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Camp Gabriels bill passed as Senate solves ‘bill jam’

Another bill would allow Essex County-wide ambulance district

State Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, looks at samples of stone used in the Tupper Lake bandshell with Tupper Lake village Mayor Paul Maroun. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

A “bill jam” in the state Senate was cleared Monday as Republicans and Democrats, each with an equal amount of representatives, compromised to pass more than 20 bills, including a constitutional amendment to let the state sell a former prison in Gabriels.

After partisan fighting last week, tempers and heads cooled on Monday, allowing the parties to work together and pass local bills, cyberbullying bans and a Little-sponsored bill establishing a county-wide special district for ambulance and emergency medical technician services in Essex County.

Up until now, only towns can have these districts, but this bill, a trial run for a statewide bill, allows the county to join a town or work independently to supply the service, reducing response times. A companion bill in the Assembly is sponsored by Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury.

The Senate also passed a constitutional amendment allowing the state to sell the 92-acre former state minimum-security correctional facility, Camp Gabriels. This is the first passage of the bill, which — if it passes the state Assembly this year — will be halfway to appearing on the 2019 election ballot. Constitutional amendments require passage by two separately elected state legislatures and then a public vote.

The state put the Gabriels property up for sale several times after closing the prison in 2009 and at one point was under contract with buyers who wanted to use it as a summer camp for Orthodox Jewish boys. But then environmentalists raised concerns that state land in the Adirondack Park, unless it’s actively used for state administrative purposes, might be considered part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, which cannot be sold, according to the state constitution’s Article 14. This amendment would let someone buy the prison property with a clear title.

The bill jam started when Sen. Tom Croci, R-Suffolk County, returned to active duty for the intelligence division of the Navy several weeks ago, leaving both parties with an even 31 members each. Republicans have had 32 this session, as they are the majority party.

The Senate requires 32 votes to pass any bill. In other words, Democratic senators are needed to pass anything. Just weeks before the 2018 Senate session ends on June 20, both sides were playing fierce partisan games, filling the past week with more finger-pointing, yelling and scheming than legislating. The agenda was tossed on Wednesday after every vote came to a tie and harsh words were thrown around the chamber.

“We passed nothing this week,” said state Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury. “We had one bill, a concussion bill, and there were members on the [Democratic side] that voted for bills like this, and they wouldn’t vote for it just because they knew we didn’t have enough to pass it on our own.”

Little said important and necessary bills were stuck in a stalemate because Democratic senators were capitalizing on the missing GOP senator by attaching an amendment to the Women’s Reproductive Health Act, which would expand abortion rights in the state, which Little said would allow any medical professional to perform an abortion up to a day before delivery.

“I don’t agree with it. I won’t vote for it,” Little said. “But they just want to put it up on any bill that comes up.

“I’m pro-life, but I think even beyond pro-choice, this is partial-birth abortion. It pretty much takes away any liability from a doctor who does an abortion and the baby lives and the doctor lets the baby die.”

There is a possibility that Croci may return for a week or two before the Senate session is over, but if not, Republicans and Democrats will need to continue to get along to pass the bills they currently have on their plate.

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