Senate Bill S8566

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8566
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             November 7, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RHOADS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to require the department of transportation to study the regional
   fairness of state funding  for  local  roadway  paving  purposes;  and
   providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that  communities
 across  the state experience distinct transportation and roadway infras-
 tructure needs due  to  factors  such  as  population  density,  traffic
 volumes,  freight  movement,  and overall roadway usage. The former Long
 Island and Hudson Valley suburban highway improvement programs  (SHIPS),
 established  under  sections  10-f and 10-g of the highway law, provided
 targeted funding to address these types of regional infrastructure chal-
 lenges. Since the program was exhausted in 1997, questions  have  arisen
 as  to whether current funding streams, including the consolidated local
 street and highway improvement program (CHIPS),  state  touring  routes,
 PAVE-NY,  and  other  local  roadway  aid programs provide equitable and
 regionally fair support to localities in all parts of New  York.  It  is
 therefore  the  intent  of  the  legislature to direct the department of
 transportation to study the regional equity of  existing  local  roadway
 aid  formulas  and  programs,  and to make recommendations as to whether
 adjustments are needed, including consideration of whether SHIPS,  or  a
 substantially similar program be reestablished and funded.
   §  2.  Study.  The  department of transportation is hereby directed to
 conduct a comprehensive study on the fairness and adequacy of state  aid
 provided  to  municipalities  for  local  roadway paving and maintenance
 purposes, including, but not limited to, the consolidated  local  street
 and  highway  improvement program (CHIPS), state touring routes program,
 PAVE-NY, pave our potholes (POP),  and  other  relevant  programs.  Such
 study shall include:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14032-01-5
              

 S. 8566                             2
 
   (a)  an  evaluation  of  how  current funding formulas are calculated,
 including a breakdown of all factors used, and whether those factors are
 transparent and understandable to local governments;
   (b)  an analysis of historical and current distributions of such fund-
 ing by region, with a breakdown of  per-lane-mile  and  per-capita  aid,
 including  Long  Island,  Hudson  Valley,  New  York city, upstate urban
 areas, and rural regions;
   (c) an assessment of whether the needs of regions  with  high  traffic
 volumes,   extreme   weather   impacts,   aging  infrastructure,  higher
 construction or labor costs, or limited fiscal  capacity  are  equitably
 addressed under the current funding formulas and allocations;
   (d)  a comparison of local roadway usage, traffic volumes, and infras-
 tructure costs in all major regions relative to state aid  received  for
 roadway paving and maintenance;
   (e) an identification of funding gaps, inequities, and the eligibility
 of  project  types  or  equipment  expenses  covered  under existing aid
 programs;
   (f) a consideration of annual inflationary adjustments to local  road-
 way  aid  programs  and  whether current formulas adequately account for
 cost differentials between regions;
   (g) a comparison to other states' funding for local  road  maintenance
 programs;
   (h)  opportunities to incorporate public input, including public hear-
 ings or stakeholder consultations in each major region of the state, and
 consideration of such input in the final study; and
   (i) recommendations concerning whether changes to  existing  formulas,
 the  creation  of  new funding streams, or the reinstatement of the Long
 Island and Hudson Valley suburban highway improvement  programs  (SHIPS)
 under  sections  10-f  and  10-g  of the highway law, or a substantially
 similar program, would provide greater fairness and adequacy in  meeting
 local roadway maintenance needs.
   §  3.  Report.  The commissioner shall deliver a written report on the
 findings of the study and recommendations to the governor, the temporary
 president of the senate, minority leader of the senate, the  speaker  of
 the  assembly,  minority leader of the assembly, the chair of the senate
 transportation committee, the ranking member of the  senate  transporta-
 tion  committee, the chair of the assembly transportation committee, the
 ranking member of the assembly transportation committee,  the  chair  of
 the  senate  finance committee, the ranking member of the senate finance
 committee, the chair of the assembly ways and means committee,  and  the
 ranking  member  of  the assembly ways and means committee no later than
 one year after the effective date of this  act.  Such  report  shall  be
 publicly posted on the department of transportation and such committees'
 websites  and  shall  include regional funding distribution tables, per-
 lane-mile and per-capita comparisons,  and  summaries  of  public  input
 gathered through hearings or stakeholder consultations.
   §  4.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed one year after
 such effective date.