Bill Text: NY S05318 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires all public authorities owning, leasing, and controlling critical infrastructure to study the potential consequences of privatization.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS [S05318 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S05318-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         5318--A
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     April 25, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations,  Authorities
          and   Commissions  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN ACT requiring all public authorities owning, leasing, and controlling
          critical infrastructure to study the potential consequences of  priva-
          tization
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Legislative findings. 1. New York state  must  have  suffi-
     2  cient  numbers  of  properly  designed and maintained pieces of critical
     3  transportation infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, roads, airports,
     4  ports, container ports, railroads and rapid transit services in order to
     5  retain its economic competitiveness and grow its economy.
     6    2. Much of the state's existing critical infrastructure is  aging,  is
     7  experiencing capacity problems, has had maintenance problems, or in some
     8  other  manner  has  become  a  candidate for re-engineering, rebuilding,
     9  replacement or supplementation.
    10    3. The most critical and expensive  transportation  infrastructure  in
    11  New  York  state to re-engineer, rebuild or replace is under the control
    12  or ownership of public authorities,  and  such  critical  transportation
    13  infrastructure,  from  time  to  time,  is under consideration for sale,
    14  long-term lease or other transfer of ownership or control to the private
    15  business sector.
    16    § 2. For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall have  the
    17  following meanings:
    18    1.  "critical  transportation  infrastructure" shall refer to bridges,
    19  tunnels, roads, airports, ports, container ports,  railroads  and  rapid
    20  transit services owned by a state or local public authority;
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08655-02-9
        S. 5318--A                          2
     1    2.  "privatization"  shall refer to the sale, long-term lease or other
     2  transfer of ownership or control of pieces  of  critical  transportation
     3  infrastructure to the private business sector;
     4    3.  "comparable projects" shall refer to existing privatization initi-
     5  atives in the United States comparable in scope, scale and value to  the
     6  critical  transportation  infrastructure  controlled  by  state or local
     7  public authorities; and
     8    4. "privatization report" shall refer to the report  created  pursuant
     9  to this act.
    10    §  3.  1.  All  public authorities who are currently in the process of
    11  issuing concessions or selling or  otherwise  transferring,  or  issuing
    12  notices  of inquiry ("NOIs") or requests for proposal ("RFPs") for leas-
    13  ing, or selling or otherwise transferring control of any critical trans-
    14  portation infrastructure, or who have done so in  the  past  ten  years,
    15  shall  issue  a study reporting on the effects of privatization of crit-
    16  ical transportation infrastructure.
    17    2. (a) Each public authority shall issue its individual  privatization
    18  report  to  the  assembly  committees  on  corporations, authorities and
    19  commissions, economic development, transportation, and ways  and  means,
    20  and to the senate committees on commerce, economic development and small
    21  business, corporations, authorities and commissions, and transportation.
    22    (b)  Each  public  authority's  privatization report shall evaluate in
    23  detail the following:
    24    (i) the impact that sale  or  transfer  of  control  of  its  critical
    25  infrastructure  would  have  upon the authority's ability to pay any and
    26  all debt it has issued, or succeeded to, that is guaranteed  or  secured
    27  by any revenues arising from the authority's critical infrastructure, or
    28  by the ownership of such critical infrastructure;
    29    (ii)  whether the critical infrastructure involved any existing priva-
    30  tization initiatives in the United States are comparable in scope, scale
    31  and value to  the  critical  infrastructure  controlled  by  the  public
    32  authority;
    33    (iii)  the progress to date of any comparable projects and whether any
    34  such projects have experienced cost overruns  or  delays,  or  otherwise
    35  have  failed, or succeeded, in meeting the deadlines and costs put forth
    36  by the private entity.
    37    3. (a) The privatization report shall be due on or within 14  days  of
    38  December  1,  2020.  Within 90 days after the date each public authority
    39  submits the report provided for in subdivision one of  this  section  to
    40  the  committees,  such committees may, severally or collectively, submit
    41  further issues for study and inclusion in such report, which said public
    42  authorities shall study and include within such report  within  60  days
    43  after receipt of any such submission, at which point said public author-
    44  ities  shall submit the privatization report to the governor, the tempo-
    45  rary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the  minority
    46  leaders of the senate and assembly, the chairperson and ranking minority
    47  member  of  the senate corporations, authorities and commissions commit-
    48  tee, and the chairperson and ranking minority  member  of  the  assembly
    49  corporations, authorities and commissions committee.
    50    (b)  The  governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker
    51  of the assembly, the minority leaders of the senate  and  assembly,  the
    52  chairperson  and  ranking  minority  member  of the senate corporations,
    53  authorities and commissions committee, and the chairperson  and  ranking
    54  minority  member  of  the assembly corporations, authorities and commis-
    55  sions committee shall have a period of 90 days within  which  to  submit
    56  further issues for study and inclusion in such report, which said public
        S. 5318--A                          3
     1  authorities  shall  study  and include within such report within 60 days
     2  after receipt of any such submission.
     3    §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
     4  have become a law.    Effective  immediately,  the  addition,  amendment
     5  and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
     6  of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to be made and
     7  completed on or before such effective date.