S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4605
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 4, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  TANNOUSIS  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
 
 AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to the metropol-
   itan transportation authority
 
   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 chapter 68 of the laws
 of 2024, 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
 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-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04054-01-5
              

 A. 4605                             2
 
 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 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 Westchester,
 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 statewide transit
 advocacy  organization may recommend one or more transit dependent indi-
 viduals 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 subparagraph, the term of
 the chairperson shall expire; provided, further, that  such  chairperson
 may  continue to discharge the duties of [his or her] THEIR 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
 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  EACH  cast  one
 [collective] vote.
 A. 4605                             3
 
   §  2.  Paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision 1 of section 1263 of the public
 authorities law, as amended by section 2 of part E of chapter 39 of  the
 laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   (a)  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 [chairman]
 CHAIR and sixteen other members 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 of expertise:  trans-
 portation, public administration, business management, finance, account-
 ing, 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 members other than the [chairman] CHAIR shall  be  appointed
 on  the written recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York; and
 each of seven other members other than the  [chairman]  CHAIR  shall  be
 appointed  after  selection from a written list of three recommendations
 from the chief executive officer of the county in which  the  particular
 member is required to reside pursuant to the provisions of this subdivi-
 sion.  Of the members appointed on recommendation of the chief executive
 officer of a county, one such member shall be, at the time  of  appoint-
 ment,  a  resident of the county of Nassau; one a resident of the county
 of Suffolk; one a resident of the county of Westchester; and one a resi-
 dent 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 withdrawn 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 members, other than the [chairman] CHAIR,
 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 commu-
 ter transportation district. Provided however, notwithstanding the fore-
 going residency requirement, one of the five voting members appointed by
 the governor without recommendation from any other  person,  other  than
 the [chairman] CHAIR, may be the director of the New York state division
 of  the budget, and provided further that, in the event of such appoint-
 ment, the budget director's membership in the authority shall be  deemed
 ex-officio.  The  [chairman]  CHAIR  and  each  of  the members shall be
 appointed for a term of six years, provided however, that the [chairman]
 CHAIR first appointed shall serve for  a  term  ending  June  thirtieth,
 nineteen  hundred eighty-one, provided that thirty days after the effec-
 tive date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nine which  amended
 this paragraph, the term of the [chairman] CHAIR shall expire; provided,
 further, that such [chairman] CHAIR may continue to discharge the duties
 of  [his]  THEIR office until the position of [chairman] CHAIR is filled
 by appointment by the governor upon the advice and consent of the senate
 and the term of such new [chairman] CHAIR shall terminate  June  thirti-
 eth,  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 thirti-
 eth, nineteen hundred  eighty-five;  the  members  from  the  county  of
 Suffolk  and  from the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland
 A. 4605                             4
 
 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  thirti-
 eth,  nineteen  hundred eighty-four and, two shall each serve for a term
 ending June thirtieth, nineteen 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, nine-
 teen hundred eighty and one shall serve for a term ending  June  thirti-
 eth,  nineteen  hundred  eighty-five.  The  members from the counties of
 Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall EACH cast  one  [collective]
 vote.
   §  3.  Subdivision 3 of section 1263 of the public authorities law, as
 amended by chapter 929 of the laws of 1986, paragraph (b) as amended  by
 chapter 14 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  [(a)]  A  majority of the whole number of members of the authority
 then in office shall constitute a quorum  for  the  transaction  of  any
 business or the exercise of any power of the authority. Except as other-
 wise specified in this title, for the transaction of any business or the
 exercise  of  any power of the authority, the authority shall have power
 to act by a majority vote of the members present at any meeting at which
 a quorum is in attendance and except further, that in the event of a tie
 vote the [chairman] CHAIR shall cast one additional vote.
   [(b) For purposes of determining the presence of  a  quorum,  and  for
 purposes  of  participation  on  any  committee  or  subcommittee, those
 members who collectively cast a single vote pursuant to  the  provisions
 of  paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section shall be considered
 to be a single member, and the presence of such member shall  be  deter-
 mined as provided in this subdivision. Except as otherwise provided in a
 by-law  adopted as hereinafter provided, such single member constituting
 those members entitled to a collective vote shall be deemed present as a
 single member for purposes of a quorum if one or  more  of  the  members
 then  in  office  entitled  to cast such collective vote is present, and
 such collective vote shall be  cast  in  accordance  with  the  majority
 agreement  of  the members entitled to a collective vote who are present
 or in the event a single member entitled to a collective vote is present
 it shall be cast by that member.  To  evidence  the  existence  of  such
 majority agreement among the members entitled to a collective vote, each
 such  member  shall  be  polled  as  to  his vote and such poll shall be
 recorded in the minutes. In the event a majority vote is not achieved by
 the members entitled to a collective vote who are present, then the vote
 shall not be cast. Nothing herein shall limit the right of an individual
 member to participate in board meetings or in other  activities  of  the
 authority when the other members then in office entitled to collectively
 cast  a  vote  are not present. At any meeting of the authority at which
 there is a quorum including all the members then in office  entitled  to
 cast  a  collective  vote,  the  authority may adopt a by-law or by-laws
 regulating the casting of such collective  vote,  provided  all  members
 then  in office entitled to cast a collective vote affirmatively approve
 such by-law or by-laws. Any action taken by the authority in  accordance
 with  any  such  by-law or by-laws adopted pursuant to the provisions of
 this paragraph shall take effect in the same manner as any other  action
 of  the  authority. Any such by-law or by-laws shall not provide for the
 casting of any fractional vote. Nor  shall  such  a  by-law  or  by-laws
 provide  for  the  amendment, repeal or adoption in the future of such a
 A. 4605                             5

 by-law or by-laws in a manner other than that set forth  in  this  para-
 graph.
   (c)  No provision of paragraph (b) of this subdivision relating to the
 adoption of certain by-laws by the authority shall affect the manner  in
 which  by-laws of the authority are adopted concerning any subject other
 than the voting and presence for quorum purposes of the members from the
 counties of Dutchess, Putnam, Orange and Rockland.
   (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision one
 of this section, any member  appointed  from  the  county  of  Dutchess,
 Orange,  Putnam  or  Rockland  prior  to  the  increase in the number of
 members of the authority to include a member from each such county shall
 continue in office as the member from such counties pursuant to  section
 five  of  the public officers law until the appointment and confirmation
 of all of the new members from such counties pursuant to the  provisions
 of  this  section, and no individual member exercising a collective vote
 appointed and confirmed pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision one  of
 this  section shall take office until all such new members are appointed
 and confirmed.]
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the  amend-
 ments  to  paragraph  (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1263 of the public
 authorities law made by section one of this act shall be subject to  the
 expiration  and  reversion  of such paragraph pursuant to chapter 549 of
 the laws of 1994, as amended, when upon  such  date  the  provisions  of
 section two of this act shall take effect.