S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8037
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 5, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. PERSAUD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to requiring one
   voting member of the metropolitan transportation authority be a trans-
   it dependent individual; and to amend a chapter of the  laws  of  2023
   amending  the  public authorities law relating to requiring one voting
   member of the  metropolitan  transportation  authority  be  a  transit
   dependent  individual,  as  proposed  in  legislative bills numbers S.
   5069-A and A. 4504-A, in relation to the effectiveness thereof
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section
 1263  of the public authorities law, as amended by a chapter of the laws
 of 2023 amending the public authorities law relating  to  requiring  one
 voting  member of the metropolitan transportation authority be a transit
 dependent individual, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5069-A
 and A. 4504-A, is amended to read as follows:
   (1) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation  authori-
 ty."  The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a
 public  benefit  corporation.  The  authority  shall consist of a chair-
 person, sixteen other voting members, and two non-voting and four alter-
 nate non-voting members, as described in subparagraph two of this  para-
 graph  appointed  by  the governor by and with the advice and consent of
 the senate. Any member appointed to a term commencing on or  after  June
 thirtieth, two thousand nine shall have experience in one or more of the
 following areas: transportation, public administration, business manage-
 ment,  finance,  accounting,  law,  engineering,  land  use,  urban  and
 regional  planning,  management  of  large   capital   projects,   labor
 relations,  or have experience in some other area of activity central to
 the mission of the authority.  Four of the sixteen voting members  other
 than the chairperson shall be appointed on the written recommendation of
 the  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York; and each of seven other voting
 members other than the chairperson shall be  appointed  after  selection
 from  a  written  list of three recommendations from the chief executive
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD05301-04-4
 S. 8037                             2
 
 officer of the county in which the  particular  member  is  required  to
 reside  pursuant  to  the provisions of this subdivision. Of the members
 appointed on recommendation of the chief executive officer of a  county,
 one  such member shall be, at the time of appointment, a resident of the
 county of Nassau, one a resident of the county of Suffolk, one  a  resi-
 dent  of  the  county  of  Westchester,  one a resident of the county of
 Dutchess, one a resident of the county of Orange, one a resident of  the
 county  of Putnam and one a resident of the county of Rockland, provided
 that the term of any member who is a resident of a county that has with-
 drawn from the metropolitan commuter transportation district pursuant to
 section twelve hundred seventy-nine-b of this title shall terminate upon
 the effective date of such county's withdrawal from  such  district.  Of
 the  five  voting  members, other than the chairperson, appointed by the
 governor without recommendation from any other person, three  shall  be,
 at  the  time  of appointment, residents of the city of New York and two
 shall be, at the time of appointment, residents of such city or  of  any
 of  the aforementioned counties in the metropolitan commuter transporta-
 tion district. Provided however, notwithstanding the foregoing residency
 requirement, one of the five voting members appointed  by  the  governor
 without  recommendation  from  any  other  person, other than the chair-
 person, may be the director of the New York state division of the  budg-
 et,  and  provided  further  that, in the event of such appointment, the
 budget director's membership in the authority shall be  deemed  ex-offi-
 cio.    Provided further, one of the [five] TWELVE voting members, other
 than the chairperson, appointed by the governor  without  recommendation
 by  any  other person, OR ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY
 OF NEW YORK, OR OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE COUNTIES OF  WEST-
 CHESTER,  NASSAU,  OR SUFFOLK shall be a transit dependent individual. A
 "transit dependent individual" shall mean an individual who  is  limited
 to  public  transit  as their primary mode of transportation because the
 individual has a permanent disability, provided that any local or state-
 wide transit advocacy organization may recommend  one  or  more  transit
 dependent  individuals to be considered for appointment pursuant to this
 section.  The chairperson and each of the members shall be appointed for
 a term of six  years,  provided  however,  that  the  chairperson  first
 appointed shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred
 eighty-one,  provided  that  thirty days after the effective date of the
 chapter of the laws of two thousand nine  which  amended  this  subpara-
 graph, the term of the chairperson shall expire; provided, further, that
 such  chairperson  may  continue  to  discharge the duties of his or her
 office until the position of chairperson is filled by appointment by the
 governor upon the advice and consent of the senate and the term of  such
 new  chairperson  shall  terminate June thirtieth, two thousand fifteen.
 The sixteen other members first appointed shall serve for the  following
 terms:  The  members  from  the counties of Nassau and Westchester shall
 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred  eighty-
 five;  the  members  from the county of Suffolk and from the counties of
 Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall each serve for a term ending
 June  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-two;  two  of  the   members
 appointed  on  recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York shall
 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred  eighty-
 four  and,  two shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nine-
 teen hundred eighty-one; two of the members appointed  by  the  governor
 without  the  recommendation  of any other person shall each serve for a
 term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-two, two shall  each
 serve  for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty and one
 S. 8037                             3
 
 shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen  hundred  eighty-
 five.  The  two  non-voting  and four alternate non-voting members shall
 serve until January first, two thousand one. The members from the  coun-
 ties  of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall cast one collective
 vote.
   § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1263 of the public  authorities  law  is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (b-1) to read as follows:
   (B-1)  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY INCONSISTENT PROVISION OF THIS SECTION, IN
 THE EVENT THAT, UPON A VACANCY TO BE  FILLED  BY  THE  GOVERNOR  WITHOUT
 RECOMMENDATION,  OTHER THAN THE CHAIRPERSON, THERE IS NO TRANSIT DEPEND-
 ENT MEMBER SERVING, THE GOVERNOR SHALL APPOINT A TRANSIT DEPENDENT INDI-
 VIDUAL TO FILL THE VACANCY, CONSISTENT WITH PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDI-
 VISION.  PROVIDED FURTHER THAT IN THE EVENT THAT  THERE  IS  NO  TRANSIT
 DEPENDENT  MEMBER  SERVING  AND  THERE IS NO VACANCY TO BE FILLED BY THE
 GOVERNOR WITHOUT RECOMMENDATION OTHER THAN THE CHAIRPERSON, THEN UPON  A
 VACANCY  IN A SEAT FILLED BY THE GOVERNOR UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE
 MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW  YORK  SHALL
 RECOMMEND A TRANSIT DEPENDENT INDIVIDUAL TO FILL THE VACANCY, CONSISTENT
 WITH PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   §  3.  Section  2 of a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public
 authorities law relating to requiring one voting member of the metropol-
 itan transportation authority be  a  transit  dependent  individual,  as
 proposed  in  legislative  bills  numbers  S.  5069-A  and A. 4504-A, is
 amended to read as follows:
   § 2. This act shall take  effect  [immediately]  ON  THE  TWO  HUNDRED
 SEVENTIETH DAY AFTER IT SHALL HAVE BECOME A LAW; provided, however, that
 the  amendments  to  subparagraph 1 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of
 section 1263 of the public authorities law made by section one  of  this
 act  shall  not  affect  the  expiration  of such paragraph and shall be
 deemed expired therewith.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately;  provided  however,  that
 the  amendments  to  subparagraph 1 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of
 section 1263 of the public authorities law made by section 1 of this act
 shall not affect the expiration of such paragraph and  shall  be  deemed
 expired  therewith;  and  provided further, sections one and two of this
 act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as section
 one of a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public authorities law
 relating to requiring one voting member of the metropolitan  transporta-
 tion  authority be a transit dependent individual, as proposed in legis-
 lative bills numbers S. 5069-A and A. 4504-A, takes effect.