STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 41 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 4, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT in relation to directing the New York State Thruway Authority and the New York State Bridge Authority to jointly study and report on methods that can be implemented to share services and combine func- tions, and on the feasibility of merging into a single entity The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. 1. The New York state thruway authority and the New York 2 state bridge authority shall jointly conduct a study to explore the 3 sharing and consolidation of services and functions in order to reduce 4 each authority's overall administrative, operational and/or capital 5 costs. Such authorities shall additionally conduct a study to explore 6 the feasibility of a merger of the authorities into a single entity. 7 Such authorities may employ the use of outside consultants in the 8 conducting of either study, subject to competitive bidding requirements. 9 a. Sharing and consolidation of services study. The joint study to 10 explore the sharing and consolidation of services and functions should 11 be designed with the ultimate goal of streamlining the functions of each 12 authority in order to reduce overall costs and increase efficiencies, 13 and shall include, at a minimum, an examination of methods that can be 14 implemented by each authority in order to: 15 (i) consolidate central administrative functions, such as purchasing, 16 personnel management, hiring and employee benefits administration; 17 (ii) consolidate or share optional functions, such as maintenance, 18 security services, toll collections and payment processing; and 19 (iii) develop and implement a joint capital plan whereby long term 20 capital projects at each individual authority are jointly designed and 21 constructed. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01616-01-7A. 41 2 1 b. Merger study. The joint study to explore the feasibility of a merg- 2 er of the New York state thruway authority and the New York state bridge 3 authority into a single entity may, at the discretion of each authori- 4 ty's board of directors, be conducted in conjunction with or apart from 5 the sharing and consolidation of services study and shall explore any 6 and all aspects of a full merger of the two individual authorities into 7 a single entity. 8 2. Reports. a. Within six months of the effective date of this act, 9 the New York state thruway authority and the New York state bridge 10 authority shall jointly issue a report of the findings of sharing and 11 consolidation of services study to the governor, the temporary president 12 of the senate and the speaker of the assembly. Such report shall 13 include, but not be limited to, the following: 14 (i) actions that can be implemented by each authority immediately, a 15 plan of action for such implementation, and the estimated cost of 16 savings to be achieved; 17 (ii) actions that require regulatory action by either or both authori- 18 ties in order to be implemented, a plan of action for implementing such 19 actions, and the estimated cost savings to be achieved; and 20 (iii) actions that require statutory changes in order to be imple- 21 mented and the estimated cost savings to be achieved. 22 b. Within one year of the effective date of this act, the New York 23 state thruway authority and the New York state bridge authority shall 24 jointly issue a report of the findings of the merger feasibility study 25 to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker 26 of the assembly. Such report shall include a full examination of all 27 aspects of merging the two authorities into a single entity, a proposed 28 plan of action for such merger, and the estimated cost savings to be 29 achieved. 30 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.