BILL NUMBER: S8883

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act establishing the "COVID-19 livery recovery act"

 
PURPOSE:

Enacts the "COVID-19 livery recovery act" to require the NYC Taxi and
Limousine Commission to allow the livery sector to recover from the
devastating affect COVID-19 on it by issuing a limited number of for-
hire vehicle licenses exclusively for affiliation with local livery
bases, equal to the number of livery-affiliated licenses which were lost
since the onset of COVID-19.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill is the short title.

Section 2 of the bill requires the local TLC to issue a limited number
of "livery recovery licenses" for the exclusive purpose of affiliating
              

additional independent livery drivers with local livery bases.

Section 3 of the bill limits the number of livery recovery licenses to
the difference between the number of licenses that were affiliated with
all local livery bases, on a per-livery-base basis, as of February 28,
2020, and the number of licenses that remain affiliated with all such
livery bases, on a per-livery-base basis, as of April 30, 2022.

Section 4 of the bill requires applicants who receive a livery recovery
license to affiliate with a livery base which saw a reduction in, and
has not fully recouped, the number of its affiliated drivers.

Section 5 of the bill provides that livery recovery licenses convert
into for-hire vehicle licenses, for all purposes under local law or
regulation, upon the elimination of the local TLC cap on for-hire vehi-
cle licenses.

Section 6 of the bill provides definitions.

Section 7 of the bill sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 2018, New York City enacted a 12-month moratorium (the "cap") (LL
144-B of 2018) on issuing new For-hire Vehicle ("FHV") licenses. The cap
was placed to fight congestion exacerbated by the rapid expansion of
Uber, Lyft, and alike, which flooded over 100,000 Black Car-affiliated
FHVs onto the City streets between 2011 and 2018.  Unfortunately, the
cap was imposed on all FHV sectors, including the local livery sector
(which serves upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs). This is despite
livery not having been a driver of congestion, as there were approxi-
mately 14,000 Livery Cars in 2018.  With the expiration of the 12-month
moratorium) the Taxi & Limousine Commission ("TLC"), pursuant to its own
regulatory authority, extended the embargo on issuing new FHV licenses.

Subsequently, with the advent of COVID-19 and the economic shutdown that
ensued, the demand for FHV transportation plummeted, causing many FHV
drivers to leave the industry. And, given that the livery model is the
lowest-profit sector in the FHV industry due to its affordability,
livery was the most severely impacted by the shutdown (resulting in
decreased demand), contracting from about 12,000 livery-affiliated FHVs
in the beginning of 2020 (pre-COVID) to less than 6,000 livery-affiliat-
ed FHVs in 2022.

As the pandemic has eased and passenger demand is returning, livery
bases are finding themselves unable to answer the increased demand, and
are often forced to leave passengers stranded after they have made a
reservation. Most other businesses are able to answer increased and/or
return of demand to pre-COVID times by hiring more employees, extending
opening hours, etc. However, the livery sector is precluded from replac-
ing lost drivers by the TLC's regulatory embargo on new licenses.

Unfortunately, on March 23, 2022, the TLC voted to extend the global
moratorium on issuing any new FHV permits yet again. This new reality is
placing a disproportionate harm on livery bases, leaving these small,
local businesses in the economically perilous condition of collapsing.

Thus, the livery industry has been injured by the cap twice. First by
losing 2,000 livery-affiliated FHV licenses (from 14,000 in 2018 to
12,000 in 2020) due to the imposition of a global embargo on new
licenses, and subsequently by losing 6,000 livery-affiliated FHV
licenses (from 12,000 in 2020 to 6,000 in 2020) due to the pandemic that
cannot be replaced. By lumping livery-affiliated FHV licenses lost due
to normal attrition with livery-affiliated FHV licenses lost due to the
pandemic under the same moratorium of issuing new FHV licenses, the TLC
is exacerbating the damage caused by COVID-19, by failing to provide
livery bases the opportunity to replace livery-affiliated FHV licenses
lost due to COVID-19 to answer renewed demand.

The public policy of the State of New York has been to assist businesses
to recover from COVID-19. Now, local livery bases' only means of meeting
the return of demand is by replacing the livery-affiliated FHV licenses
it is regulatorily precluded from replacing. The purpose of this legis-
lation is likewise to place the livery sector back in the status quo
ante with its position prior to the COVID-19 pandemic's negative impact
on the industry, by allowing for the distribution of an equal amount of
livery-affiliated FHV licenses lost to be issued to exclusively service
the livery sector.  This limited and just remedy would prevent the
livery sector from being hurt twice (losing livery drivers because of
COVID-19 and the inability to replace them due to the license cap),
without significantly reworking the TLC's overall policies regarding its
cap on other FHV licenses globally.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.