STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8022 IN SENATE January 5, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to automated iden- tification of OTDA assistance program participants The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 131-ss of the social services law, as added by a 2 chapter of the laws of 2023 relating to providing for the automated 3 identification of affordability program participants, as proposed in 4 legislative bills numbers S. 4548 and A. 4876, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 § 131-ss. Automated identification of [affordability] OTDA assistance 7 program participants. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, 8 the following terms shall have the following meanings: 9 (a) "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of the office of tempo- 10 rary and disability assistance. 11 (b) "Office" or "OTDA" shall mean the office of temporary and disabil- 12 ity assistance. 13 (c) "[Affordability] OTDA assistance program participant" shall mean a 14 household that is determined to be eligible by the [appropriate agency] 15 office for any of the following programs, provided, however, that the 16 office may require written consent from OTDA assistance program partic- 17 ipants before using data obtained from any of the following programs for 18 the purposes of this section: 19 (i) Public assistance; 20 (ii) [Supplemental security income; 21 (iii) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); 22 (iv) Low income home] Home energy assistance program[; 23 (v) Veteran's disability pension; 24 (vi) Veteran's surviving spouse pension; 25 (vii) Child health plus; 26 (viii) Lifeline]; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01630-03-4
S. 8022 2 1 [(ix)] (iii) Any other income-based assistance program identified by 2 the public service commission [in consultation with] that is adminis- 3 tered and approved for inclusion under this section by the office. 4 [(c) "Office" shall mean the office of temporary disability assist- 5 ance.] 6 (d) "Utility corporation" shall [mean a corporation regulated pursuant 7 to article two of the public service law] include utility companies, 8 utility corporations, public utility companies, public utility corpo- 9 rations, gas corporations, electric corporations, or municipalities as 10 defined in section two of the public service law and regulated pursuant 11 to the public service law, a municipal corporation that provides public 12 utility services, a rural electric cooperative, or a state public 13 authority that provides utility services. 14 (e) "Utility corporation energy affordability programs" shall be 15 defined by the public service commission and shall [include] be limited 16 to utility corporation programs which are intended to assist customers 17 with energy affordability by reducing customers' energy burden. 18 2. Within one [hundred eighty days] year of the effective date of this 19 section, the commissioner shall [establish a statewide program to] 20 provide for automated identification of [eligible affordability] OTDA 21 assistance program participants for participation in utility corporation 22 energy affordability programs pursuant to subdivision four of this 23 section. 24 3. The [office shall engage with utility corporations to establish 25 automated file matching mechanisms that will provide, via electronic 26 means, to utility corporations a list of eligible affordability program 27 participants within the utility corporation's service territory] utility 28 corporation shall be responsible for working with the office to facili- 29 tate and implement the technological capabilities to allow for the 30 secure transmission of data through an interface with the office's 31 information technology infrastructure. 32 4. [The] (a) To the extent permitted by federal law, regulations and 33 policies, the office, upon the utility corporation agreeing to and sign- 34 ing the office's data terms and upon receipt of the required data 35 elements from the utility corporation, as such data elements are defined 36 by the office, shall conduct automated file matching to identify utility 37 corporation customer accounts that are also [affordability] OTDA assist- 38 ance program participants and, if permitted by federal law, regulations 39 and policies, such information shall be provided to utility corporations 40 no less than semi-annually. Utility corporation customer accounts iden- 41 tified by the office as potentially eligible for participation in avail- 42 able utility corporation energy affordability programs as a result of 43 such file matching shall be, if confirmed as eligible for such utility 44 corporation energy affordability programs by the utility corporation, 45 enrolled in such utility corporation energy affordability programs by 46 the utility corporation within sixty days of receipt by the utility 47 corporation of [the office communicating] the results of the automated 48 file [matching to the utility corporation] match. Any information 49 provided to the utility corporations related to [affordability] OTDA 50 assistance program participants pursuant to this section shall not be 51 [redacted as necessary to protect any information that is protected 52 under any state or federal privacy laws, kept confidential,] redisclosed 53 by the utility corporation and shall only be utilized for the purpose of 54 confirming eligibility in the utility corporation energy affordability 55 program and providing notifications pursuant to paragraph (b) of this 56 subdivision.
S. 8022 3 1 (b) Upon automatic enrollment in the utility corporation energy 2 affordability program, the utility corporation shall provide written 3 notification to the utility corporation energy affordability program 4 participant of their enrollment in such program. 5 (c) Except as prohibited by federal law, regulation, or policy, and 6 notwithstanding any provision of state or local law, regulation, or 7 policy to the contrary, a utility corporation is authorized to share the 8 required data elements for the purposes of and as provided for by this 9 section. 10 5. The commissioner may adopt, on an emergency basis pursuant to arti- 11 cle two of the state administrative procedure act, any rules necessary 12 to carry out the provisions of this article. 13 6. The commissioner may delegate the administration of any portion of 14 this [program] section to any state agency, social services official, 15 city, county, town, contractor or non-profit organization in accordance 16 with the provisions of this article and applicable federal requirements. 17 Provided however, such privacy and confidentiality limitations 18 prescribed in [subdivision four of] this section shall apply to any 19 entity [that] to which the commissioner delegates the administration of 20 [the program to] any portion of this section. 21 § 2. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 22 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023 relating to providing for the 23 automated identification of affordability program participants, as 24 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4548 and A. 4876, takes effect.