STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7774 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY June 15, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SIMON -- 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's voting members and requires such authority to approve new financial obligations by a two-thirds vote; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1263 of the 2 public authorities law is REPEALED and a new paragraph (a) is added to 3 read as follows: 4 (a)(1) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation 5 authority." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic consti- 6 tuting a public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a 7 chairman, eight other voting members or collectives, and two non-voting 8 and four alternate non-voting members, as described in subparagraph two 9 of this paragraph appointed by the governor by and with the advice and 10 consent of the senate. Any member appointed to a term commencing on or 11 after June thirtieth, two thousand nine shall have experience in one or 12 more of the following areas: transportation, public administration, 13 business management, finance, accounting, law, engineering, land use, 14 urban and regional planning, management of large capital projects, labor 15 relations, or have experience in some other area of activity central to 16 the mission of the authority. Two of the eight voting members or collec- 17 tives other than the chairman shall be members appointed on the written 18 recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York upon the advice and 19 consent of the New York City council; two of the voting members other 20 than the chairman shall be members appointed by the governor upon the 21 advice and consent of the senate; one of the voting members other than 22 the chairman shall be the comptroller for New York City; one of the 23 voting members other than the chairman shall be the state comptroller EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08595-01-3
A. 7774 2 1 except where such member has a conflict of interest where the deputy 2 state comptroller shall be a voting member of the board; one of the 3 collectives, which shall hold one collective vote, shall be made up of 4 the county executives for Orange county, Putnam county, Rockland county, 5 Dutchess county, and Westchester county; and the other collective, which 6 shall hold one collective vote, shall be made up of the Nassau county 7 comptroller and the Suffolk county comptroller. The chairman shall be 8 appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate and shall 9 not vote unless there is a tie in the number of votes between the other 10 eight voting members and collectives. Of the two voting members, other 11 than the chairman, appointed by the governor, one shall be, at the time 12 of appointment, a resident of the city of New York and one shall be, at 13 the time of appointment, a resident of such city or of any of the afore- 14 mentioned counties in the metropolitan commuter transportation district. 15 The chairman and each of the appointed members shall be appointed for a 16 term of four years, provided however, that thirty days after the effec- 17 tive date of this subparagraph, the term of the chairman shall expire; 18 provided, further, that such chairman may continue to discharge the 19 duties of his or her office until the position of chairman is filled by 20 appointment by the governor upon the advice and consent of the senate 21 and the term of such new chairman shall terminate June thirtieth, two 22 thousand twenty-seven. The two non-voting and four alternate non-voting 23 members shall serve until January first, two thousand twenty-seven. 24 (2)(i) There shall be two non-voting members and four alternate non- 25 voting members of the authority, as referred to in subparagraph one of 26 this paragraph. 27 (ii) The first non-voting member shall be a regular mass transit user 28 of the facilities of the authority and be recommended to the governor by 29 the New York city transit authority advisory council. The first alter- 30 nate non-voting member shall be a regular mass transit user of the 31 facilities of the authority and be recommended to the governor by the 32 Metro-North commuter council. The second alternate non-voting member 33 shall be a regular mass transit user of the facilities of the authority 34 and be recommended to the governor by the Long Island Rail Road 35 commuter's council. 36 (iii) The second non-voting member shall be recommended to the gover- 37 nor by the labor organization representing the majority of employees of 38 the Long Island Rail Road. The third alternate non-voting member shall 39 be recommended to the governor by the labor organization representing 40 the majority of employees of the New York city transit authority. The 41 fourth alternate non-voting member shall be recommended to the governor 42 by the labor organization representing the majority of employees of the 43 Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company. The chairman of the authority, at 44 his direction, may exclude such non-voting member or alternate non-vot- 45 ing member from attending any portion of a meeting of the authority or 46 of any committee established pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision 47 four of this section held for the purpose of discussing negotiations 48 with labor organizations. 49 (iv) The non-voting member and the two alternate non-voting members 50 representing the New York York city transit authority advisory council, 51 the Metro-North commuter council, and the Long Island Rail Road 52 commuter's council shall serve eighteen month rotating terms, after 53 which time an alternate non-voting member shall become the non-voting 54 member and the rotation shall continue until each alternate member has 55 served at least one eighteen month term as a non-voting member. The 56 other non-voting member and alternate non-voting members representing
A. 7774 3 1 the New York city transit authority, Metro-North Commuter Railroad 2 Company, and the Long Island Rail Road labor organizations shall serve 3 eighteen month rotating terms, after which time an alternate non-voting 4 member shall become the non-voting member and the rotation shall contin- 5 ue until each alternate member has served at least one eighteen month 6 term as a non-voting member. The transit authority and the commuter 7 railroads shall not be represented concurrently by the two non-voting 8 members during any such eighteen month period. 9 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 1263 of the public 10 authorities law, as amended by chapter 929 of the laws of 1986, is 11 amended to read as follows: 12 (a) A majority of the whole number of members of the authority then in 13 office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business or 14 the exercise of any power of the authority. Except as otherwise speci- 15 fied in this title, for the transaction of any business or the exercise 16 of any power of the authority, the authority shall have power to act by 17 a majority vote of the members present at any meeting at which a quorum 18 is in attendance and except further, [that in the event of a tie vote 19 the chairman shall cast one additional vote] that all votes involving 20 the authority taking on any new financial obligation must be by a two- 21 thirds vote of its member then in office. 22 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.