Bill Text: NY S08119 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to paratransit services within the state and city of New York during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2020-06-17 - VETOED MEMO.54 [S08119 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S08119-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8119--C IN SENATE March 23, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, HOYLMAN -- 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 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the transportation law, in relation to paratransit services within the state and city of New York during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 15-b of the transportation law is 2 amended by adding a new paragraph c to read as follows: 3 c. (1) (a) The period of validity of the paratransit certification of 4 all Americans with Disabilities Act paratransit eligible individuals, 5 whose certification would otherwise expire between March first, two 6 thousand twenty and July thirty-first, two thousand twenty, shall be 7 extended through August thirty-first, two thousand twenty. 8 (b) Each contractor providing paratransit services shall render eligi- 9 bility determinations for any application for Americans with Disabili- 10 ties Act paratransit based solely on information contained in the writ- 11 ten application and in submitted medical documentation, until August 12 thirty-first, two thousand twenty. 13 (c) All contractors providing paratransit services shall, until July 14 thirty-first, two thousand twenty, dispatch and route individual rather 15 than shared paratransit rides, to the maximum extent possible, and shall 16 notify customers as soon as practicable in advance in the event that 17 their ride will be shared with another customer. Such customers shall 18 have the right to refuse or reschedule rides that would have been 19 shared, and any such refusal or rescheduling shall be without penalty 20 provided they respond within a reasonable amount of time. 21 (d) All contractors providing paratransit services in the city of New 22 York shall ensure that all paratransit drivers and personnel providing EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16013-17-0S. 8119--C 2 1 paratransit services are provided with hand sanitizer, disposable ster- 2 ile gloves, face masks and training on preventive measures to protect 3 customers, paratransit drivers and personnel providing paratransit 4 services from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, consistent with 5 current guidelines from the federal centers for disease control and 6 prevention, the federal occupational safety and health administration, 7 and the New York state department of health. 8 (2) Any contractor providing paratransit services is authorized to 9 extend any date set forth in clause (a), (b) or (c) of subparagraph one 10 of this paragraph, if, in the interest of the health and safety of the 11 public due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, such contractor deems 12 such extension to be necessary. 13 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 15-c of the transportation law is 14 amended by adding a new paragraph e to read as follows: 15 e. (1) (a) The period of validity of the paratransit certification of 16 all Americans with Disabilities Act paratransit eligible individuals, 17 whose certification would otherwise expire between March first, two 18 thousand twenty and July thirty-first, two thousand twenty, shall be 19 extended through August thirty-first, two thousand twenty. 20 (b) Each transportation provider providing paratransit services shall 21 render eligibility determinations for any application for Americans with 22 Disabilities Act paratransit based solely on information contained in 23 the written application and in submitted medical documentation, until 24 August thirty-first, two thousand twenty. 25 (c) All transportation providers providing paratransit services shall, 26 until July thirty-first, two thousand twenty, dispatch and route indi- 27 vidual rather than shared paratransit rides, to the maximum extent 28 possible, and shall notify customers as soon as practicable in advance 29 in the event that their ride will be shared with another customer. Such 30 customers shall have the right to refuse or reschedule rides that would 31 have been shared, and any such refusal or rescheduling shall be without 32 penalty provided they respond within a reasonable amount of time. 33 (d) All transportation providers providing paratransit services in 34 this state shall ensure that all paratransit drivers and personnel 35 providing paratransit services are provided with hand sanitizer, dispos- 36 able sterile gloves, face masks and training on preventive measures to 37 protect customers, paratransit drivers and personnel providing paratran- 38 sit services from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, consistent 39 with current guidelines from the federal centers for disease control and 40 prevention, the federal occupational safety and health administration, 41 and the New York state department of health. 42 (2) Any transportation provider providing paratransit services is 43 authorized to extend any date set forth in clause (a), (b) or (c) of 44 subparagraph one of this paragraph, if, in the interest of the health 45 and safety of the public due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 46 such transportation provider deems such extension to be necessary. 47 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
