Bill Text: NY S03959 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires the appointment of a transit dependent representative on various transportation authorities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-12-28 - APPROVAL MEMO.86 [S03959 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S03959-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3959--B Cal. No. 907 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 1, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sens. KENNEDY, BROUK, COONEY, MANNION, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Transportation in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading, passed by Senate and deliv- ered to the Assembly, recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to various transportation authorities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 1299-a of the public authorities law is amended by 2 adding a new subdivision 18 to read as follows: 3 18. "Transit dependent" shall mean an individual who is limited to 4 public transit as their primary mode of transportation because the indi- 5 vidual has either a permanent or temporary disability. 6 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1299-c of the public authorities law, as 7 amended by chapter 220 of the laws of 2012, paragraph (b) as amended by 8 chapter 197 of the laws of 2017, and paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 9 176 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 10 1. (a) There is hereby created the "Niagara Frontier transportation 11 authority." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic consti- 12 tuting a public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a 13 chairman, ten [other] voting members and shall have [two] one non-voting 14 [members] member as described in [paragraphs] paragraph (b) [and (c)] of 15 this subdivision appointed by the governor by and with the advice and 16 consent of the senate. The chairman and all members shall be residents 17 of the district. Of the ten voting members other than the chairman, one EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07644-08-2S. 3959--B 2 1 shall be appointed upon the written recommendation of the Erie county 2 executive [and], one shall be appointed upon the written recommendation 3 of the Erie county legislature, and at least one shall be a transit 4 dependent individual. The chairman and each of the members shall be 5 appointed for a term of eight years, provided however, that the chairman 6 first appointed shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen 7 hundred seventy-three, and of the eight other members first appointed, 8 one shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 9 sixty-eight, two shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen 10 hundred sixty-nine, one shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, 11 nineteen hundred seventy, two shall serve for a term ending June thirti- 12 eth, nineteen hundred seventy-one, one shall serve for a term ending 13 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-two and one shall serve for a 14 term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-three. The term of 15 one of the members appointed to memberships first created by law after 16 April first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine shall end on June thirtieth, 17 nineteen hundred seventy-four, and the term of the other such member 18 shall end on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-five. Following 19 the expiration of any term ending on or after June thirtieth, nineteen 20 hundred eighty-seven, each member shall be appointed for a term of five 21 years beginning on the day after the expiration date of such prior term; 22 provided, however, that the term of the member first appointed upon the 23 written recommendation of the Erie county executive and the term of the 24 member first appointed upon the written recommendation of the Erie coun- 25 ty legislature shall be for a term ending on June thirtieth, nineteen 26 hundred ninety-six. 27 (b) The [first] non-voting member of the authority, who shall not be 28 considered in determining a quorum, shall be recommended to the governor 29 by the labor organization representing the plurality of the employees 30 within the authority and shall be a resident of the Niagara Frontier 31 transportation district as described in section twelve hundred ninety- 32 nine-b of this title. Such [first] non-voting member shall be appointed 33 for a term of five years, provided, however, that if at any time during 34 the term of appointment such non-voting member ceases to be affiliated 35 with the labor organization representing the plurality of employees 36 within the authority, then such labor organization may at any time 37 during such term recommend a new member to the governor who shall serve 38 the remainder of the term. If the local bargaining unit decertifies its 39 existing union affiliation and certifies a new union, the union which 40 represents the plurality of the employees may recommend a new member to 41 the governor who shall serve the remainder of the term. The chairman of 42 the authority, at his or her discretion, may exclude such non-voting 43 member from attending any portion of a meeting of the authority or of 44 any committee held for the purpose of discussing negotiations with labor 45 organizations, pending litigation involving the labor organization, or 46 the investigation, evaluation, or discipline of an employee. 47 (c) [There shall also be a second non-voting member of the authority,48who shall not be considered in determining a quorum. The second non-vot-49ing member shall be appointed by the governor as a representative of the50transit dependent community and/or people with disabilities. The second51non-voting member shall be appointed for a term of five years.] The 52 transit dependent individual appointed pursuant to subdivision (a) of 53 this section shall be appointed by the governor at the recommendation of 54 a local or statewide transit advocacy organization. Such member shall be 55 a resident of a county described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision. 56 If a vacancy shall occur, a replacement shall be appointed within sixS. 3959--B 3 1 months, subject to the same appointment process set forth in this para- 2 graph. 3 § 3. Section 1299-bb of the public authorities law is amended by 4 adding a new subdivision 25 to read as follows: 5 25. "Transit dependent" shall mean an individual who is limited to 6 public transit as their primary mode of transportation because the indi- 7 vidual has either a permanent or temporary disability. 8 § 4. Subdivisions 1 and 4 of section 1299-dd of the public authorities 9 law, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 495 of the laws of 2019 and 10 subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 1115 of the laws of 1971, are 11 amended to read as follows: 12 1. (a) There is hereby created the Rochester-Genesee regional trans- 13 portation authority. The authority shall be a body corporate and politic 14 constituting a public benefit corporation. It shall consist of at least 15 one member from each county that elects to join the authority except 16 that the county of Monroe shall have seven members of whom three shall 17 be appointed from the city of Rochester and four at large from the coun- 18 ty of Monroe, and a voting member who is a transit dependent individual 19 appointed pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision and shall have 20 [two] one non-voting [members] member as described in [paragraphs] para- 21 graph (b) [and (c)] of this subdivision. The members shall be appointed 22 by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate. The 23 governor shall make initial appointments to the authority in such number 24 and from lists submitted as follows: three members shall be appointed to 25 the authority from a list of not less than six names, all of whom must 26 be residents of the city of Rochester, submitted to the governor by the 27 council of the city of Rochester; four persons from a list of not less 28 than eight persons, all of whom must be residents of the county of 29 Monroe submitted by the legislature of the county of Monroe. Other coun- 30 ties electing to participate shall each submit to the governor a list of 31 not less than two persons for each one hundred thousand or major frac- 32 tion of the total population, as determined by the last federal decenni- 33 al or federal county-wide special census. From the counties outside the 34 county of Monroe which shall elect to participate, the governor shall 35 appoint one member for each one hundred thousand or major fraction of 36 the total population, as determined by the last federal decennial or 37 federal county-wide special census, with a minimum of one member to 38 represent each county outside the county of Monroe so electing to 39 participate. All members of the authority shall be residents of the area 40 from which they are nominated. 41 (b) The [first] non-voting member of the authority, who shall not be 42 considered in determining a quorum, shall be recommended to the governor 43 by the labor organization representing the plurality of the employees 44 within the authority and shall be a resident of the Rochester-Genesee 45 regional transportation district as described in section twelve hundred 46 ninety-nine-cc of this title. Such [first] non-voting member shall be 47 appointed for a term of five years, provided, however, that if at any 48 time during the term of appointment such non-voting member ceases to be 49 affiliated with the labor organization representing the plurality of 50 employees within the authority, then such labor organization may at any 51 time during such term recommend a new member to the governor who shall 52 serve the remainder of the term. If the local bargaining unit decerti- 53 fies its existing union affiliation and certifies a new union, the union 54 which represents the plurality of the employees may recommend a new 55 member to the governor who shall serve the remainder of the term. The 56 chairman of the authority, at his or her discretion, may exclude suchS. 3959--B 4 1 non-voting member from attending any portion of a meeting of the author- 2 ity or of any committee held for the purpose of discussing negotiations 3 with labor organizations, pending litigation involving the labor organ- 4 ization, or the investigation, evaluation, or discipline of an employee. 5 [(c) There shall also be a second non-voting member of the authority,6who shall not be considered in determining a quorum. The second non-vot-7ing member shall be appointed by the governor as a representative of the8transit dependent and/or disabled community. The second non-voting9member shall be appointed for a term of five years. The chair of the10authority, at his or her discretion, may exclude such non-voting member11from attending any portion of a meeting of the authority or of any12committee held pursuant to the executive session provisions of the open13meetings law.] 14 (c) The voting member who is a transit dependent individual as 15 described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall be appointed by the 16 governor at the recommendation of a local or statewide transit advocacy 17 organization for a term of five years. If a vacancy occurs for such 18 position, a replacement shall be appointed within six months pursuant to 19 this process. 20 4. A majority of the whole number of votes of members of the 21 authority, including the voting member who is a transit dependent indi- 22 vidual as described in subdivision one of this section, shall constitute 23 a quorum for the transaction of business or the exercise of any power of 24 the authority. Except as otherwise specified in this act, for the trans- 25 action of any business or the exercise of any power of the authority, 26 the authority shall have power to act by a majority vote of the members 27 present at any meeting at which a quorum is in attendance. Each member 28 of the authority shall have one vote for each thirty-five thousand or 29 major fraction thereof of the population of the county or city from 30 which he is appointed based upon the results of the last federal decen- 31 nial or federal county-wide special census divided by the total number 32 of members appointed from such county or city, except that the voting 33 member who is a transit dependent individual as described in subdivision 34 one of this section shall have one vote in total. The minimum number of 35 votes each member shall have, regardless of population, is one. The 36 votes of all members shall be calculated with fractions being rounded to 37 the nearest whole number. The population of a county for the purposes of 38 this provision is the total population of such county less the popu- 39 lation of any city which is entitled to have members appointed on the 40 authority. 41 § 5. Section 1301 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a 42 new subdivision 26 to read as follows: 43 26. "Transit dependent" shall mean an individual who is limited to 44 public transit as their primary mode of transportation because the indi- 45 vidual has a temporary or permanent disability. 46 § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 1303 of the public authorities law, as 47 amended by chapter 388 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as 48 follows: 49 1. (a) There is hereby created the Capital District transportation 50 authority. The authority shall be a body corporate and politic consti- 51 tuting a public benefit corporation. It shall consist of not less than 52 eight nor more than fifteen members, including a chairman and shall have 53 one non-voting member as described in paragraph (b) of this subdivision. 54 At least one voting member shall be a transit dependent individual who 55 shall be appointed by the governor at the recommendation of a local or 56 statewide transit advocacy organization, provided that if a vacancyS. 3959--B 5 1 occurs for such transit dependent member position, a replacement shall 2 be appointed within six months, subject to the same appointment 3 process within this paragraph. The members shall be appointed by the 4 governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate. The governor 5 shall make initial appointments to the authority in such number and from 6 lists submitted as follows: three members shall be appointed to the 7 authority from a list of six names, all of whom shall be residents of 8 the county of Albany, four of which names shall be submitted to the 9 governor by the majority party of the legislature of the county of Alba- 10 ny and two of which names shall be submitted by the minority party of 11 such legislature; two members shall be appointed to the authority from a 12 list of four names, all of whom shall be residents of the county of 13 Schenectady, three of which names shall be submitted to the governor by 14 the majority party of the legislature of the county of Schenectady and 15 one of which names shall be submitted by the minority party of such 16 legislature; two members shall be appointed to the authority from a list 17 of four names, all of whom shall be residents of the county of Rensse- 18 laer, three of which names shall be submitted to the governor by the 19 majority party of the legislature of the county of Rensselaer and one of 20 which names shall be submitted by the minority party of such legisla- 21 ture; two members shall be appointed to the authority from a list of 22 four names, all of whom shall be residents of the county of Saratoga, 23 three of which names shall be submitted to the governor by the majority 24 party of the legislature of the county of Saratoga and one of which 25 names shall be submitted by the minority party of such legislature. 26 Other counties electing to participate shall each submit to the governor 27 a list of two persons each of whom shall be a resident of such county, 28 one of which names shall be submitted to the governor by the majority 29 party of the legislature of such county and one of which names shall be 30 submitted by the minority party of such legislature, from which number 31 the governor shall appoint one member for each such county so electing 32 to participate. 33 (b) [There shall also be one] The non-voting member of the authority, 34 [which] who shall not be considered in determining a quorum[. The non-35voting member], shall be recommended to the governor by the labor organ- 36 ization representing the plurality of the employees within the authority 37 and shall be a resident of the Capital District transportation district 38 as described in section thirteen hundred two of this title. The non-vot- 39 ing member shall be appointed for a term of five years, provided, howev- 40 er, that if at any time during the term of appointment the non-voting 41 member ceases to be affiliated with the labor organization representing 42 the plurality of employees within the authority, then such labor organ- 43 ization may at any time during such term recommend a new member to the 44 governor who shall serve the remainder of the term. If the local 45 bargaining unit decertifies its existing union affiliation and certifies 46 a new union, the union which represents the plurality of the employees 47 may recommend a new member to the governor who shall serve the remainder 48 of the term. The chairman of the authority, at his or her discretion, 49 may exclude such non-voting member from attending any portion of a meet- 50 ing of the authority or of any committee held for the purpose of 51 discussing negotiations with labor organizations, pending litigation 52 involving the labor organization, or the investigation, evaluation, or 53 discipline of an employee. 54 § 7. Section 1326 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a 55 new subdivision 26 to read as follows:S. 3959--B 6 1 26. "Transit dependent" shall mean an individual who is limited to 2 public transit as their primary mode of transportation because the indi- 3 vidual has a temporary or permanent disability. 4 § 8. Subdivision 1 of section 1328 of the public authorities law, as 5 separately amended by chapters 388 and 396 of the laws of 2007, is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 1. (a) There is hereby created the central New York regional transpor- 8 tation authority. The authority shall be a body corporate and politic 9 constituting a public benefit corporation. It shall consist of not more 10 than twelve members, including a chairman and shall have one non-voting 11 member as described in paragraph (b) of this subdivision. At least one 12 voting member shall be a transit dependent individual who shall be 13 appointed by the governor at the recommendation of a local or statewide 14 transit advocacy organization, provided that if a vacancy occurs for 15 such transit dependent member position, a replacement shall be appointed 16 within six months, subject to the same appointment process within 17 this paragraph. The members shall be appointed by the governor by and 18 with the advice and consent of the senate. The governor shall make 19 initial appointments to the authority in such number and from lists 20 submitted as follows: three members shall be appointed to the authority 21 from a list of not less than six names, submitted to the governor by the 22 common council of the city of Syracuse, five persons from a list of not 23 less than ten names, submitted by the legislature of the county of Onon- 24 daga and two members shall be appointed from a list of not less than 25 four names submitted by the legislature of the county of Oneida. Other 26 counties electing to participate shall each submit to the governor a 27 list of not less than two persons for each one hundred thousand or major 28 fraction of the total population, as determined by the nineteen hundred 29 seventy or any subsequent federal decennial or federal county-wide 30 special census, of the counties outside the county of Onondaga which 31 shall elect to participate, from which number the governor shall appoint 32 one member for each one hundred thousand or major fraction of the total 33 population, as determined by such federal decennial or federal county- 34 wide special census, with a maximum of three members to represent such 35 counties outside the county of Onondaga so electing to participate. 36 (b) [There shall also be one] The non-voting member of the authority, 37 [which] who shall not be considered in determining a quorum[. The non-38voting member], shall be recommended to the governor by the labor organ- 39 ization representing the plurality of the employees within the authori- 40 ty. The non-voting member shall be appointed for a term of seven years, 41 provided, however, that if at any time during the term of appointment 42 the non-voting member ceases to be affiliated with the labor organiza- 43 tion representing the plurality of employees within the authority, then 44 such labor organization may at any time during such term recommend a new 45 member to the governor who shall serve the remainder of the term. If the 46 local bargaining unit decertifies its existing union affiliation and 47 certifies a new union, the union which represents the plurality of the 48 employees may recommend a new member to the governor who shall serve the 49 remainder of the term. The chairman of the authority, at his or her 50 discretion, may exclude such non-voting member from attending any 51 portion of a meeting of the authority or of any committee held for the 52 purpose of discussing negotiations with labor organizations, pending 53 litigation involving the labor organization, or the investigation, eval- 54 uation, or discipline of an employee. 55 § 9. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 56 have become a law.
