Bill Text: NY S06766 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to contracts for the transportation of school children.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S06766 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S06766-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6766 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE June 16, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the education law and the tax law, in relation to contracts for the transportation of school children The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 14 of section 305 of the educa- 2 tion law, as amended by chapter 273 of the laws of 1999, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 a. (1) All contracts for the transportation of school children, all 5 contracts to maintain school buses owned or leased by a school district 6 that are used for the transportation of school children, all contracts 7 for mobile instructional units, and all contracts to provide, maintain 8 and operate cafeteria or restaurant service by a private food service 9 management company shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner, 10 who may disapprove a proposed contract if, in his or her opinion, the 11 best interests of the district will be promoted thereby. Except as 12 provided in paragraph e of this subdivision, all such contracts involv- 13 ing an annual expenditure in excess of the amount specified for purchase 14 contracts in the bidding requirements of the general municipal law shall 15 be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, which responsibility shall 16 be determined by the board of education or the trustee of a district, 17 with power hereby vested in the commissioner to reject any or all bids 18 if, in his or her opinion, the best interests of the district will be 19 promoted thereby and, upon such rejection of all bids, the commissioner 20 shall order the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, 21 obtain and consider new proposals. All proposals for such transporta- 22 tion, maintenance, mobile instructional units, or cafeteria and restau- 23 rant service shall be in such form as the commissioner may prescribe. 24 Advertisement for bids shall be published in a newspaper or newspapers 25 designated by the board of education or trustee of the district having EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13244-01-7S. 6766 2 1 general circulation within the district for such purpose. Such adver- 2 tisement shall contain a statement of the time when and place where all 3 bids received pursuant to such advertisement will be publicly opened and 4 read either by the school authorities or by a person or persons desig- 5 nated by them. All bids received shall be publicly opened and read at 6 the time and place so specified. At least five days shall elapse between 7 the first publication of such advertisement and the date so specified 8 for the opening and reading of bids. The requirement for competitive 9 bidding shall not apply to an award of a contract for the transportation 10 of pupils or a contract for mobile instructional units, if such award is 11 based on an evaluation of proposals in response to a request for 12 proposals pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision. The requirement 13 for competitive bidding shall not apply to annual, biennial, or trienni- 14 al extensions of a contract nor shall the requirement for competitive 15 bidding apply to quadrennial or quinquennial year extensions of a 16 contract involving transportation of pupils, maintenance of school buses 17 or mobile instructional units secured either through competitive bidding 18 or through evaluation of proposals in response to a request for 19 proposals pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision, when such exten- 20 sions [(1)] (i) are made by the board of education or the trustee of a 21 district, under rules and regulations prescribed by the commissioner, 22 and, [(2)] (ii) do not extend the original contract period beyond five 23 years from the date cafeteria and restaurant service commenced there- 24 under and in the case of contracts for the transportation of pupils, for 25 the maintenance of school buses or for mobile instructional units, that 26 such contracts may be extended, except that power is hereby vested in 27 the commissioner, in addition to his or her existing statutory authority 28 to approve or disapprove transportation or maintenance contracts, [(i)] 29 (A) to reject any extension of a contract beyond the initial term there- 30 of if he or she finds that amount to be paid by the district to the 31 contractor in any year of such proposed extension fails to reflect any 32 decrease in the regional consumer price index for the N.Y., 33 N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum- 34 ers (CPI-U) during the preceding twelve month period; and [(ii)] (B) to 35 reject any extension of a contract after ten years from the date trans- 36 portation or maintenance service commenced thereunder, or mobile 37 instructional units were first provided, if in his or her opinion, the 38 best interests of the district will be promoted thereby. Upon such 39 rejection of any proposed extension, the commissioner may order the 40 board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain and 41 consider bids pursuant to the provisions of this section. The board of 42 education or the trustee of a school district electing to extend a 43 contract as provided herein, may, in its discretion, increase the amount 44 to be paid in each year of the contract extension by an amount not to 45 exceed the regional consumer price index increase for the N.Y., 46 N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum- 47 ers (CPI-U), during the preceding twelve month period, provided it has 48 been satisfactorily established by the contractor that there has been at 49 least an equivalent increase in the amount of his or her cost of opera- 50 tion, during the period of the contract. 51 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, the board 52 of education of a school district located in a city with at least one 53 million inhabitants shall include in contracts for the transportation of 54 school children in kindergarten through grade twelve, whether awarded 55 through competitive bidding or through evaluation of proposals in 56 response to a request for proposals pursuant to paragraph e of thisS. 6766 3 1 subdivision, provisions for the retention or preference in hiring of 2 school bus workers and for the preservation of wages, health, welfare 3 and retirement benefits and seniority for school bus workers who are 4 hired pursuant to such provisions for retention or preference in hiring, 5 in connection with such contracts. For purposes of this subparagraph, 6 "school bus worker" shall mean an operator, mechanic, dispatcher or 7 attendant who: (i) was employed as of June thirtieth, two thousand ten 8 or at any time thereafter by (A) a contractor that was a party to a 9 contract with the board of education of a school district located in a 10 city with at least one million inhabitants for the transportation of 11 school children in kindergarten through grade twelve, in connection with 12 such contract, or (B) a subcontractor of a contractor that was a party 13 to a contract with the board of education of a school district located 14 in a city with at least one million inhabitants for the transportation 15 of school children in kindergarten through grade twelve, in connection 16 with such contract, and (ii) has been furloughed or become unemployed as 17 a result of a loss of such contract, or a part of such contract, by such 18 contractor or such subcontractor, or as a result of a reduction in 19 service directed by such board of education during the term of such 20 contract. Any costs directly attributed to the provisions of this 21 subparagraph shall be covered by the board of education of the school 22 district located in a city with at least one million inhabitants. 23 § 2. Subdivision (a) of section 1115 of the tax law is amended by 24 adding a new paragraph 45 to read as follows: 25 (45) School buses as such term is defined in section one hundred 26 forty-two of the vehicle and traffic law, and parts, equipment, lubri- 27 cants and fuel purchased and used in their operation. 28 § 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 3627 of the education 29 law, as amended by section 7 of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of 30 2014, is amended to read as follows: 31 (b) reimbursing the cost incurred by licensed transportation carriers 32 pursuant to contracts, which may include fringe benefits including, but 33 not limited to, qualified tuition reductions allowable under federal 34 law, with such school district for providing transportation for those 35 children attending public and nonpublic schools in grades kindergarten 36 through six who remain at the same school for which they are enrolled 37 for regularly scheduled academic classes from half-past nine o'clock in 38 the morning or earlier until four o'clock in the afternoon or later, on 39 weekdays, and reside at least one mile from their school of attendance 40 for grades three through six, and at least one-half mile from their 41 school of attendance for grades kindergarten through two. Provided, 42 however, that qualified tuition reductions allowed by this paragraph and 43 subdivision one of section thirty-six hundred twenty-three-a of this 44 part shall not annually exceed four million dollars. 45 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 3623-a of the education law is amended 46 by adding a new paragraph g to read as follows: 47 g. For transportation contracts provided pursuant to section thirty- 48 six hundred twenty-seven of this part, which may include fringe benefits 49 including, but not limited to, qualified tuition reductions allowable 50 under federal law. Provided however that qualified tuition reductions 51 allowed by this subdivision and paragraph b of subdivision one of 52 section thirty-six hundred twenty-seven of this part shall not annually 53 exceed four million dollars. 54 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 55 the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect on the first 56 day of a quarterly sales tax period, as set forth in subdivision (b) ofS. 6766 4 1 section 1136 of the tax law, next succeeding April 1, 2018 and sections 2 three and four of this act shall be deemed to have been in full force 3 and effect on and after section 23 of part A of chapter 57 of the laws 4 of 2013, took effect.
