188th New York State Legislature

The 188th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4, 1989, to December 31, 1990, during the seventh and eighth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany.

188th New York State Legislature
← 187th 189th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1, 1989 – December 31, 1990
Senate
Members	61
President	Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine (D)
Temporary President	Ralph J. Marino (R)
Party control	Republican (34 republicans and 27 democrats)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	Mel Miller (D)
Party control	Democratic (92 democrats and 58 republicans)
Sessions
1st January 4 – July 1, 1989 2nd January 3 – July 2, 1990 3rd December 3 – 14, 1990

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 1982 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 Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the Right to Life Party, an "Independent Progressive Party", the Workers World Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Socialist Workers Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1988, was held on November 8. The only statewide elective office up for election was a U.S. Senator from New York. Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan was re-elected with Liberal endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for U.S. Senator, was: Democrats/Liberals 4,049,000; Republicans/Conservatives 1,876,000; Right to Life 65,000; Independent Progressives 15,000; Workers World 13,500; Libertarians 12,000; and Socialist Workers 11,000.

All sitting 22 women members of the legislature—State Senators Mary B. Goodhue (Rep.), a lawyer of Mount Kisco; Nancy Larraine Hoffmann (Dem.), of Syracuse; Olga A. Méndez (Dem.), of East Harlem; Velmanette Montgomery (Dem.), of Brooklyn; and Suzi Oppenheimer (Dem.), of Mamaroneck; and Assemblywomen Barbara M. Clark (Dem.), of Queens; Elizabeth Connelly (Dem.), of Staten Island; Pinny Cooke (Rep.), of Rochester; Geraldine L. Daniels (Dem.), of the Bronx; Gloria Davis (Dem.), of the Bronx; Eileen C. Dugan (Dem.), of Brooklyn; Aurelia Greene (Dem.), of the Bronx; Earlene Hill Hooper (Dem.), of Hempstead; Rhoda S. Jacobs (Dem.), of Brooklyn; Cynthia Jenkins (Dem.), a librarian of Queens; Helen M. Marshall (Dem.), a teacher and librarian of Queens; Nettie Mayersohn (Dem.), of Queens; Patricia McGee (Rep.), of Franklinville; Mary M. McPhillips (Dem.), of Middletown; Catherine Nolan (Dem.), of Queens; Audrey Pheffer (Dem.), of Queens; and Helene Weinstein (Dem.), a lawyer of Brooklyn—were re-elected. Ada L. Smith (Dem.), of Queens, was also elected to the State Senate. Cecile D. Singer (Rep.), of Yonkers, was also elected to the Assembly.

The New York state election, 1989, was held on November 7. Two vacancies in the State Senate were filled. Assemblywoman Mary M. McPhillips was elected as County Executive of Orange County.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 212th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1989;^[1] and recessed indefinitely on July 1.^[2]

Mel Miller (Dem.) was re-elected Speaker of the Assembly.

Ralph J. Marino (Rep.) was elected Temporary President of the Senate.

The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 213th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1990;^[3] and recessed indefinitely on July 2.^[4]

The legislature met again from December 3^[5] to 14, 1990.^[6] This session was called to consider state budget cuts, an increase in CUNY's tuition rates, and an anti-crime plan proposed by Mayor of New York City David Dinkins.

State Senate

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. John B. Sheffer II changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of the session. Assemblyman Kemp Hannon was elected to fill a vacancy in the Senate.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Kenneth LaValle*	Rep./Cons.
2nd	James J. Lack*	Rep./Cons.
3rd	Caesar Trunzo*	Republican
4th	Owen H. Johnson*	Rep./Cons.	Chairman of Environmental Conservation
5th	Ralph J. Marino*	Rep./Cons.	elected Temporary President
6th	John R. Dunne*	Rep./Cons.	Chairman of Judiciary; resigned in September 1989^[7]
	Kemp Hannon*	Republican	on November 7, 1989, elected to fill vacancy
7th	Michael J. Tully Jr.*	Rep./Cons.	Chairman of Health
8th	Norman J. Levy*	Rep./Cons.	Chairman of Transportation
9th	Dean Skelos*	Rep./Cons.
10th	Andrew Jenkins*	Dem./Lib.	on May 7, 1990, convicted of two felonies^[8]
11th	Frank Padavan*	Rep./Cons.
12th	Leonard P. Stavisky*	Dem./Lib.
13th	Emanuel R. Gold*	Dem./Lib.
14th	George Onorato*	Democrat
15th	Serphin R. Maltese	Cons./Rep./RTL
16th	Jeremy S. Weinstein*	Dem./Lib.
17th	Howard E. Babbush*	Dem./Lib.
18th	Donald Halperin*	Democrat
19th	Martin M. Solomon*	Democrat
20th	Ada L. Smith	Democrat
21st	Marty Markowitz*	Democrat
22nd	Velmanette Montgomery*	Dem./Lib.
23rd	Christopher J. Mega*	Rep./Cons.
24th	John J. Marchi*	Rep./Dem./Lib.	Vice-President pro tempore
25th	Martin Connor*	Dem./Lib.
26th	Roy M. Goodman*	Rep./Lib.
27th	Manfred Ohrenstein*	Dem./Lib.	Minority Leader
28th	Franz S. Leichter*	Dem./Lib.
29th	David Paterson*	Dem./Lib.
30th	Olga A. Méndez*	Dem./Lib.
31st	Joseph L. Galiber*	Dem./Lib.
32nd	Israel Ruiz, Jr.*	Dem./Lib.	on February 3, 1989, convicted of a federal felony^[9]
	Efrain Gonzalez Jr.	Democrat	on November 7, 1989, elected to fill vacancy
33rd	Abraham Bernstein*	Dem./Lib.	died on March 4, 1990
	Jeffrey R. Korman	Democrat	on May 1, 1990, elected to fill vacancy^[10]
34th	Guy J. Velella*	Rep./Cons.
35th	Nicholas A. Spano*	Rep./Cons.
36th	Suzi Oppenheimer*	Dem./Lib.
37th	Mary B. Goodhue*	Rep./Cons.
38th	Eugene Levy*	Rep./Cons.	died on July 12, 1990
39th	E. Arthur Gray	Democrat
40th	Charles D. Cook*	Republican
41st	Jay P. Rolison Jr.*	Republican
42nd	Howard C. Nolan Jr.*	Democrat
43rd	Joseph Bruno*	Republican
44th	Hugh T. Farley*	Republican	Chairman of Banks
45th	Ronald B. Stafford*	Republican	Deputy Majority Leader
46th	John M. McHugh*	Republican
47th	James H. Donovan*	Republican	Chairman of Education; died on August 31, 1990
48th	Nancy Larraine Hoffmann*	Democrat
49th	Tarky Lombardi Jr.*	Republican	Chairman of Finance
50th	James L. Seward*	Republican
51st	Thomas W. Libous	Republican
52nd	Randy Kuhl*	Republican
53rd	L. Paul Kehoe*	Republican
54th	John D. Perry*	Democrat
55th	Ralph E. Quattrociocchi*	Democrat
56th	Jess J. Present*	Republican
57th	William Stachowski*	Democrat
58th	Anthony M. Masiello*	Democrat
59th	Dale M. Volker*	Republican
60th	John B. Sheffer II*	Republican
61st	John B. Daly*	Republican

Employees

• Secretary: Stephen F. Sloan

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
1st	Joseph Sawicki Jr.*	Republican
2nd	John L. Behan*	Republican
3rd	John Powell	Rep./Cons.	on November 7, 1989, elected to the Town Council of Brookhaven
	Icilio W. Bianchi, Jr.	Democrat	on February 20, 1990, elected to fill vacancy^[11]
4th	Robert J. Gaffney*	Republican
5th	Paul E. Harenberg*	Democrat
6th	Robert C. Wertz*	Republican
7th	Thomas F. Barraga*	Republican
8th	John C. Cochrane*	Republican
9th	John J. Flanagan*	Republican
10th	James D. Conte*	Republican
11th	Robert K. Sweeney*	Democrat
12th	Philip B. Healey*	Republican
13th	Lewis J. Yevoli*	Democrat
14th	Frederick E. Parola*	Republican
15th	Daniel Frisa*	Republican
16th	Thomas DiNapoli*	Democrat
17th	Kemp Hannon*	Republican	on November 7, 1989, elected to the State Senate
	Michael Balboni	Republican	on February 20, 1990, elected to fill vacancy^[11]
18th	Earlene Hill Hooper*	Democrat
19th	Charles J. O'Shea*	Republican
20th	vacant		Assemblyman-elect Arthur J. Kremer (D) resigned on December 14, 1988^[12]
	Harvey Weisenberg	Democrat	on February 14, 1989, elected to fill vacancy^[13]
21st	Gregory R. Becker*	Republican
22nd	George H. Madison*	Republican
23rd	Audrey Pheffer*	Democrat
24th	Saul Weprin*	Democrat	Chairman of Ways and Means
25th	Douglas Prescott*	Republican
26th	Morton C. Hillman*	Democrat
27th	Nettie Mayersohn*	Democrat
28th	Alan G. Hevesi*	Democrat
29th	Cynthia Jenkins*	Democrat
30th	Joseph Crowley*	Democrat
31st	Anthony S. Seminerio*	Democrat
32nd	Edward Abramson*	Democrat
33rd	Barbara M. Clark*	Democrat
34th	Ivan C. Lafayette*	Democrat
35th	Helen M. Marshall*	Democrat
36th	Denis J. Butler*	Democrat
37th	Catherine Nolan*	Democrat
38th	Frederick D. Schmidt*	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	Mel Miller*	Democrat	re-elected Speaker
45th	Daniel L. Feldman*	Democrat
46th	Howard L. Lasher*	Democrat
47th	Frank J. Barbaro*	Democrat
48th	Dov Hikind*	Democrat
49th	Peter J. Abbate Jr.*	Democrat
50th	Joseph R. Lentol*	Democrat
51st	James F. Brennan*	Democrat
52nd	Eileen C. Dugan*	Democrat
53rd	Vito J. Lopez*	Democrat
54th	Thomas F. Catapano*	Democrat
55th	William F. Boyland*	Democrat
56th	Albert Vann*	Democrat
57th	Roger L. Green*	Democrat
58th	Elizabeth Connelly*	Democrat
59th	Eric N. Vitaliano*	Democrat
60th	Robert A. Straniere*	Republican
61st	William F. Passannante*	Democrat
62nd	Sheldon Silver*	Democrat
63rd	Steven Sanders*	Democrat
64th	Richard N. Gottfried*	Democrat
65th	Alexander B. Grannis*	Democrat
66th	Mark Alan Siegel*	Democrat
67th	Jerrold Nadler*	Democrat
68th	Angelo Del Toro*	Democrat
69th	Edward C. Sullivan*	Democrat
70th	Geraldine L. Daniels*	Democrat
71st	Herman D. Farrell, Jr.*	Democrat
72nd	John Brian Murtaugh*	Democrat
73rd	José E. Serrano*	Democrat	on March 20, 1990, elected to the 101st U.S. Congress
	David Rosado	Dem./Lib.	on May 1, 1990, elected to fill vacancy^[10]
74th	Hector L. Diaz*	Democrat
75th	John C. Dearie*	Democrat
76th	Aurelia Greene*	Democrat
77th	Israel Martinez*	Democrat
78th	Gloria Davis*	Democrat
79th	George Friedman*	Democrat
80th	G. Oliver Koppell*	Democrat	Chairman of Judiciary
81st	Stephen B. Kaufman	Democrat
82nd	Larry Seabrook*	Democrat
83rd	Terence M. Zaleski*	Democrat
84th	Cecile D. Singer	Republican
85th	Ronald C. Tocci*	Democrat
86th	Richard L. Brodsky*	Democrat
87th	Peter M. Sullivan*	Republican
88th	Gregory P. Young*	Democrat
89th	Henry William Barnett*	Republican
90th	Vincent Leibell*	Republican
91st	George E. Pataki*	Republican
92nd	Joseph R. Holland	Republican
93rd	Samuel Colman*	Democrat
94th	Mary M. McPhillips*	Democrat	on November 7, 1989, elected as County Executive of Orange County
	John Bonacic	Republican	on February 20, 1990, elected to fill vacancy^[11]
95th	William J. Larkin, Jr.*	Republican
96th	Lawrence E. Bennett*	Democrat
97th	Stephen M. Saland*	Republican
98th	Richard I. Coombe*	Republican
99th	Glenn E. Warren*	Republican
100th	Neil W. Kelleher*	Republican
101st	Maurice D. Hinchey*	Democrat
102nd	John Faso*	Republican
103rd	Arnold W. Proskin*	Republican
104th	Richard J. Conners*	Democrat
105th	Paul D. Tonko*	Democrat
106th	Ronald Canestrari	Democrat
107th	James Tedisco*	Republican
108th	Robert A. D'Andrea*	Republican
109th	Glenn H. Harris*	Republican
110th	Chris Ortloff*	Republican
111th	John W. McCann*	Republican
112th	John G. A. O'Neil*	Republican
113th	Anthony J. Casale*	Republican
114th	H. Robert Nortz*	Republican
115th	William R. Sears*	Republican
116th	Ralph J. Eannace Jr.*	Republican
117th	Ray T. Chesbro*	Republican
118th	Michael J. Bragman*	Democrat
119th	William E. Bush*	Republican
120th	Melvin N. Zimmer*	Democrat
121st	Harold C. Brown Jr.	Republican
122nd	Clarence D. Rappleyea Jr.*	Republican	Minority Leader
123rd	Richard H. Miller*	Republican
124th	James R. Tallon Jr.*	Democrat	Majority Leader
125th	Martin A. Luster	Democrat
126th	George H. Winner, Jr.*	Republican
127th	Donald R. Davidsen*	Republican
128th	Michael F. Nozzolio*	Republican
129th	Frank G. Talomie Sr.*	Republican
130th	Robert L. King*	Republican
131st	Gary Proud*	Democrat
132nd	Pinny Cooke*	Republican
133rd	David F. Gantt*	Democrat
134th	Roger J. Robach*	Democrat	Deputy Majority Leader
135th	James F. Nagle*	Republican
136th	John W. Hasper*	Republican
137th	R. Stephen Hawley*	Republican
138th	Joseph T. Pillittere*	Democrat
139th	Matthew J. Murphy, Jr.*	Democrat
140th	Robin L. Schimminger*	Democrat
141st	Arthur O. Eve*	Democrat
142nd	Richard R. Anderson	Republican
143rd	Paul Tokasz*	Democrat
144th	William B. Hoyt*	Democrat
145th	Richard J. Keane*	Democrat
146th	Francis J. Pordum*	Democrat
147th	Thomas M. Reynolds	Republican
148th	Vincent J. Graber Sr.*	Democrat
149th	Patricia McGee*	Republican
150th	William L. Parment*	Democrat

Employees

• Clerk: Francine Misasi

Notes

1. Cuomo Plans A Major Effort To Fight Drugs by Elizabeth Kolbert, in The New York Times on January 5, 1989
2. Legislators Count Successes As Albany Session Closes by Elizabeth Kolbert, in The New York Times on July 2, 1989
3. HEALTH INSURANCE FOR ALL CHILDREN IS URGED BY CUOMO by Elizabeth Kolbert, in The New York Times on January 4, 1990
4. 3 Health-Care Bills Approved in Albany by Kevin Sack, in The New York Times on July 3, 1990
5. Quick Agreement Unlikely on Cuomo Budget Cuts by Sam Howe Verhovek, in The New York Times on December 3, 1990
6. Anti-Crime Plan Undecided As the Legislature Recesses by Kevin Sack, in The New York Times on December 15, 1990
7. Influential L.I. Senator Quits in The New York Times on August 10, 1989
8. Queens Lawmaker Guilty in Bank Plot by James Barron, in The New York Times on May 8, 1990
9. A State Senator Is Found Guilty In a Loan Case in The New York Times on February 4, 1989
10. Legislative Elections in Bronx Won by Korman and Rosado in The New York Times on May 2, 1990
11. 3 Assembly Victors Favor Death Penalty in The New York Times on February 21, 1990
12. After Fall From Power, an Assemblyman Resigns by Frank Lynn, in The New York Times on December 15, 1988
13. New York Red Book (2003–2004; pg. 396)

Sources

• New York State's Democrats Bask in Glow of Strong Showing in The New York Times on November 10, 1988
• THE ELECTIONS; New York State Senate in The New York Times on November 10, 1988
• Marchi, After 16 Years, Loses Post On Finance Panel in Senate Shifts by Elizabeth Colbert, in The New York Times on January 10, 1989
• The Legislature in The Public Sector (Vol. 12, No. 3, issue of February 6, 1989; pg. 19)
• Special Assembly Elections Set in The Daily Gazette, of Schenectady, on January 18, 1990 (pg. B 7)