# 191st New York State Legislature

The 191st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4, 1995, to December 31, 1996, during the first and second years of George Pataki's governorship, in Albany.

## Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1938 and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to follow the One man, one vote rule, re-apportioned in 1992 by the Legislature, 61 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. Senate and Assembly districts consisted of approximately the same number of inhabitants, the area being apportioned contiguously without restrictions regarding county boundaries.
At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Conservative Party, the Independence Party, the Liberal Party, the Right to Life Party, the Tax Cut Now Party, the Libertarian Party and the Socialist Workers Party also nominated tickets.

## Elections

The 1994 New York state election was held on November 8. State Senator George Pataki was elected Governor, and Betsy McCaughey Ross was elected Lieutenant Governor, both Republicans with Conservative and Tax Cut Now endorsement, who defeated the incumbent Democrats Mario Cuomo and Stan Lundine. The elections to the other three statewide elective offices resulted in the re-election of State Comptroller Carl McCall and U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, both Democrats; and the election of Dennis Vacco as Attorney General, a Republican with Conservative endorsement who defeated the incumbent Democrat G. Oliver Koppell. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats 2,273,000; Republicans 2,156,000; Conservatives 329,000; Independence 217,000; Liberals 92,000; Right to Life 68,000; Tax Cut Now 54,000; Libertarians 9,500; and Socialist Workers 5,500.
36 of the sitting 39 women members of the legislature—State Senators Nancy Larraine Hoffmann (Dem.), of Syracuse; Mary Ellen Jones (Democrat), of Irondequoit; Olga A. Méndez (Democrat), of East Harlem; Velmanette Montgomery (Democrat), of Brooklyn; Suzi Oppenheimer (Dem.), of Mamaroneck; Mary Lou Rath (Republican), of Williamsville; Nellie R. Santiago (Democrat), of Brooklyn; and Ada L. Smith (Dem.), of Queens; and Assemblywomen Patricia Acampora (Republican), of Mattituck; Carmen E. Arroyo (Democrat), of the Bronx; Nancy Calhoun (Republican), of Blooming Grove; Joan Christensen (Democrat), of Syracuse; Barbara M. Clark (Democrat), of Queens; Elizabeth Connelly (Dem.), of Staten Island; Vivian E. Cook (Dem.) of Queens; RoAnn Destito (Democrat), of Rome; Gloria Davis (Dem.), of the Bronx; Eileen C. Dugan (Democrat), of Brooklyn; Donna Ferrara (Rep.), a lawyer of Westbury; Sandy Galef (Democrat), of Ossining; Deborah J. Glick (Dem.), of Manhattan; Aurelia Greene (Dem.), of the Bronx; Audrey Hochberg (Dem.), of Scarsdale; Elizabeth C. Hoffman (Republican), of North Tonawanda; Earlene Hill Hooper (Dem.), of Hempstead; Rhoda S. Jacobs (Democrat), of Brooklyn; Susan V. John (Dem.), of Rochester; Melinda Katz (Dem.), a lawyer of Queens; Naomi C. Matusow (Democrat), a lawyer of Armonk; Nettie Mayersohn (Democrat), of Queens; Patricia McGee (Republican), of Franklinville; Catherine Nolan (Dem.), of Queens; Chloe Ann O'Neil (Republican), an elementary school teacher of Parishville; Audrey Pheffer (Democrat), of Queens; Frances T. Sullivan (Republican), of Fulton; and Helene Weinstein (Democrat), a lawyer of Brooklyn—were re-elected. Catherine M. Abate (Democrat), of Manhattan, was also elected to the State Senate. Debra J. Mazzarelli (Republican), of Patchogue; and Sandra Lee Wirth (Republican), of West Seneca, were also elected to the Assembly.
The 1995 New York state election was held on November 7. Four vacancies in the Assembly were filled. Betty Little (Republican), of Queensbury, was elected to fill one of the vacancies.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 218th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1995; and recessed indefinitely in the morning of June 30.
Sheldon Silver (Dem.) was re-elected Speaker of the Assembly.
Joseph Bruno (Rep.) was elected Temporary President of the Senate.
The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 219th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1996; and recessed indefinitely on July 13.
The Legislature met for a special session from December 17 to 18, 1996, to consider legislation concerning the administration of the public school system in New York City.

## State Senate
### Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Vincent Leibell changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this legislature. Assemblymen Larry Seabrook and James S. Alesi were elected to fill vacancies in the Senate.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."
| District | Senator | Party | Notes |
| 1st | Kenneth LaValle* | Republican | |
| 2nd | James J. Lack* | Republican | |
| 3rd | Caesar Trunzo* | Republican | |
| 4th | Owen H. Johnson* | Republican | |
| 5th | Ralph J. Marino* | Republican | resigned on February 8, 1995 |
| 5th | Carl L. Marcellino | Republican | on March 14, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 6th | Kemp Hannon* | Republican | |
| 7th | Michael J. Tully Jr.* | Republican | |
| 8th | Norman J. Levy* | Republican | Chairman of Transportation |
| 9th | Dean Skelos* | Republican | |
| 10th | Alton R. Waldon Jr.* | Democrat | |
| 11th | Frank Padavan* | Republican | |
| 12th | Ada L. Smith* | Democrat | |
| 13th | Emanuel R. Gold* | Democrat | |
| 14th | George Onorato* | Democrat | |
| 15th | Serphin R. Maltese* | Cons./Rep. | |
| 16th | Leonard P. Stavisky* | Democrat | |
| 17th | Nellie R. Santiago* | Democrat | |
| 18th | Velmanette Montgomery* | Democrat | |
| 19th | Howard E. Babbush* | Democrat | |
| 20th | Marty Markowitz* | Democrat | |
| 21st | Carl Kruger* | Democrat | |
| 22nd | Martin M. Solomon* | Democrat | on November 7, 1995, elected to the New York City Civil Court |
| 22nd | Seymour P. Lachman | Democrat | on February 15, 1996, elected to fill vacancy |
| 23rd | Robert DiCarlo* | Republican | |
| 24th | John J. Marchi* | Republican | |
| 25th | Martin Connor* | Democrat | Minority Leader |
| 26th | Roy M. Goodman* | Republican | |
| 27th | Catherine M. Abate | Democrat | |
| 28th | Olga A. Méndez* | Democrat | |
| 29th | David Paterson* | Democrat | |
| 30th | Franz S. Leichter* | Democrat | |
| 31st | Efrain Gonzalez Jr.* | Democrat | |
| 32nd | Pedro Espada Jr. | Democrat | |
| 33rd | Joseph L. Galiber* | Democrat | died on November 21, 1995 |
| 33rd | Larry Seabrook* | Democrat | on February 15, 1996, elected to fill vacancy |
| 34th | Guy J. Velella* | Republican | |
| 35th | Nicholas A. Spano* | Republican | |
| 36th | Suzi Oppenheimer* | Democrat | |
| 37th | Vincent Leibell* | Republican | |
| 38th | Joseph R. Holland* | Republican | |
| 39th | William J. Larkin Jr.* | Republican | |
| 40th | Charles D. Cook* | Republican | |
| 41st | Stephen M. Saland* | Republican | |
| 42nd | Michael J. Hoblock Jr. | Republican | |
| 43rd | Joseph Bruno* | Republican | elected Temporary President |
| 44th | Hugh T. Farley* | Republican | Chairman of Banks |
| 45th | Ronald B. Stafford* | Republican | Chairman of Finance |
| 46th | James W. Wright* | Republican | |
| 47th | William R. Sears* | Republican | |
| 48th | Nancy Larraine Hoffmann* | Democrat | |
| 49th | John A. DeFrancisco* | Republican | |
| 50th | James L. Seward* | Republican | |
| 51st | Thomas W. Libous* | Republican | |
| 52nd | Randy Kuhl* | Republican | |
| 53rd | Michael F. Nozzolio* | Republican | |
| 54th | Richard A. Dollinger* | Democrat | |
| 55th | Mary Ellen Jones* | Democrat | appointed to the New York State Parole Board |
| 55th | James S. Alesi* | Republican | on February 15, 1996, elected to fill vacancy |
| 56th | Jess J. Present* | Republican | |
| 57th | Anthony Nanula* | Democrat | |
| 58th | William Stachowski* | Democrat | |
| 59th | Dale M. Volker* | Republican | |
| 60th | Mary Lou Rath* | Republican | |
| 61st | John B. Daly* | Republican | on January 9, 1995, appointed as NYS Commissioner of Transportation |
| 61st | George D. Maziarz | Republican | on March 14, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |

### Employees

* Secretary: Stephen F. Sloan

## State Assembly
### Assembly members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."
| District | Assembly member | Party | Notes |
| 1st | Patricia Acampora* | Republican | |
| 2nd | John L. Behan* | Republican | appointed as NYS Commissioner of Veterans' Affairs |
| 2nd | Fred W. Thiele Jr. | Republican | on March 14, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 3rd | Debra J. Mazzarelli | Republican | |
| 4th | Steve Englebright* | Democrat | |
| 5th | Paul E. Harenberg* | Democrat | |
| 6th | Robert C. Wertz* | Republican | |
| 7th | Thomas F. Barraga* | Republican | |
| 8th | Phil Boyle* | Republican | |
| 9th | John J. Flanagan* | Republican | |
| 10th | James D. Conte* | Republican | |
| 11th | Robert K. Sweeney* | Democrat | |
| 12th | Philip B. Healey* | Republican | died on May 27, 1996 |
| 13th | David Sidikman* | Democrat | |
| 14th | Marc Herbst* | Republican | |
| 15th | Donna Ferrara* | Republican | |
| 16th | Thomas DiNapoli* | Democrat | |
| 17th | Michael Balboni* | Republican | |
| 18th | Earlene Hill Hooper* | Democrat | |
| 19th | Charles J. O'Shea* | Republican | |
| 20th | Harvey Weisenberg* | Democrat | |
| 21st | Gregory R. Becker* | Republican | |
| 22nd | Vincent T. Muscarella* | Republican | on November 5, 1995, elected to the Nassau County Legislature |
| 22nd | Thomas Alfano | Republican | on February 15, 1996, elected to fill vacancy |
| 23rd | Audrey Pheffer* | Democrat | |
| 24th | Mark Weprin* | Democrat | |
| 25th | Brian M. McLaughlin* | Democrat | |
| 26th | Douglas Prescott* | Republican | |
| 27th | Nettie Mayersohn* | Democrat | |
| 28th | Melinda Katz* | Democrat | |
| 29th | William Scarborough | Democrat | |
| 30th | Joseph Crowley* | Democrat | |
| 31st | Gregory W. Meeks* | Democrat | |
| 32nd | Vivian E. Cook* | Democrat | |
| 33rd | Barbara M. Clark* | Democrat | |
| 34th | Ivan C. Lafayette* | Democrat | |
| 35th | Jeffrion L. Aubry* | Democrat | |
| 36th | Denis J. Butler* | Democrat | |
| 37th | Catherine Nolan* | Democrat | |
| 38th | Anthony S. Seminerio* | Democrat | |
| 39th | Anthony J. Genovesi* | Democrat | |
| 40th | Edward Griffith* | Democrat | |
| 41st | Helene Weinstein* | Democrat | |
| 42nd | Rhoda S. Jacobs* | Democrat | |
| 43rd | Clarence Norman Jr.* | Democrat | |
| 44th | James F. Brennan* | Democrat | |
| 45th | Daniel L. Feldman* | Democrat | |
| 46th | Jules Polonetsky* | Democrat | |
| 47th | Frank J. Barbaro* | Democrat | |
| 48th | Dov Hikind* | Democrat | |
| 49th | Peter J. Abbate Jr.* | Democrat | |
| 50th | Joseph R. Lentol* | Democrat | |
| 51st | Félix W. Ortiz | Democrat | |
| 52nd | Eileen C. Dugan* | Democrat | died on November 8, 1996 |
| 53rd | Vito J. Lopez* | Democrat | |
| 54th | Darryl C. Towns* | Democrat | |
| 55th | William F. Boyland* | Democrat | |
| 56th | Albert Vann* | Democrat | |
| 57th | Roger L. Green* | Democrat | |
| 58th | N. Nick Perry | Democrat | |
| 59th | Elizabeth Connelly* | Democrat | |
| 60th | Eric N. Vitaliano* | Democrat | |
| 61st | Robert A. Straniere* | Republican | |
| 62nd | Sheldon Silver* | Democrat | re-elected Speaker |
| 63rd | Steven Sanders* | Democrat | |
| 64th | Richard N. Gottfried* | Democrat | |
| 65th | Alexander B. Grannis* | Democrat | |
| 66th | Deborah J. Glick* | Democrat | |
| 67th | Scott Stringer* | Democrat | |
| 68th | vacant | | Assemblyman-elect Angelo Del Toro died on December 30, 1994 |
| 68th | Francisco Diaz Jr. | Liberal | on March 14, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 69th | Edward C. Sullivan* | Democrat | |
| 70th | Keith L. T. Wright* | Democrat | |
| 71st | Herman D. Farrell Jr.* | Democrat | Chairman of Ways and Means |
| 72nd | John Brian Murtaugh* | Democrat | |
| 73rd | John Ravitz* | Republican | |
| 74th | Carmen E. Arroyo* | Democrat | |
| 75th | Hector L. Diaz* | Democrat | resigned in December 1995 to become County Clerk of Bronx County |
| 75th | Pedro Gautier Espada | Democrat | on February 15, 1996, elected to fill vacancy |
| 76th | Peter M. Rivera* | Democrat | |
| 77th | Aurelia Greene* | Democrat | |
| 78th | Roberto Ramirez* | Democrat | |
| 79th | Gloria Davis* | Democrat | |
| 80th | Jeffrey D. Klein | Democrat | |
| 81st | Jeffrey Dinowitz* | Democrat | |
| 82nd | Stephen B. Kaufman* | Democrat | |
| 83rd | Larry Seabrook* | Democrat | on February 15, 1996, elected to the State Senate |
| 83rd | Samuel Bea Jr. | Democrat | on April 25, 1996, elected to fill vacancy |
| 84th | J. Gary Pretlow* | Democrat | |
| 85th | Ronald C. Tocci* | Democrat | |
| 86th | Richard L. Brodsky* | Democrat | |
| 87th | Mike Spano | Republican | |
| 88th | Audrey Hochberg* | Democrat | |
| 89th | Naomi C. Matusow* | Democrat | |
| 90th | Sandy Galef* | Democrat | |
| 91st | Willis Stephens | Republican | |
| 92nd | Alexander J. Gromack* | Democrat | |
| 93rd | Samuel Colman* | Democrat | |
| 94th | Nancy Calhoun* | Republican | |
| 95th | John Bonacic* | Republican | |
| 96th | Thomas J. Kirwan | Republican | |
| 97th | Joel M. Miller | Republican | |
| 98th | Jacob E. Gunther III* | Democrat | |
| 99th | Patrick R. Manning | Republican | |
| 100th | Robert A. D'Andrea* | Republican | |
| 101st | John J. Guerin | Republican | |
| 102nd | John Faso* | Republican | |
| 103rd | James Tedisco* | Republican | |
| 104th | John McEneny* | Democrat | |
| 105th | Paul D. Tonko* | Democrat | |
| 106th | Ronald Canestrari* | Democrat | |
| 107th | Robert G. Prentiss | Republican | |
| 108th | Pat M. Casale* | Republican | |
| 109th | James P. King* | Republican | appointed to the New York Court of Claims |
| 109th | Betty Little | Republican | on November 7, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 110th | Chris Ortloff* | Republican | |
| 111th | Bill Magee* | Democrat | |
| 112th | Chloe Ann O'Neil* | Republican | |
| 113th | Anthony J. Casale* | Republican | appointed as Chairman of the New York State Liquor Authority |
| 113th | Marc W. Butler | Republican | on November 7, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 114th | H. Robert Nortz* | Republican | |
| 115th | David R. Townsend Jr.* | Republican | |
| 116th | RoAnn Destito* | Democrat | |
| 117th | Frances T. Sullivan* | Republican | |
| 118th | Michael J. Bragman* | Democrat | Majority Leader |
| 119th | Joan Christensen* | Democrat | |
| 120th | Bernard J. Mahoney | Republican | |
| 121st | Harold C. Brown Jr.* | Republican | |
| 122nd | Clarence D. Rappleyea Jr.* | Republican | Minority Leader; on June 29, 1995, appointed to the New York Power Authority |
| 122nd | Clifford W. Crouch | Republican | on November 7, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 123rd | Jay J. Dinga | Republican | |
| 124th | Robert J. Warner* | Republican | |
| 125th | Martin A. Luster* | Democrat | |
| 126th | Daniel J. Fessenden* | Republican | |
| 127th | George H. Winner Jr.* | Republican | |
| 128th | Bob Oaks* | Republican | |
| 129th | Craig J. Doran* | Republican | |
| 130th | Donald R. Davidsen* | Republican | in October 1995 appointed as NYS Commissioner of Agriculture |
| 130th | James Bacalles | Republican | on November 7, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 131st | Susan V. John* | Democrat | |
| 132nd | Joseph D. Morelle* | Democrat | |
| 133rd | David F. Gantt* | Democrat | |
| 134th | Joseph Robach* | Democrat | |
| 135th | James S. Alesi* | Republican | resigned to run for the State Senate |
| 135th | David Koon | Democrat | on February 15, 1996, elected to fill vacancy |
| 136th | Jerry Johnson* | Republican | |
| 137th | Charles H. Nesbitt* | Republican | |
| 138th | Joseph T. Pillittere* | Democrat | |
| 139th | Elizabeth C. Hoffman* | Republican | resigned in February 1995 to run for the State Senate |
| 139th | David E. Seaman | Republican | on March 14, 1995, elected to fill vacancy |
| 140th | Robin L. Schimminger* | Democrat | |
| 141st | Arthur O. Eve* | Democrat | |
| 142nd | Richard R. Anderson* | Republican | |
| 143rd | Paul Tokasz* | Democrat | |
| 144th | Sam Hoyt* | Democrat | |
| 145th | Richard J. Keane* | Democrat | |
| 146th | Francis J. Pordum* | Democrat | |
| 147th | Thomas M. Reynolds* | Republican | Minority Leader from June 30, 1995 |
| 148th | Sandra Lee Wirth | Republican | |
| 149th | Patricia McGee* | Republican | |
| 150th | William L. Parment* | Democrat | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Francine Misasi