STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3413 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 27, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EACHUS, BARRETT, WALKER, BRABENEC, SLATER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to granting each of the representatives of the counties of Dutchess, Putnam, Orange and Rockland on the metropolitan transportation authority a vote The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 2 1263 of the public authorities law, as amended by chapter 68 of the laws 3 of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 4 (1) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation authori- 5 ty." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a 6 public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a chair- 7 person, sixteen other voting members, and two non-voting and four alter- 8 nate non-voting members, as described in subparagraph two of this para- 9 graph appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of 10 the senate. Any member appointed to a term commencing on or after June 11 thirtieth, two thousand nine shall have experience in one or more of the 12 following areas: transportation, public administration, business manage- 13 ment, finance, accounting, law, engineering, land use, urban and 14 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. Four of the sixteen voting members other 17 than the chairperson shall be appointed on the written recommendation of 18 the mayor of the city of New York; and each of seven other voting 19 members other than the chairperson shall be appointed after selection 20 from a written list of three recommendations from the chief executive 21 officer of the county in which the particular member is required to 22 reside pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision. Of the members 23 appointed on recommendation of the chief executive officer of a county, EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06678-01-5
A. 3413 2 1 one such member shall be, at the time of appointment, a resident of the 2 county of Nassau, one a resident of the county of Suffolk, one a resi- 3 dent of the county of Westchester, one a resident of the county of 4 Dutchess, one a resident of the county of Orange, one a resident of the 5 county of Putnam and one a resident of the county of Rockland, provided 6 that the term of any member who is a resident of a county that has with- 7 drawn from the metropolitan commuter transportation district pursuant to 8 section twelve hundred seventy-nine-b of this title shall terminate upon 9 the effective date of such county's withdrawal from such district. Of 10 the five voting members, other than the chairperson, appointed by the 11 governor without recommendation from any other person, three shall be, 12 at the time of appointment, residents of the city of New York and two 13 shall be, at the time of appointment, residents of such city or of any 14 of the aforementioned counties in the metropolitan commuter transporta- 15 tion district. Provided however, notwithstanding the foregoing residency 16 requirement, one of the five voting members appointed by the governor 17 without recommendation from any other person, other than the chair- 18 person, may be the director of the New York state division of the budg- 19 et, and provided further that, in the event of such appointment, the 20 budget director's membership in the authority shall be deemed ex-offi- 21 cio. Provided further, one of the twelve voting members, other than the 22 chairperson, appointed by the governor without recommendation by any 23 other person, or on the recommendation of the mayor of the city of New 24 York, or of the chief executive officer of the counties of Westchester, 25 Nassau, or Suffolk shall be a transit dependent individual. A "transit 26 dependent individual" shall mean an individual who is limited to public 27 transit as their primary mode of transportation because the individual 28 has a permanent disability, provided that any local or statewide transit 29 advocacy organization may recommend one or more transit dependent indi- 30 viduals to be considered for appointment pursuant to this section. The 31 chairperson and each of the members shall be appointed for a term of six 32 years, provided however, that the chairperson first appointed shall 33 serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-one, 34 provided that thirty days after the effective date of the chapter of the 35 laws of two thousand nine which amended this subparagraph, the term of 36 the chairperson shall expire; provided, further, that such chairperson 37 may continue to discharge the duties of [his or her] their office until 38 the position of chairperson is filled by appointment by the governor 39 upon the advice and consent of the senate and the term of such new 40 chairperson shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand fifteen. The 41 sixteen other members first appointed shall serve for the following 42 terms: The members from the counties of Nassau and Westchester shall 43 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty- 44 five; the members from the county of Suffolk and from the counties of 45 Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall each serve for a term ending 46 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-two; two of the members 47 appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York shall 48 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty- 49 four and, two shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nine- 50 teen hundred eighty-one; two of the members appointed by the governor 51 without the recommendation of any other person shall each serve for a 52 term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-two, two shall each 53 serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty and one 54 shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty- 55 five. The two non-voting and four alternate non-voting members shall 56 serve until January first, two thousand one. [The members from the coun-
A. 3413 3 1 ties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall cast one collective 2 vote.] 3 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1263 of the public 4 authorities law, as amended by section 2 of part E of chapter 39 of the 5 laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 6 (a) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation authori- 7 ty." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a 8 public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a [chairman] 9 chairperson and sixteen other members appointed by the governor by and 10 with the advice and consent of the senate. Any member appointed to a 11 term commencing on or after June thirtieth, two thousand nine shall have 12 experience in one or more of the following areas of expertise: trans- 13 portation, public administration, business management, finance, account- 14 ing, law, engineering, land use, urban and regional planning, management 15 of large capital projects, labor relations, or have experience in some 16 other area of activity central to the mission of the authority. Four of 17 the sixteen members other than the [chairman] chairperson shall be 18 appointed on the written recommendation of the mayor of the city of New 19 York; and each of seven other members other than the [chairman] chair- 20 person shall be appointed after selection from a written list of three 21 recommendations from the chief executive officer of the county in which 22 the particular member is required to reside pursuant to the provisions 23 of this subdivision. Of the members appointed on recommendation of the 24 chief executive officer of a county, one such member shall be, at the 25 time of appointment, a resident of the county of Nassau; one a resident 26 of the county of Suffolk; one a resident of the county of Westchester; 27 and one a resident of the county of Dutchess, one a resident of the 28 county of Orange, one a resident of the county of Putnam and one a resi- 29 dent of the county of Rockland, provided that the term of any member who 30 is a resident of a county that has withdrawn from the metropolitan 31 commuter transportation district pursuant to section twelve hundred 32 seventy-nine-b of this title shall terminate upon the effective date of 33 such county's withdrawal from such district. Of the five members, other 34 than the [chairman] chairperson, appointed by the governor without 35 recommendation from any other person, three shall be, at the time of 36 appointment, residents of the city of New York and two shall be, at the 37 time of appointment, residents of such city or of any of the aforemen- 38 tioned counties in the metropolitan commuter transportation district. 39 Provided however, notwithstanding the foregoing residency requirement, 40 one of the five voting members appointed by the governor without recom- 41 mendation from any other person, other than the [chairman] chairperson, 42 may be the director of the New York state division of the budget, and 43 provided further that, in the event of such appointment, the budget 44 director's membership in the authority shall be deemed ex-officio. The 45 [chairman] chairperson and each of the members shall be appointed for a 46 term of six years, provided however, that the [chairman] chairperson 47 first appointed shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen 48 hundred eighty-one, provided that thirty days after the effective date 49 of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nine which amended this para- 50 graph, the term of the [chairman] chairperson shall expire; provided, 51 further, that such [chairman] chairperson may continue to discharge the 52 duties of [his] their office until the position of [chairman] chair- 53 person is filled by appointment by the governor upon the advice and 54 consent of the senate and the term of such new [chairman] chairperson 55 shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand fifteen. The sixteen other 56 members first appointed shall serve for the following terms: The members
A. 3413 4 1 from the counties of Nassau and Westchester shall each serve for a term 2 ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-five; the members from 3 the county of Suffolk and from the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam 4 and Rockland shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen 5 hundred ninety-two; two of the members appointed on recommendation of 6 the mayor of the city of New York shall each serve for a term ending 7 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-four and, two shall each serve 8 for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-one; two of 9 the members appointed by the governor without the recommendation of any 10 other person shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen 11 hundred eighty-two, two shall each serve for a term ending June thirti- 12 eth, nineteen hundred eighty and one shall serve for a term ending June 13 thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-five. [The members from the counties 14 of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall cast one collective 15 vote.] 16 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amend- 17 ments to subparagraph 1 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 18 1263 of the public authorities law made by section one of this act shall 19 be subject to the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to 20 section 3 of chapter 549 of the laws of 1994, as amended, when upon such 21 date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.