Bill Text: NJ AR226 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Objects to establishment of Office of Inspector General of New York for Transportation; urges PANYNJ not to recognize office; and urges AG to seek declaratory judgement.*

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2017-05-22 - Filed with Secretary of State [AR226 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2016-AR226-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 226

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

217th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED MARCH 20, 2017

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE

District 37 (Bergen)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Handlin

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Objects to establishment of Office of Inspector General of New York for Transportation; urges PANYNJ not to recognize office; and urges AG to seek declaratory judgment.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on May 18, 2017, with amendments.

  

An Assembly Resolution objecting to New York legislation creating ¹[a New York Port Authority Inspector General and urging the New York Legislature to reject that legislation] the Office of the Inspector General of New York for Transportation, urging the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey not to recognize the legitimacy of the office, and urging the Attorney General of New Jersey to seek a declaratory judgment declaring the legislation inapplicable to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey¹.

 

Whereas, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority) is a unique bi-state entity that was established in 1921 pursuant to an interstate compact between the states of New York and New Jersey nearly a century ago with the consent of Congress, pursuant to Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3, of the United States Constitution (Port Authority Compact), to achieve "a better co-ordination of the terminal, transportation and other facilities of commerce in, about and through the ¹[Port] port¹ of New York . . ."; and

Whereas, The Port Authority Compact clearly articulates the powers and duties of the Port Authority and specifically provides a mechanism through "the action of the legislature of either state concurred in by the legislature of the other" to delegate additional powers to or impose additional duties upon the Port Authority; and

Whereas, Legislation ¹[introduced in the New York Legislature as S.2010 and A.3010 unilaterally appoints a New York Port Authority Inspector General to broadly investigate any Port Authority action "with a nexus to the state of New York or its residents"] enacted in New York establishes the Office of the Inspector General of New York for Transportation, with the power to investigate and prosecute criminal and unethical conduct at transportation entities, including, by definition, the Port Authority,¹ in violation of the Port Authority Compact's requirement that any such modification or supplementation of the Port Authority Compact require, at a minimum, the consent of the legislatures of both states; and

Whereas, Six Port Authority commissioners, including Chairman John Degnan and New York Commissioner Kenneth Lipper ¹[recently]¹ sent a strongly worded letter to the New York Legislature ¹on March 3, 2017¹ expressing their "urgent and serious" concerns with ¹[the proposed]¹ legislation ¹similar to the legislation that created the Office of the Inspector General of New York for Transportation¹; ¹[noting that "virtually 100% of all Port Authority decisions and actions have a nexus to New York or its residents";]¹ and

Whereas, ¹[These] At that time, the¹ six Port Authority commissioners ¹[believe that S.2010 and A.3010 represent] expressed the belief that the legislation represented¹ an attempt by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to "seize political control of the Agency, through the coercive force of threatened investigation, litigation and potential criminal prosecution of any Commissioner or managerial employee" and that that proposed legislation "would give Governor Cuomo dictatorial power over the bistate Agency"; and

Whereas, The ¹establishment of the Office of the Inspector General of New York for Transportation raises the same concerns voiced by the six Port Authority commissioners in March, and the¹ establishment of this office, without the concurrence of the State of New Jersey, violates the well-established principle that "bistate entities created by compact . . . are not subject to the unilateral control of any one of the States that compose the federal system"; and

Whereas, The provisions of ¹[A.3010 and S.2010] the legislation¹ also undermine and conflict with several articles included in the Port Authority Compact by taking powers delegated to the Port Authority and shifting those powers to a New York state agency; and

Whereas, The unilateral ¹[appointment of a New York Port Authority] establishment of the Office of the¹ Inspector General ¹of New York for Transportation, with jurisdiction over the Port Authority,¹ would not only violate well-established principles governing interstate compact entities and the spirit and the letter of the Port Authority Compact, but also undercut the authority and independence of the current Port Authority Office of Inspector General; and

Whereas, By entering into the Port Authority Compact, the State of New York entered into an agreement with the State of New Jersey and each state is bound by the terms of that agreement; and

Whereas, New York is not permitted to unilaterally modify the Port Authority Compact; now, therefore,

 

     1.  ¹a.¹  This House objects to the ¹[provisions of A.3010 and S.2010 establishing a New York Port Authority Inspector General and urges the New York Legislature to reject the provisions of A.3010 and S.2010] establishment of the Office of the Inspector General of New York for Transportation, with jurisdiction, by definition, over the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey¹, which is a patently illegal and an ill-intended effort by the Governor of New York to unilaterally seize political control of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

     ¹b.   This House urges the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to decline to recognize any jurisdiction that the Office of the Inspector General of New York for Transportation may attempt to assert over the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

     c.     This House urges the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey to seek a declaratory judgment declaring the legislation establishing the Office of the Inspector General of New York for Transportation inapplicable to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.¹

 

     2.    Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the members of the New York Legislature, the members of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners, the Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ¹the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey,¹ the Governor of New Jersey, and the Governor of New York.