New York, which makes us one of the greatest in the world. So thank you again to Assembly Member Barrett. Thank you to our farmers. And to each and every one of you. Remember, no farms, no food,

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: and

[Chris Tague (Assembly Member)]: we cannot live without food. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Miss Giglio, on the resolution.

[Jodi Giglio (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker, and I'd like to thank the sponsor for this resolution. It's an honor to be here today to talk about something that is not only a part of our economy but part of our identity, agriculture in New York. From the vineyards of Long Island to the dairy farms of Upstate, agriculture is woven into the fabric of our state. New York is home to thousands of family farms that produce world class products milk, apples, corn, wine and so much more. These are not just commodities, they are the result of hard work, tradition and a deep connection to the land. But while agriculture remains one of New York's most vital industries, our farmers are facing unprecedented challenges. First, the rising cost of doing business. Fuel, equipment, feed, fertilizer everything has become more expensive. At the same time, farmers often have little control over the prices they receive for their products. That imbalance puts real pressure on farm families trying to stay afloat. Second, access to land. Development pressures especially in regions like Long Island and the Hudson Valley are making farmland more expensive and harder to preserve. Once farmland is lost, it is almost impossible to get it back. Protecting these open spaces is not just about today, it's about ensuring future generations have the opportunity to farm. Third, the workforce shortage. Farming is labor intensive and many farmers struggle to find reliable workers. Seasonal labor changes and shrinking workforce have made it increasingly difficult to maintain operations at full capacity. And we cannot ignore the impact the unpredictable weather, late frosts, heavy rains, droughts has created uncertainty in growing seasons. Farmers are resilient but even resilience has its limits when conditions become more extreme and less predictable. Yet despite all of this, our farmers continue to show up every day. They adapt, they innovate and they persevere. They invest in new technologies. They embrace sustainability. They participate in programs like farm to school initiatives that connect our children with fresh local food while supporting our agriculture economy. So what can we do? We must continue to support policies that protect farmland, reduce burdens on farmers and invest in agriculture innovation. We must strengthen local supply chains and ensure that New York grown products have a strong market right here at home. And perhaps most importantly, we must recognize and respect the people behind this industry, the farmers and the farm families. They dedicate their lives to feeding ours. Agriculture is not just about food, it's about community. It's about stewardship of our land. It's about preserving a way of life that has sustained New York for generations. If we want a strong future, we must have a strong agricultural sector. And that means standing with our farmers, not just in words, but in actions. Thank you, madam speaker.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Mister Manktilo, on the resolution.

[Brian D. Manktelow (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker, on the resolution. First of all, would like to thank the sponsor for bringing the resolution forward. I think back to my many years of farming for so many years, just doing my job as a farmer much like we all do here. We do our job we come to Albany we look out for our constituents and sometimes we get so wrapped up on what' going on we forget about some of the other individuals. Much like my time as a farmer I finally realized how important it was to be involved with local government at the town county and even the state government at those different levels. I applaud all of you that have put your name to this resolution because it is very important our farmers do everything we ask of them and more. We have by far the safest food in The United States and in the country and in the world here in new york state. So thank you for supporting our farmers. Let' never forget them because they are the key to who we are as new yorkers. Thank you madam speaker.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. On the resolution, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? No. The resolution is adopted.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number ten eighty two, Ms. Rajkumar, and legislative resolution memorializing governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim 03/26/2026 as Bangladesh Independence Day in the state of New York.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Miss Rajkumar on the resolution.

[Jenifer Rajkumar (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. Today and right now is a historic moment when the state assembly pauses in its deliberations to recognize 03/26/2026 as Bangladesh Independence Day in the state of New York. This resolution is proudly supported by my colleagues from across our great state, downstate and upstate, as we come together to recognize the strength and rising impact of the Bangladeshi community. I stand on this floor as the first South Asian American woman ever elected to our state legislature, as I introduce this resolution with enormous pride in the presence of the esteemed Bangladesh society and its leaders here today in the capital. The Bangladeshi American community is here. We have arrived. We are at the table of government in New York State, and we are making history together every single day. And at the heart of this moment is something deeply American, opportunity. Like my own parents who came from India, Bangladeshi Americans have seized every opportunity this country offers, and they still believe deeply in the American dream. Working not just twenty four hours a day, but twenty five hours a day, they are building a better future for their families. Bangladeshi Americans are doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. They are also taxi drivers, construction workers, small business owners, and service workers, the backbone of our economy. Above all, they are proud Americans with boundless aspirations. When our founding fathers fought for American independence, the patriot Patrick Henry declared, give me liberty or give me death. That same spirit, the same unyielding demand for freedom lives in the freedom fighters of Bangladesh whom we honor today. The freedom fighters of Bangladesh were men and women who believed just as our American patriots did, that freedom is not given, it is won. And I am proud to say that some of those very freedom fighters and their families now live among us in my very South Queens district. Because the fight for freedom does not belong to one country or one moment in time. It is a living flame carried from generation to generation, from Silet to Queens, from Dhaka to New York. In my Queens District, Bangladeshi American families inspire me every single day with their sincerity, their faith, their commitment to community. This year, I was proud to host the first ever Iftar dinner for the 30, where the Bangladeshi community came together in unity. That moment was historic. We are truly the authors of our own democracy, and we are writing this next chapter together. Today, the state assembly joins hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi Americans across this nation in recognizing Bangladesh Independence Day. From select to city line, from struggle to success, this is the American story. Long live Bangladesh, and God bless America.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Mister Wepron, on the resolution.

[David I. Weprin (Assembly Member)]: Thank you madam speaker. I am proud to represent one of the largest Bangladeshi American populations in the state of New York. The area in Jamaica Hill which I represent around the Jamaica Muslim Center which is actually it's mostly a Bangladeshi mosque but it's the largest mosque in the city of New York by population. And I have personally been involved with the with the Bangladeshi American community, many of whom are here today, in food distributions throughout not only the district but entire city. During COVID, the Jamaica Muslim Center and the Bangladeshi American community were one of the largest distributors of food for those in need. So this is the heart of the small business community in Queens and throughout the city, and I am so proud to represent this large Bangladeshi American population and to see many of my constituents here today. Thank you, madam speaker.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Mister Saj, on the resolution.

[Nader J. Sayegh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you very much, madam speaker. Today I rise also to welcome the Bangladeshi community here to Albany to celebrate independence. And I thank the sponsor, colleague Raj Kumar, along with other members recognizing the diversity in New York and encouraging all groups that make up our great state and our communities to continue to show respect for diversity, humanity, unity, peace, and social justice. And many of these groups like our Bangladeshians, and this week alone, members of the Pakistani community, members of the Indonesian community, and many others that join us here in Albany to really take part in the American dream. And to take part in being part of the fabric, bringing their culture, their cuisine, their music, and making our state and our communities much more productive. So today, as we follow the message of whether their representatives, ambassadors, their council generals, their community and religious leaders, and echoing the same message of peace and unity, harmony, awareness, and understanding. Thank you very much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Mister Chang, on the resolution.

[Lester Chang (Assembly Member)]: Well, thank you, madam speaker, and thank you for the sponsor for this bill. During my younger years, well over two decades ago, I lived and worked in Bangladesh. I lived in the city of Dhaka and traveled very often to the ocean port of Chittagong as a freight forwarder and moved cargoes in that city. So the culture, the work the work ethics, and the family cultures are they brought over to America, and I was amazed that they continue to do so. And I thank and I welcome the Bangladesh community into America, into New York. And thank you very much. Again, thank you for the sponsor for this resolution. Thank you very much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Mister Robert Carroll on the resolution.

[Robert C. Carroll (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. I wanna first thank the sponsor for this resolution memorializing Bangladesh independence. I have the distinct honor of representing the church and McDonald's section of Kensington, where so many Bangladeshi Americans live. And I had the distinct pleasure of last week in Prospect Park being with the Brooklyn Islamic Center and our great mayor, Zoran Mamdani, as we celebrated Eid with the Bangladeshi community. It is wonderful to see them all here today. Please offer them our warmest welcomes. Thank you all so much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On the resolution, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed, no. The resolution is adopted.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number assembly number 1083, mister Jensen, legislative resolution memorializing governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim 09/04/2026 as Taekwondo Day in the state of New York.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On the resolution, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed? No. The resolution is adopted.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number one zero eight four, Ms. Lunsford, legislative resolution memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim 11/14/2026 as World Diabetes Day in the state of New York? On

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: the resolution, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed? No. The resolution is adopted. Page 34, calendar number two forty. Clerk will read.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number nine one one three b, calendar two forty, miss Warner, an act to amend the racing, pari mutuel wagering, and breeding law.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Read the last section.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: This act shall take effect immediately.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The clerk will record the vote. Ms. Warner, on the resolution. Ms. Warner, to explain your vote.

[Carrie Woerner (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, Madam Speaker, for allowing me to interrupt our proceedings to explain my vote. Problem gambling is a public health issue. And since 2020, surveys have shown us that problem gambling has increased in New York State. As of 2022, mobile sports betting surpassed casino gaming as the primary reason for gambling related helpline calls made by New Yorkers. So with this bill, we are going to we're starting to address one of the most powerful tools that we have to help someone who is sliding from entertainment, gambling as entertainment, into compulsive play. And that is the self exclusion list. It is traditionally a paper based project. So you download the form or you get it from a casino, you fill it out, you take it to a notary if you know one and you have your signature notarized and then you take it to the gaming commission, you take it back to the casino or you mail it in. It is a completely paper based project. We're today modernizing that so that someone who is experiencing a sense that they need help can exercise their ability to self exclude completely online. By modernizing this we are going to make this much more accessible to people but still have the protections that have been built in to make sure that it is the individual themselves who are self excluding and not a family member, a friend or a neighbor. So I appreciate all of you supporting this bill and the other bills in this package as we work to try and make problem gambling a controllable thing in New York State. So thank you so much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Ms. Werner in the affirmative. Are there any other votes? Announce the results.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Ayes, one forty three. Nose, zero.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The bill is passed. Page 39, calendar number three zero four. Clerk will read.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number 10329, calendar three zero four, Ms. Kasseh, enact to amend the racing, parameutual wagering, and breeding law.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: An explanation has been requested. Ms. Kasseh.

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Gladly. Thank you, madam speaker. This is a bill that I'm very proud to be carrying forward. The mobile sports betting became legal before my tenure here in the assembly. And now working with my constituents and my colleagues, I understand that this is a big problem we have on our hands. And so, looking for solutions, my team and I identified that having invoices pushed monthly to users of mobile sports betting apps with very concise information about the monies that they've put in to the app, how much they've won, how much they've lost and other information about their betting habits, as well as information for problem gambling hotlines at the bottom of that invoice would provide part of a solution, along with the other bills, my colleagues are presenting today and tomorrow, in order to help with this problem.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mister Maranello?

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Trying to get to speak oh, it's on. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, madam speaker. Will the sponsor yield for a few questions?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Will the sponsor yield?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Gladly. Sponsor

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: yields. You very much. What is precipitating this chapter amendment at this specific time?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Sure. So, at this time we are seeing alarming statistics. A couple off the top my top of my paper here. In 2025, betters wages wagered over $26,000,000,000 in the state of New York. There's been a 26% spike of calls to problem gambling hotlines and research suggests that twenty two percent of these bettors exhibit signs of problem sports betting or problem gambling in general.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Thank you. So from what I understand, has there been an increase of irresponsible betting?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Of irresponsible bettor?

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Irresponsible.

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Irresponsible. I would say I can't compare to those bettors at casinos necessarily but there is definitely an increase in problem gambling.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: In your ex in the bill, page two, line 16 talks about problem gambling assistance services. I I apologize I think you did put it into your explanation but is there a percentage of increase for problem gambling services?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Sure. So, yes. For the hotlines alone, there's been a 26% increase in calls to those hotlines. But we also have wonderful local professionals, Doctor. Jeffrey Reynolds for instance on Long Island is someone who I work with to understand on the ground how many additional cries for help we've been hearing from not only betters themselves but parents as well. These the betting is only supposed to be open to individuals 18 or 21 and over depending on the type of betting. But we have parents saying that their 14, 15 year olds are getting a hold through the use of VPNs on their phones in order to access and actually become addicted at that early age to sports betting. And, the problems they cause are similar to those of drug addiction as of young people stealing from their parents to sell things to get money to continue gambling. And so this is an enormous problem, and this is only a puzzle piece to the solution that we have to keep working on as an assembly.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Has there been any study as to what days of the week have more gambling or betting than other days of the week?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: You're really testing me on my homework, sir. No, I imagine there might be a study as to which days of the week and if I were to make an educated guess, would say during football season, Sundays would be quite a popular day, the weekends in general. But I think part of the problem is the fact that we all have these in our pockets on ourselves all the time, and so you could be having trouble sleeping and open your phone and open your app and place wagers on something that's happening on the other side of the earth. So it's not even that it's the sports event that's happening in front of you but rather you have a whole world of sports betting that is in your pocket at all times.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: I just have a couple more questions. I do not oppose this. I just need to get to some further detail on it just so you understand why I'm asking. There's a requirement in here that the, establish a standard of formatting with clarity requirements. Is the timeline is there any timeline that this has to be completed?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: It the bill would go into effect the January following its signing into law. The companies we understand like any other app companies and corporations they would just have to create the code in order to implement this change. They already are required to collect all of the information that would be going into this invoice so it's not like New York State is asking them to collect additional information. Really they're just having to compile it for the user in one place. So I liken this to when you go to a fast food restaurant and you see the number of calories are in those burgers and fries that you're about to order and nobody likes to see how many calories they're about to consume if they're treating themselves to some fast food. But maybe it changes the user's decision to go from the double cheeseburger to the single cheeseburger and that reflects a change in behavior based on information that's being given to the user. So in this case, users might be able to peck and hunt on their app and their bank statements to see how much it was that they bet for instance in a given month, but by giving this information to them as well as how many bets they placed and other information all in one place, they can really see a stark picture of, what what their habits are and month to month and how they might need to change.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: I apologize you may have misunderstood my question. Is there a timeline when this has to be available?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: I think that was the first part of the answer was the January following the law being signed.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: So should this pass today, are we anticipating that the gambling commission will begin formatting immediately?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: If it is passed and signed by the governor, then yes, they would have to step up and start making a plan.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Is there is there any consideration if on the effective date which is January 1, this formatting is not completed?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: If the formatting is not completed, that would have to be a discussion upon the bill passing the assembly and the senate and being considered and discussed. I imagine with the executive branch if the timeline is something that's reasonable. I do know folks can work quite quickly and I as the sponsor of this bill would push to keep that January deadline because this is a problem that gets worse by the day and we need a solution now.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Thank you. Has there been any study as to which sports leads in betting focus?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: I don't have that information. Let me check with the team. Thank you. Seems that we don't have available data on that.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: I can help you with that. It's March madness. I'll tell you later why.

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: That's an off the record conversation.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: No, no, no. I'm going do on the bill when I tell you on the bill. Not to catch you or anything, no.

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Oh no, you're exposing me as not a sports fan actually. Sorry everybody.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Has there been any discussions regarding commercials for betting platforms to entice people to start betting?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: Sure. And that's an adjacent concept that I would be of great interest in supporting. But this bill specifically is focusing on the app use itself.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: During this discussion, has there been any discussions to limit or eliminate the free bets that new bettors can place to entice them to continue to bet?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: That's another bill concept that I would also be interested in discussing and in fact my team has talked about the fact that when there is a free sort of free credit that's given to entice folks and you place a bet, there's something that prevents you from getting not just the free money out but you essentially can't close out your account as part of that, the result of that. And so that's something else we're really looking into.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Thank you. On the bill, please.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On the bill.

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: Just for clarity, when I practice law, I represented the largest bookmakers in Western New York. The king of bookmakers who controlled all other bookmakers. And the one thing that they loved was inexperienced sports bettors. Sports betting is a profession. And what this what has done and I gave this debate and this floor speech when this body first passed that betting. It was about the money for the state. No consideration for families. No considerations for youth. And what you end up with is, because it's on the phone and without any restrictions, okay, it ended up that you get a Sunday afternoon and you get an in group of individuals in a establishment or at home, and they're drinking. And they get a hunch. He's gonna make that catch. This team's gonna win, and they make a bet. They can do it with their credit card. And at the end of Sunday, they find they may be out a thousand dollars. So what do they do? They try and catch up on a Monday night game. They lose a Monday night game, and then they try and catch up on the Thursday game. What this bill has what this original law has done, it has created havoc among individuals with the promise of reward without their knowledge of them knowing they're not doing what they're doing. It becomes an emotional bet. It becomes I think my team is gonna win. And what has happened is this, and this debate proved it. And if you go back to my on the bill and my debate from the day this passed, I predicted all that this was gonna happen. But it fell on deaf ears because it was a money grab. As New York State is always looking for money grabs and they never consider the consequences of what it's gonna be on the citizenry. This is more enticing to 20 year olds, 30 year olds who have no experience. They're losing their weak savings. They're losing mortgage money. They're losing any kind of semblance of being able to get ahead. Yet, what do we do? All we're doing is saying, we're going to put together a stud a a to tell you what you're betting. They know what they're betting. It's on their credit card. They could look at it every ten seconds. They can look at it while they're betting on it and they keep trying to win. My point on this is putting these safeguards in do not help these individuals. If you look at the commercials that are on television that these winnings are paying for, the winnings the state get, they're talking about more help for problem gamblers. And once you get that addiction, it's like drug addiction and it's like alcohol. You cannot get it out of your system. And one time my bookie friends told me this because I made some sports bets and I wasn't. They said, me tell you, you're the dumbest better we ever had. You can never make another bet in Western New York, but find us a 100 stupid bettors like you. That's what we want. And that's what this bill has done is it put together thousands of dumb bettors for the benefit of the taxpayer, for the benefit of the state in their quest for money without consideration. Thank you very much.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Miss Walsh?

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. Will the sponsor yield?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Will the sponsor yield?

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Lee, thank you. Thank you. I just want to clarify a couple of things in addition to the great debate that just preceded me. I thought that maybe you had mentioned but I just want to clarify, Is there a concern about underage betting underage sports betting?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: That's something else that is a rising concern, and this bill does not specifically address that, but that's a conversation that this body and the Senate and the executive branch all need to be taking very seriously.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay because so right now it's supposed to be that only those what 21 and up are allowed to do sports betting in New York, is

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: that Right, but the use of VPNs, these you can sort of lock for $6 a month, you could buy something that reroutes your IP, things that some of you remember Alex Boris and others are more read in about but for me, essentially you just, can be an anonymous internet user and so young people who have access to this can then log on and create accounts and this is something that we really need to also get to the

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: bottom of. So would this particular bill address that concern about underage betting in any way?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: No, this bill this particular bill does not address that.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay, alright. I noticed that this bill only has to do with mobile sports betting. Is there a reason why it you're honing in on mobile sports betting particularly? Sure.

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: So as discussed before, this is something that was legalized a number of years ago and the problems have become very apparent. And so with it being a more modern style of gambling, something that we haven't seen, it's not like going to a casino physically and placing bets, we had to look for modern solutions. And so the invoice, monthly invoices similar to a credit card invoice that you have easy access to once a month was something that our team came up with

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: as a solution. Okay. What about proposition betting or prop betting? Has that been considered as something that would be encompassed by this bill going like moving forward or another iteration of the bill?

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: I don't believe so. Let me check. Thank you. So this bill does not concern proposition betting. There's another bill in this package that does look at that problem in

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: particular. Okay. I guess the only I just don't understand this one part. So right now authorized sports bettor means a person who is physically present in New York when placing a sports wager according to the bill and who's not prohibited and etcetera. So my understanding is then the way you figure out if somebody is physically present in New York is that in order to use the platform to place a sports bet you have to turn on your GPS or your locator like on your phone so that they know that you're in New York when you're placing the bet. If you are say say you're a New York State resident but you're on a road trip and you're in another state, would a bet you placed, say in, I don't know, some other place where there is FanDuel or one of the platforms that New York supports, would that show up on that push notification each month? Those bets are only the ones placed in New York? That's a good question.

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: I know that when you do cross state lines into a state that does not allow mobile sports betting, you cannot you can no longer place a bet. Interstate though? Let's check-in. Thank you. That's outside the scope of this bill, but something that again interstate use is a curiosity that we have to be looking at as well.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you

[Anna Kelles (Assembly Member)]: for bringing that up.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you very much. Thank you, madam speaker.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Read the last section.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: This act shall take effect January 1.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The clerk will record the vote. Ms. Borner to explain her vote.

[Carrie Woerner (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. I'd like to thank the sponsor for bringing this bill forward. We had a hearing about the issue of problem gambling last year and one of the things that the experts shared with us is that when you put information in front of somebody about the amount of wagering they're doing, the amount of money they're winning, the amount of money they're losing. It is a real tool to help change their behaviors. So I really appreciate the sponsor's leadership in bringing this bill forward to provide that specific tool to help somebody who is struggling see that they're struggling and give them the opportunity to modify their own behavior. So thank you very much for all of your support for this package and for this bill. We will make this safer. Thank you. And with that, I vote in the affirmative.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Miss Warner in the affirmative. Mister Fitzpatrick, to explain his vote.

[Michael J. Fitzpatrick (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. I just I appreciate the the goal of this bill to try and get out ahead of the issue of problem gambling, especially with young people. But in my view, you know, the best way to handle this issue is to not allow mobile gambling to begin with, especially with regard to the 18 to 35 or 18 25 year old age group. Know, with the we're since we're in budget season, we're all meeting with our education people in the various school districts. And at every one I've attended, they brought this concern to us about the impact that mobile sports gambling is going to have on that population. Throw in the concern about marijuana, and it's kind of interesting how New York State is all in on vice. Video lottery terminals, Jake's 58 in my district. What a hellhole that place is, but it's raking in millions. Now we have the genetically modified new marijuana that's making people sick, leading to incredible increases in expense for our school districts regarding mental health. And now we have mobile sports gambling, and it's designed to entice young people to get into the fall into the trap of gambling. This industry is run by bad people for bad purposes. They should burn in hell as far as I'm concerned and we're crazy to let them do this to our all of our residents. Thank you, speaker.

[Deborah J. Glick (Assembly Member)]: And that'll be the cover of the post tomorrow.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mister Fitzpatrick in the affirmative. Are there any other votes? Announce the results.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Ayes, one forty three. Nose, zero.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The bill has passed. Page 39, calendar number three zero eight. Clerk will read.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number 10538, calendar three zero eight. Mister Borres, enact establishing the proposition betting task force.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: An explanation has been requested, mister Borres.

[Alex Bores (Assembly Member)]: This bill establishes a temporary task force to look at the prevalence and impact of prop bets, particularly of unders where you are providing almost an incentive for someone to fake an injury or otherwise manipulate the markets in that way. It is meant to be an extremely fast task force to all be appointed by July 1 and report by the end of the year So, that we could take those recommendations into account and hopefully lead to legislation in the next session.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mr. Gallahan.

[Jeff Gallahan (Assembly Member)]: Thank you Madam Speaker. Will the sponsor yield?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Will the sponsor yield? Yes. The sponsor yields.

[Jeff Gallahan (Assembly Member)]: Thank you. Quick question. Can you tell me who will be nominating these members of committee?

[Alex Bores (Assembly Member)]: There will be four members of the committee, two from the governor, one from the speaker, and one from the majority leader of the senate.

[Jeff Gallahan (Assembly Member)]: So there's no representation from the minority that will be present in this committee?

[Alex Bores (Assembly Member)]: There's only four members and so it's not split by party. It's tough to split a single person into partisan divides, but it's meant to be a small committee and all the results are made public for everyone.

[Jeff Gallahan (Assembly Member)]: Is there a reason why you would omit the the minority conference from being part of that committee?

[Alex Bores (Assembly Member)]: I I don't think there's any intentional omitting happening. You'll see in other bills when there's a larger committee, I try to always make sure that there's there's representation from both sides. This is just a really small committee meant to act very quickly. And so I know that the speaker and the minority leader have a really good relationship in this house. I think that's true in senate as well. I'd hope there'd be conversations but this is meant to be a fact finding fast moving committee not one that is partisan.

[Jeff Gallahan (Assembly Member)]: The fact finding or fast moving, still there's no representation for the minority conference. Madam speaker on the bill.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On the bill.

[Jeff Gallahan (Assembly Member)]: You know, time after time, I look at these bills and I no matter what, if the bill is good, if the bill is bad, if there's not minority representation in the bill, I vote in the negative. And in this circumstance, the same is prevailing there is no representation for the minority that's 40 almost 40% of the citizens of the state are going be represented in this committee. Now I understand you want to get it done fast you know we have a situation with the governor If we do add the minority, then the governor's gotta add additional and it takes time. But, you know, let's do it right. The whole state needs to be represented in these bills, not just the majority. The minority is here. We're represented. We represent less just a just a shade less than 40% of the residents of this state, and we do need representation on these committees. I will be voting no. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Read the last section.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: This act shall take effect immediately.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: A party vote has been requested. Miss Walsh.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker, for the reasons, just discussed by our ranking member on racing and wagering. The minority conference will generally be in the negative on this piece of legislation. However, if you wish to vote yes, you may do so now at your seat. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Miss People Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Thank you, madam speaker. The majority conference is gonna be in favor of this piece of legislation.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The clerk will record the vote. Miss Walsh, to explain her vote.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. So in a way, I hate to vote no on this because I think that this is something that really does merit a task force. I think for all the reasons that we've discussed, I just I agree that we need to have when we're when we're creating a task force, we, as a matter of principle need to have representation from both sides of the aisle. I mean let's face it folks, if we wanted to do a task force with two appointees from the governor who's in one party, one person from this house appointed by the the the the speaker's appointing and one from the majority leader in the senate. I mean, you could just have a meeting, you know, just have a meeting and bring together any stakeholders that you want and create your legislative package. I mean, there's no there's no reason. There's nothing getting in the way. You're all in the same party. You can just call a meeting. So in its current form, although I do see the value to doing a task force, I I don't support the way that the, task force is being constituted. So I will be voting in the negative. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Miss Walsh in the negative. Miss Glick to explain her vote.

[Deborah J. Glick (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, miss speaker. I I just wanna on a host of bills relating to sports betting, think it is important for us to address this. It is not only because something like 40% of specifically young men have betting accounts between the age of 18 and 35 which I think is a serious issue. But it's also distorting the game. It was all that's why I didn't support it in the beginning. The integrity of the games are being eroded. We've seen now in the NCAA students getting into trouble. We've seen Major League players getting into trouble. This is a pernicious undermining of the integrity of all sports. So anything we can do to minimize the damage after we've let the horses gallop out of the barn is something that I think is good. So I withdraw my request and vote in the affirmative.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Ms. Glick in the affirmative, Mr. Boris to explain his vote.

[Alex Bores (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I also want to thank the chair of our committee for shepherding this package through. There is a lot that we need to do in the industry. I'm glad that we've had conversations today about the role of prop addings, including from the minority floor leader, and the impact that this industry is having on the game as was just mentioned and on people throughout this state. This is meant to be a collaborative task force. This is meant to give us fact finding and initiatives that we could work on in a bipartisan manner going forward and meant to not be partisan and just be focused on those facts. This is an industry that is moving so quickly. It's impacting so many people. And I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on whatever recommendations come back in order to really help out people throughout the state. We need to move quickly. We need to make sure this committee is established and has those recommendations by the end of the year. And so proud to support this, proud to vote yes, and want to express that I look forward to working with everyone on whatever comes back. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mister Boris, affirmative. Are there any other votes? Announce the results.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Ayes, 99. Nays, 44.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The bill is passed. Page 26, calendar number one fifty five. Clerk will read.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number 6285, calendar one fifty five, mister Otis, enact to amend the public service law.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: An explanation has been requested. Mister Otis.

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Thank you very much. This bill the goal of this bill is to make sure that utility companies in their planning process are better equipped and staffed to deal with natural disasters and shorten the time period for which our constituents are without electrical service. And so the bill amends the section of the public service law that relates to emergency response planning by electric utilities to support and reasonably to support reasonably prompt restoration of service in the case of an emergency event. Emergency response plans should include details of staffing, equipment, and performance schedule with the goal of achieving restoration of service based upon a time based restoration schedule established by the commission. In establishing such time based restoration schedule, the commission shall utilize benchmarks for the restoration of service which include, but are not limited to, the percentage of customers restored within each 24 interval following the emergency event including but not limited to consideration of different kinds of storm events.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mister Gray.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the sponsor yield?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Will the sponsor yield? Of course. Sponsor yields.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: So, thank you very much, Mr. Otis. I appreciate your time today. Happy Tuesday. So so first of all, let's just talk about a little bit about what's broken. What are we trying to fix here that's not working currently?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: What we're trying to fix here is the overreliance of utilities on depending upon mutual aid support that is often days away and sometimes a thousand miles away. It has not been uncommon for some of our utilities to depend upon mutual aid coming from Canada, coming from Washington State, coming from Tennessee and Louisiana. And if it takes three days to get those troops here, that's three additional days that our constituents are without electricity. The purpose of this bill is really to encourage more proximate staffing either by increased staff by the utilities themselves or better arrangements with local subcontractors that are here in the Northeast. It's especially pressing in situations where a natural disaster is regional in nature and so there's a lot of competition for mutual aid. But it is not exclusively based upon that situation because we've had some storms where very localized storms have hit areas including in Upstate New York and where the response time has been slow because the staffing locally was not readily available. The bill seeks to have that kind of planning integrated in the emergency plans that utilities file with the Public Service Commission. I think this is something that will help constituents for every member of this house and I'm hopeful for continued bipartisan support as we've had in the past when this has come up to the vote in previous years.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Sounds good. Thank you. Is there something in the current framework that's insufficient right now that's not working?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Well, I think that the Public Service Commission does some of this already, but it's not necessarily based upon encouraging time based formulation and scoring. And so it's really unacceptable for somebody, for a large number of people, especially to be without power for six, seven, eight days. And so this would put more of a focus on let's keep track of time. But I will also add that it's not a one size fits all model that the Public Service Commission would set up parameters in a framework that would be as the language of the bill that I read specified deals with the different kinds of storms and so it gives the Public Service Commission latitude but would give them a tool also to evaluate as they do now an additional tool as their evaluation of utility performance during storms. And as you are aware, when we have big storms and big outages, the Public Service Commission will weigh in with utilities with letters of direction and comments about how they can improve their game. What I want is I don't want our people to be without electricity for numerous days. And I think that's something a view we all share.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: That's a yeah, that's a noble goal. So I share that with you. So You' talking of scoring after the process, is there any analysis right now in terms of what isn' t working in terms of past storms where people have been inordinately out of power for a long period of time? Do we have specific data on that to support that?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Well, the Public Service Commission does evaluation, as I said earlier, storm recovery, but the the current plans do not require utilities in their planning for staffing to factor in a time based restoration goal and that's I think the most significant element here. And just in a hands on way, what we want to see is more response staffing available locally so that our constituents, our residents and our businesses get restoration in a more timely manner.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Sure. So we don't really have any quantifiable data that shows that people are having a difficult time or utilities are having a difficult time restoring power. Do we

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: have any We have had storms where our constituents have been out six, seven, eight days in time. So yes, had some storms. Depends. We've had a few years where not this winter, but in other years we've had lighter winters. But the risk is there and the extreme nature of storms nor Easters in the in the fall, they're getting worse. So this is something we should be on top of.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Sure. And so when we talk about that, is there so storms are nuanced, right? And there's all different sort of responses in the magnitude of the storms. So is there any consideration for the size of the storm? I mean, we may not have vehicles and people enough in the whole state to respond to a certain area like that. Is there any consideration for storms, density of the area, or lack of density, low density?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: The language of the bill gives the Public Service Commission the latitude to pay attention to those kinds of differences and I think they're skilled in this field to be able to do that in an intelligent way. It's really just to say to utility companies, let's see in your plans more information about staffing and the ability of staffing to be on board to respond to a disaster in a timely fashion. That's the biggest element that what we would add with this bill.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Yeah. So you keep referring to the PSC obviously and they already operate many of their rates agreements already operate under some sort of premise that there's going to be oversight and there's going to be penalties assessed for service failures. Is that correct?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Well, this bill doesn't change their tools for penalties at all. Existing tools they have in statute are the same. This bill does

[Michael R. Benedetto (Assembly Member)]: not change.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: But the PSC is already sort of regulating the response time by matter of oversight and they have penalties assessed to their lack of response. Is that correct?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: That is

[Brian D. Manktelow (Assembly Member)]: correct. Okay.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: And there' also penalties there' also penalties assessed for reimbursement to individuals if they' out of power for longer than twenty four hours is that correct?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: They're for food replacement we passed legislation a few years ago I was a cosponsor of that bill deals with different elements of this problem and that was good stuff that we all did together but this deals more with the emergency preparedness and staffing in some proximity to respond to the needs of the people that we represent. Doctor.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Yeah. So we have penalties in place. We also have incentives, right, to avoid cost avoidance incentives. Is that not sufficient? You don't think that's sufficient?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Well, don't think it's sufficient. I think that we really want to say to utilities, let's have you factor in timeliness of response in a way where there are people on the ground, either subcontracted or on your staff, or even mutual aid, but people that can get there in a time where, in a sense we don't like the situation where nothing gets done for two or three days until after the storm and that's what this bill seeks to correct.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Has there been any fiscal analysis or has there been any conversation with utilities in terms of compliance with this proposed legislation?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I think the general view of the utilities is this is not necessary. The fiscal impact that I'm concerned about is the fiscal impact on businesses and residents who are without electricity for a necessary number of days.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: I don't disagree with that. However, we're dealing with people that are dealing with severe increases in their utility cost, not only in the supply side but also on the delivery side we know all the utilities are in charge of the poles and the wires which is what we' talking about right now and they' all going in for massive increases so Is there any cost analysis of what this is going to cost the ratepayer? They're either going to pay with an outage or they're going to pay through a rate increase?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I'm not sure I agree with the premise. I think that the reality is that we want and there are other states that actually do factor into their regulations a time based criteria in evaluating their storm response. Not hearing big complaints about that. It's just again, let's get some manpower proximate and I think that there is a cost to extended delays to everybody. This is just more appropriate way to respond. You know, we have had times where the Public Service Commission has let utilities know that they had they were not staffed properly to respond to storms. Some of the storms in the last decade, the Public Service Commission has said you need to do a better job of staffing. I'm not going to name particular utilities but I've seen some of the letters that have gone out and they are actually paying attention to this very issue and point out when they're not satisfied.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: So I think under that explanation then we can expect rate increases to continue because we are going to mandate essentially a staffing level that requires them to respond within a certain period of time.

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I don't agree. A lot of these are contracted, probably a mix, but many of them are just on call contracts with some contractors. There are subcontractors that specialize in getting hired to go and deal response areas. For those situations they will pay when there is a storm. Are not necessarily paying pre storm other than a retainer.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: So there is some pieces of legislation out there that proposed capping utility rates. And here we are talking about potentially increasing the cost of the utilities which would in turn drive the rates higher. So how do we reconcile those two premises with this bill?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Well, we do need, and this is not really on this bill, but there are other other pieces of legislation that have been proposed, We do need to reevaluate the criteria by which the Public Service Commission decides what portions of rate increase should be borne by the public and what portions of a rate increase should be borne by stockholders or owners of utility companies. There's a bill that the chair of the energy committee, Dee Dee Barrett, has in that deals with equity ratios. And so I think those are open issues. I don't think this bill affects any of that, and and I think that's a a separate discussion. I don't wanna break any of the Germanness rules of this house. Stay focused on this bill. But I think that's a good topic for discussion by all of us. That's not what this bill is about.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: That's correct. We will address that issue, the ROE issue at some other point in time, but any time we mandate costs like this it' going to have an effect on the rate payers and when we start trying to cap their ROE we' also going to raise their capital costs as well. Both in turn affect the ratepayer. So mister Otis, you very much for your time.

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: A pleasure mister Gray.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: Thank you. Madam speaker on the bill.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On the bill.

[Scott A. Gray (Assembly Member)]: So I support holding the the utilities accountable. There's no question about that. I'm not here to defend their actions. I'm just saying that something has to give for the ratepayers out there. I support reliable power for all of our New Yorkers, and, certainly, we wanna see a responsible response time. The intentions of the legislation are good, although I'm afraid that's gonna continue to hoist cost on the utility companies, and we're gonna continue to see rate case increases from the utilities as a result of this bill. There's already a statutory framework in place from the PSC. They already incentivized the restoration of power and they already penalized the lack of restoration of power. So I think sufficiently handled right now by the PSC and I respectfully would vote no in this bill.

[Michael R. Benedetto (Assembly Member)]: Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Mister Paul Massano.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Yes, madam speaker. Will the sponsor yield for some questions?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Will the sponsor yield?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Be my pleasure.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The sponsor yields.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, Mr. Otis. Picking up where my colleague left off, I know what the current statute says, think you know, so I don't have to elaborate. I know what you're trying to add in the time based restoration guidelines in here, but right now the PSC, if thought this was necessary to do, they could do a proceeding, calling the utilities, calling the stakeholders, put this into effect that they deemed this was necessary to deal with storm situations, correct? They would have the ability to do that right now, yes?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Well, in theory they could, but we do have a legislature and our job is to legislate. I understand. Is a good thing where we could be providing and should be providing direction.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Sure. And the PSC, if they deem that utilities are not acting properly and time compliance with a certain storm that happens, they can institute penalties and other violations correct if they deem necessary.

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I agree with the same different branch of government caveat.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Okay. And I'll remember what you said last time, it's fine. We talked about a bill that we passed a couple years ago, I think it was a really good bill our colleague introduced. There are several components to it. One, it basically did with infrastructure improvements, hardening of the infrastructure to make sure these storm type issues are not happening on a regular basis. But there's also incentives in there if a delay happened beyond seventy two hours then utilities would be on the hook whether it's for medicine, food, and not just for families but also for businesses, correct?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Yeah, and that was mentioned earlier and that's a good provision, but really deals with a different issue in terms of doing right by people that have had an outage and a reimbursement program. I distinguish that from the issues raised and the time goals in our bill.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Does your bill require the PSC to establish the benchmarks required under the emergency response plan through a proceeding involving the customers and utilities or would the PSC just make the determination without such input?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: The bill does not specify which method they would use. They have rulemaking authority. They obviously could do a proceeding as well. I actually don't think it would be that difficult a task for them to add this ingredient to the the format they have for emergency plans.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Does your bill require the PSC to link a restoration time to the magnitude or classification of such storm event?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: The bill gives them the ability to differentiate different kinds of storms. And so, I would say they're not going to, what the bill says is, they're not going to come up with one this number of days. They're going to monitor and judge based upon the number of days, but ask for plans to at least have some time based goals in the plans. And if a utility meets their timetables that they've established for themselves, great. If they can't, but there are good circumstance good reasons in the circumstances of individuals who are why they can't, my expectation, as is the case now, is the public service commission will be sympathetic with the nuances of different kinds of events.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Does your bill provide any guidance to the PSC in establishing a schedule based on time as you're asking them to do?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Other than the language in the bill itself which has some direction, that is the language and the guidance we provide.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: And on that event, certainly you recognize every event can be different. Does this bill factor in the damage caused by a specific storm event in terms of poles down, lines down, and other damages, flooding, ice, snow, and the time required for that restoration? Because every event is different, so you're going have to require a different timing event for each storm and how is that determined? Is it determined at the and how can you make that determination without the utility going out and assessing the damage? Each one is different. Aren't they going to get trapped in a situation where they might not be able to meet that time until they get out there and look at it?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Well, I think it's a simpler proposition. The Public Service Commission is used to evaluating those kinds of circumstances now. They will continue can you continue to judge on an individual storm, basis? But we want, at least aspirationally, utilities to have the manpower by mutual aid contractor, their own staffing, to have people that can respond in a, a reasonable amount of time.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Wouldn't you agree that really it's in utility companies best interest to restore service as soon as possible, understanding the fact that they could be fined for violations by the PSC. There could be financial implications their operations if they aren't restoring this problem. And aren't you concerned, I mean the number one goal, well I'll let you answer that question first, go ahead.

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I think they want to restore service as quickly as possible, but they don't always staff up or contract up or mutual aid up to be able to accomplish that to the satisfaction of the customers that they serve.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: And certainly you would recognize these utility workers that go out there and use storms are working in a very dangerous environment. The first goal, yes we want to restore service, but the first goal is to make safe, correct?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: Isn't that the number one first goal of any operation, make safe then restore service? Nothing in this bill contradicts that and I I think

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: that I think that

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I I think that to the extent that today utilities are are are yes trying to get service back on, They have protocols for safety that they're very attentive and properly so for the the safety of their staff. I support that. This bill does not contradict that principle.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: So, based on your answer, you're you don't seem to have any concern that establishing a really generic time based restoration target really puts the premium on timeliness of restoration over safety? You don't think they conflict at all based with

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I don't think that the bill creates a contradiction at all. I mean, today, you earlier said that the don't you think that utilities have the goal of responding as quickly as possible. So in a sense, the tension that you are concerned about, you would suggest that that tension already exists. I don't think this bill changes that at

[Angelo Morinello (Assembly Member)]: all.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Understand that. And if utility fails to meet one of these generic time based restoration targets that may or may not be appropriate for a specific outage event, would that utility then be subject to penalties by the PSC?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: No different than they are now. And in a sense, the only thing that is really changing is to get a little more of the time goal piece into these plans. Same dynamic that you're talking about exists now, the evaluation process from the commission exists now, and that would not change.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: And one more quick question before I finish and go on to Bill. With these penalties that are assessed, would they be paid by the rate payer or the shareholder?

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: That's a good question. I don't know the answer. I will study up and maybe I will look through. I probably answered it from you in a prior year. Will look in the transcript and see how I responded. I

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Otis, thank you for your time as always. I appreciate our conversation. Madam speaker, on the bill?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On the bill.

[Philip A. Palmesano (Assembly Member)]: Yes, madam speaker, my colleague. I appreciate the intention behind the sponsor and what he's trying to do. Currently, the law in the books is there's utility companies have to present plans, emergency response plans. There's a host of information that they have to provide to the PSC to evaluate if this emergency response plan is enough to meet a situation. They have to be put in place. The PSC right now is authorized to open an investigation for any utility that's not operating within the context of those time or in the context of these emergency response plans. And the PSC, if they believe this was something necessary to do, they could do and implement this right now. From my perspective, I think although I understand the intention, this bill does not help restore power any quicker, it's really just setting a generic, arbitrary, and exact time based restoration schedule, but not keeping in mind that every storm is different. Just an example, any storm that causes damage that prevents access to large parts of a territory, heavy snowfall that requires additional snow removal equipment, washed out bridges due to flooding, ice covered roadways, the saw trucks cannot traverse. All these are individual situations and storms that you're not going to be able to make that determination until you get out there. Each storm is different and I think to have a generic time based restoration schedule is very, very problematic. I don't think this bill doesn't factor in the context of what that storm might be involved, like I mentioned here. You know, the poles down, the wires down. First priority of every storm is for the utility to make safe. I remember when we had our former colleague chair, we had twelve hour hearings on storms that happened in New York City, and the governor basically criticized the workforce, the the utilities saying they weren't doing it quick enough when these utility workers I remember talking to the utility workers on the phone at me or at a hearing. Their morale was down because they felt like they were being attacked by the governor because they weren't doing their job the right way when they were out there risking their lives trying to make safe. I think that's some of the things that need to be taken into consideration because they already work a very, very dangerous job and their goal is to create and make a safe atmosphere. Their goal is to get the power on as quickly as possible. If there's a financial incentive for the utility to do so, so I just think to create this generic time based restoration targets fails to take into account the variability and the nuances of each individual outage event and it will not approve the restoration times per se. We passed legislation back in '21 that really enacted the public's PSC's robust investigative powers, but also provide incentives to restore the power as quickly as possible. The PSC we know are not shy to penalize utilities if they do not act accordingly, if they take in too long. That's going to be the case time and time again. But to provide a generic time based and exact restoration process which does not take into consideration the complexities of each storm, the impacts on that, how that impacts the workers that are out there trying to make safe first. I just think that's just more problematic than what I think too, as my colleague read in acting these type of generic restoration targets really could raise customer bills by increasing the cost of capital and thereby costing energy systems even more into hardening systems. And we know right now our utility rate payers are paying enough for this. And again, although I appreciate the sentiments of the sponsor and what he's trying to do, I just don't think this bill is the right approach. I think the system that's in place will do the job. The PSC can act on this if they deem necessary. As I said, if they wanted to move forward, they would implement it. So let's let the PSC do their job. And, madam speaker, again, I appreciate the discussion. Based on those reasons, I'm gonna be opposing this legislation today. Thank you, madam speaker.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Read the last section.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: This section will take effect immediately.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: A party vote has been requested. Miss Walsh.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. The minority conference will generally be in the negative on this piece of legislation, but there, are likely going to be some exceptions and certainly those who wish to vote yes may do so now with their seats. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Miss Peoplestokes?

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Thank you, madam speaker. The majority conference is gonna be in favor of this piece of legislation. However, there may be a few that would desire to be an exception. They should feel free to do so at their seats.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Clerk will record the vote. Mister Otis to explain his vote.

[Steve Otis (Assembly Member)]: I really have no additional explanation other than to say, and I think Ms. Walsh has also reminded members, last year, 10 members of the minority voted in favor of this bill. In prior years, we've had a similar mixture. So all are welcome to protect our residents and businesses. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Mr. Otis in the affirmative. Miss Walsh to explain her vote.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, madam speaker. So, this bill, unfortunately, doesn't prevent outages, and it doesn't improve restoration times. This bill instead seeks to establish arbitrary benchmarks based on storm category without considering that one storm may affect different areas differently. I don't think a benchmark is practical in these situations. Utilities aren't going to know the necessary response until they go out and observe. Instead, I think it would be wiser to focus our efforts on having companies make investments which will then improve restoration times and prevent outages. So I mean we all get calls from our constituents who are frustrated with the utility companies, but I think that this bill really isn't going to do anything but maybe make us feel a little bit better. I don't think it's really going to have any practical positive impact. So for those reasons, I'll be voting in the negative, and I would encourage those colleagues of mine that agree to to vote negatively similarly. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you, miss Walsh in the negative. Are there any other votes? Announce the results.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Ayes, one zero nine. Nays, 34.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The bill is passed. Page 11, calendar number 52. Clerk will read.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Assembly number fourteen ten a, calendar 52, miss Rosenthal, enact to amend the public officers law.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: An explanation has been requested, miss Rosenthal.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: This bill amends the Freedom of Information Law to require entities that submit records to a state agency and seek a FOIL exemption for those records, make a more specific request, receive that exemption only for a defined period and periodically reapply to keep the exemption in place.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Ms. Walsh.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you Madam Speaker. Will the sponsor yield?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Will the sponsor yield? Yes. The sponsor yields.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: So here we are again. So we debated this bill last year almost to the day. So I but for the benefit of colleagues who maybe didn't hear it or maybe would love to hear it again. Oh, no. Let's let's talk a little bit about what the bill does. You already gave your explanation of the bill, but basically this has to do with protecting from foil disclosure certain trade secrets or proprietary information would you say from the general public that's requesting it?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Yes, that's what the entity wants and and this bill would make it more open and transparent for the public.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: How does this bill or this legislation contrast or change what is currently the law with regard to applying for trade secret protection?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Okay, right now if a business or an entity wants to have a trade secret inaccessible, they just submit that and then it's sort of inaccessible forever. This bill says it could be for a period of three years and if you want to keep it longer, you'd have to apply for another three years.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. So you mentioned that it would be a business that would be submitting this information and where would they be submitting that request for protection from FOIL?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: To the respective agency for which they're applying for contract or bib.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. So you mentioned state agency and I see that on page one, line seven of the bill. There are, I couldn't calculate it exactly, but there are over 100 state agencies in New York State so it would apply to all of those state agencies. Is that correct?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Yes. Okay. If if those agencies have something,

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: a

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: contract that a business entity would want.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. And what about state authorities? For example, MTA, Port Authority, Thruway Authority, the different authorities that we have, does the bill apply to them as well?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: It would apply to all state agencies.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. So

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: those would qualify as state agencies.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: A state authority like the would kind I fall under that umbrella of state agency?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: I believe it would.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Now what about a state commission like the PSC? Would what that all about a state commission like the PSC for example?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: I mean the law doesn't change who it applies to. So if it applies to them now, would continue to apply under this law.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Do you know whether it does, the current law does currently apply to state commissions? I'm just looking for clarity.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: I'm not Yeah. Yeah. I I think I think it it does.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Because it it's under the umbrella of state agencies.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Okay. Now, you mentioned that under the current law, if business, for example, believes that they have something that would be a trade secret. And could actually, before I go on with the question, let me ask you a different one. Could you talk a little bit about what kinds of things might constitute a trade secret?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Sure. It could be some kind of software. It could be a patent, it could be know, market information, things like that.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: So it could be financial information, but it could be like schematics for something. It could be, you know, blueprints. It could be a lot of different things.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Correct? Be. Yes.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Alright. Do you happen to know how many of these are currently protected under our current law?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: I do not know how many applications there have been. No. Okay. It's it's kind of impossible to to know.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Well, seems like they should be quantified.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: I mean thousands, let's say thousands.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thousands, okay. Alright. And the current law has been in place I imagine for some time, so if they are protected, if the application is granted by the agency that is reviewing it, then under the current law that protection from disclosure runs forever and what this bill is doing is it is saying we're only going to grant it in three year increments

[Jenifer Rajkumar (Assembly Member)]: that

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: we can continue to apply to have it Correct. Move forward every three years. Okay. Now if that application is made granted, then is it definite that it would be for three years or is that the ceiling or the highest longest amount of time that it would be protected?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: It's it's three years.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: It's three years? Yeah. Okay. And then what is the procedure for renewing the the protection?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: I where is the So let me let me just find where is it 60 here. No.

[Jenifer Rajkumar (Assembly Member)]: We haven't eroded that. Okay.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: So at least sixty days before the current exemption expires, they would have to apply to the agency for a three year extension.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: They And that's how

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: I'm sorry. No, please. I didn't mean to talk over you.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: And then the agency reviews the application and grants it or denies it. If it's denied, it can be appealed. So it's basically the same thing, it's just every three years.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay, very good. So just a few questions about that sixty day period of time. There doesn't appear to be any flexibility that's built into the law as far as the proposed law as far as that sixty days. So if somebody comes in on the fifty ninth day before it's going to expire, they're out of luck, right?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Well, it's something that's of such importance that the company wants to continue for it to be hidden, they'll make it their business to send it in on time.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. No. I appreciate that. But what just to just to be clear, the the law doesn't the law that you're proposing doesn't give any flexibility or any, like, application for a

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: No. Late Like like no. Like like most deadlines, it's a hard deadline and

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: You know, it's two months before it expires.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: I yeah. Like the budget, somebody said. That's funny. Well, that's a different sorry. Yeah, so but the thing is and I guess one of my concerns is that if the information was so special, worthy of protection three years before, almost three years before and they missed that deadline for applying, then the consequence of that is that the information is disclosed. It's not any longer protected. So that could be a pretty harsh penalty to a company or company for not following the letter of everything.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Well, it's worth protecting, then it's worth submitting in time the request to continue the exemption.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. I understand that. Is there any concern that information that should not be made public would be inadvertently disclosed?

[Jenifer Rajkumar (Assembly Member)]: No, because we're not changing the process.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: We're not changing the process. I mean like the Epstein files for example, I don't know.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: We're not going there. But

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: you know, those are, it's, it's you know what's proprietary will be set aside and so it probably wouldn't be inadvertently revealed.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Well out of the 100 plus state agencies that we have, plus all the commissions, plus you know, everybody else. What if somebody does come in at least sixty days ahead of time and says, you know, we want to have it extended for another three years,

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: but

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: during that sixty day time period, the agency fails to act, what happens then? What if they haven't acted on the request for renewal?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: You know, can't really speak to that. It's their duty to answer within that time period so that's what they need to do. Just as the business has sixty days, the agency has a responsibility to respond.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Is there any so okay. But really the bill is silent on that issue too really as far as the agency's requirement to act within the sixty days or is it in there somewhere and I didn't see it?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: It doesn't have a set time period for response. It just has a set time period for application.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Alright. Was there a was there a flaw in the current system, the one that we've been operating under for years, by which people could challenge a withholding from FOIL that necessitates the changes that's proposed by this bill? Mean, why are we doing this bill? Why are we allowing this protection only lasts for three years at a time?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: I mean that's a good amount of time to have something hidden and it's fairly simple to just say I need more time. There is a federal exemption on FOIA so we're having a state time period.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: So this tracks something that was done at the federal level?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: No, it's different than federal. Mean we have different timeframes, but the concept of a limited timeframe is in the federal law.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Okay. Alright, let me just take a quick look here. I did I did want to just bring up that in the in my reading of the sponsor's memo, it said that this was intended to streamline this process, but it's taking something that in my opinion was simpler before and it's actually making it more complicated because now there's going to be this need to be asking for renewal every three years. I just want to give you a chance to elaborate on how this has streamlined the process.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Well, it actually is streamlining a good government purpose because if it's concealed forever, that means that the public's right to know is frustrated. And so we want to make sure that the public under the FOIL laws has an opportunity to see that information. If it's highly classified, then they will apply and the agency will grant it.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: If this bill becomes law, will it be will it act retroactively or will it only Prospective. Be Okay. So anything that's been protected forever

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Yes.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Before this bill becomes law is still going to be protected forever?

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Yeah. We only change going forward.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Only going forward. Okay. Just want to clarify that for the record. Alright. I think that pretty much answers my questions. Thank you very much. Madam Speaker, the bill.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On the bill. I

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: think that this bill could really create a big problem. I think that if something I'm not saying that something is necessarily something that should be protected forever and ever and ever, but this three year and then the renewal process, I just think that this is fraught with this could be a big problem. If a business doesn't apply, for example, to protect something that has been protected, if they don't do it within the sixty days, they're out of luck. It's boom. I mean regardless of how secretive or important this material is, it's going to be subject to foil. And kind of just saying well if it's important enough that they'll follow the procedure, I mean that to me just ignores real world realities that people and businesses can make mistakes. So I I worry about that. I think that I'm not the only one. The business council is very concerned about this saying that this legislation could lead to the inadvertent release of trade secrets and other sensitive business information and would add significantly to the administrative burdens of agencies and private entities under the Freedom of Information Law. It says as far as fiscal implications that they are yet to be determined. I mean I would say that with hundreds and hundreds of state agencies also applying to all of the numerous authorities that we have in the state and state commissions, adding this extra layer of continuous every three year renewals all across these agencies is going to take up a lot of bureaucratic administrative time to do it. And every time that a renewal needs to be made, you're just increasing the opportunity to have it just have a mistake be made and something disclosed that is highly sensitive that should not be disclosed. So I I prefer the bill at its at the law as it currently exists and I think that this is something that while I understand the desire for transparency and open government, I think that in the instance where we have potentially very secretive or critical infrastructure I'm almost finishing I think that we need to take very close care and show a lot of caution in the way that we treat it. So I would prefer that we leave the law the way it is rather than to pass this bill. And as as we did last year, we had significant opposition in addition to the business council opposing it. We had a lot of bipartisan opposition in in this body. So I would encourage a no vote. I will be voting in the negative. Thank you very much, madam speaker.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Read the last section.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: This act shall take effect immediately.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: A party vote has been requested. Ms. Walsh.

[Mary Beth Walsh (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the reasons just stated. The minority conference will be in the negative on this legislation. Should there be anybody that wishes to vote yes in our conference, you may do so now at your seats. Thank you.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Thank you. Ms. Peoples Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The majority conference is going to be in favor of this piece of legislation. There may be a few that would desire to be an exception. They should feel free to do so.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Clerk will record the vote. Ms. Rosenthal to explain her vote.

[Linda B. Rosenthal (Assembly Member)]: Thank you, Madam Speaker, to explain my vote. The freedom of information law starts from a presumption of public access. New York's legislative declaration says government is the public's business and access should not be thwarted by secrecy or confidentiality. The bill reinforces the principle by preventing FOIL exemptions from functioning as indefinite shields over records submitted to the state. I just want to clarify that if no one submits a FOIL request, the information is held secret. So it's only in the cases of when somebody requests the information. If the information is that sensitive, then the business will make sure that they submit their exemption extension request within the sixty days, which is a long enough time. And also to clarify, this does not require agencies to disclose trade secrets automatically. This bill is in the service of open government, transparency, and the right of the public to know what goes on in its state agencies. And I vote in the affirmative.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: Ms. Rosenthal in the affirmative. Are there any other votes? Announce the results.

[Reading Clerk of the Assembly]: Ayes, 97. Nays, 46.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: The bill is passed. Miss Peebles Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: Madam speaker, do you have any further housekeeping or resolutions?

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: We have no housekeeping. We have a number of resolutions before the house. Without objection, these resolutions will be taken up together on the resolutions. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The resolutions are adopted. Miss Peoples Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (Majority Leader)]: I now move that the assembly stand adjourned and that we reconvene at 11:30, Wednesday, March 25. Tomorrow will be in the session day.

[Presiding Officer (Acting Speaker, female)]: On miss Peoples Stokes' motion, the house stands adjourned.