STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2622 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the public authorities law, in relation to congestion pricing in New York city, and repealing certain provisions of the vehicle and traffic law, the public authori- ties law, the public officers law, the tax law, and subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, amending the vehicle and traf- fic law and the public authorities law relating to establishing a central business district tolling program in the city of New York and amending the public officers law relating to confidentiality of certain public records, relating thereto (Part A); to amend the public authorities law, in relation to the membership of the metropolitan transportation authority (Part B); and to amend the public authorities law, in relation to commissioning an independent forensic audit of the metropolitan transportation authority; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof (Part C) The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act enacts into law components of legislation relating 2 to the metropolitan transportation authority. Each component is wholly 3 contained within a Part identified as Parts A through C. The effective 4 date for each particular provision contained within such Part as set 5 forth in the last section of such Part. Any provision in any section 6 contained within a Part, including the effective date of the Part, which 7 makes a reference to a section "of this act", when used in connection 8 with that particular component, shall be deemed to mean and refer to the 9 corresponding section of the Part in which it is found. Section two of 10 this act sets forth the general effective date of this act. 11 PART A EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06431-01-5
S. 2622 2 1 Section 1. Article 44-C of the vehicle and traffic law is REPEALED. 2 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 1630 of the vehicle and traffic law, as 3 amended by section 2 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of the laws 4 of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 5 4. Charging of tolls, taxes, fees, licenses or permits for the use of 6 the highway or any of its parts [or entry into or remaining within the 7 central business district established by article forty-four-C of this 8 chapter], where the imposition thereof is authorized by law. 9 § 3. Paragraph (s) of subdivision 9 of section 553 of the public 10 authorities law is REPEALED. 11 § 4. Subdivision 12-a of section 553 of the public authorities law is 12 REPEALED. 13 § 5. Section 553-j of the public authorities law is REPEALED. 14 § 6. Paragraph (p) of subdivision 2 of section 87 of the public offi- 15 cers law is REPEALED. 16 § 7. Section 553-k of the public authorities law is REPEALED. 17 § 8. Sections 9, 10, and 11 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of 18 the laws of 2019, amending the vehicle and traffic law and the public 19 authorities law relating to establishing a central business district 20 tolling program in the city of New York and amending the public officers 21 law relating to confidentiality of certain public records, are REPEALED. 22 § 9. Section 566-a of the public authorities law, as amended by 23 section 12 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, 24 is amended to read as follows: 25 § 566-a. Tax contract by the state. 1. It is hereby found, determined 26 and declared that the authority and the carrying out of its corporate 27 purposes is in all respects for the benefit of the people of the state 28 of New York, for the improvement of their health, welfare and prosper- 29 ity, and, in the case of some of the said purposes, for the promotion of 30 their traffic, and that said purposes are public purposes and, in the 31 case of those purposes which consist of vehicular bridges, vehicular 32 tunnels and approaches thereto [and the central business district toll- 33 ing program], the project is an essential part of the public highway 34 system and the authority will be performing an essential governmental 35 function in the exercise of the powers conferred by this title, and the 36 state of New York covenants with the purchasers and with all subsequent 37 holders and transferees of bonds issued after January first, nineteen 38 hundred thirty-nine by the authority pursuant to this title, in consid- 39 eration of the acceptance of any payment for the bonds that the bonds of 40 the authority issued after January first, nineteen hundred thirty-nine 41 pursuant to this title and the income therefrom, and all moneys, funds, 42 tolls and other revenues pledged to pay or secure the payment of such 43 bonds, shall at all times be free from taxation except for estate taxes 44 and taxes on transfers by or in contemplation of death. 45 2. Nothing herein shall be construed to repeal or supersede any tax 46 exemptions heretofore or hereafter granted by general or other laws. 47 § 10. Subsection (jjj) of section 606 of the tax law, as added by 48 section 1 of subpart F of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, is 49 REPEALED. 50 § 11. This act shall take effect immediately. 51 PART B 52 Section 1. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 53 1263 of the public authorities law, as amended by section 1 of part E of 54 chapter 39 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
S. 2622 3 1 (1) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation authori- 2 ty." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a 3 public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a [chairman] 4 chairperson, [sixteen] seventeen other voting members, and two non-vot- 5 ing and four alternate non-voting members, as described in subparagraph 6 two of this paragraph appointed by the governor by and with the advice 7 and consent of the senate. Any member appointed to a term commencing on 8 or after June thirtieth, two thousand nine shall have experience in one 9 or more of the following areas: transportation, public administration, 10 business management, finance, accounting, law, engineering, land use, 11 urban and regional planning, management of large capital projects, labor 12 relations, or have experience in some other area of activity central to 13 the mission of the authority. Four of the [sixteen] seventeen voting 14 members, one member from each of New York city's five boroughs, as 15 defined in section 2-202 of the administrative code of the city of New 16 York, other than the [chairman] chairperson shall be appointed on the 17 written recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York; and each of 18 seven other voting members other than the [chairman] chairperson shall 19 be appointed after selection from a written list of three recommenda- 20 tions from the chief executive officer of the county in which the 21 particular member is required to reside pursuant to the provisions of 22 this subdivision. Of the members appointed on recommendation of the 23 chief executive officer of a county, one such member shall be, at the 24 time of appointment, a resident of the county of Nassau, one a resident 25 of the county of Suffolk, one a resident of the county of Westchester, 26 one a resident of the county of Dutchess, one a resident of the county 27 of Orange, one a resident of the county of Putnam and one a resident of 28 the county of Rockland, provided that the term of any member who is a 29 resident of a county that has withdrawn from the metropolitan commuter 30 transportation district pursuant to section twelve hundred 31 seventy-nine-b of this title shall terminate upon the effective date of 32 such county's withdrawal from such district. Of the five voting members, 33 other than the [chairman] chairperson, appointed by the governor without 34 recommendation from any other person, three shall be, at the time of 35 appointment, residents of the city of New York and two shall be, at the 36 time of appointment, residents of such city or of any of the aforemen- 37 tioned counties in the metropolitan commuter transportation district. 38 Provided however, notwithstanding the foregoing residency requirement, 39 one of the five voting members appointed by the governor without recom- 40 mendation from any other person, other than the [chairman] chairperson, 41 may be the director of the New York state division of the budget, and 42 provided further that, in the event of such appointment, the budget 43 director's membership in the authority shall be deemed ex-officio. The 44 [chairman] chairperson and each of the members shall be appointed for a 45 term of six years, provided however, that the [chairman] chairperson 46 first appointed shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen 47 hundred eighty-one, provided that thirty days after the effective date 48 of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nine which amended this 49 subparagraph, the term of the [chairman] chairperson shall expire; 50 provided, further, that such [chairman] chairperson may continue to 51 discharge the duties of [his or her] their office until the position of 52 [chairman] chairperson is filled by appointment by the governor upon the 53 advice and consent of the senate and the term of such new [chairman] 54 chairperson shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand fifteen. The 55 [sixteen] seventeen other members first appointed shall serve for the 56 following terms: The members from the counties of Nassau and Westchester
S. 2622 4 1 shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 2 eighty-five; the members from the county of Suffolk and from the coun- 3 ties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall each serve for a 4 term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-two; two of the 5 members appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York 6 shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 7 eighty-four and, two shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, 8 nineteen hundred eighty-one; two of the members appointed by the gover- 9 nor without the recommendation of any other person shall each serve for 10 a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-two, two shall 11 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty and 12 one shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 13 eighty-five. Thirty days after the effective date of the chapter of the 14 laws of two thousand twenty-five which amended this subparagraph, the 15 terms of the members appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the 16 city of New York shall expire, provided, that such members may continue 17 to discharge the duties of their office until the positions are filled 18 by appointment on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York 19 and the term of three of such new members shall terminate June thirti- 20 eth, two thousand twenty-seven, and the term of two of such new members 21 shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand thirty. The two non-voting 22 and four alternate non-voting members shall serve until January first, 23 two thousand one. The members from the counties of Dutchess, Orange, 24 Putnam and Rockland shall cast one collective vote. 25 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1263 of the public 26 authorities law, as amended by section 2 of part E of chapter 39 of the 27 laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 28 (a) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation authori- 29 ty." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a 30 public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a [chairman] 31 chairperson and [sixteen] seventeen other members appointed by the 32 governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate. Any member 33 appointed to a term commencing on or after June thirtieth, two thousand 34 nine shall have experience in one or more of the following areas of 35 expertise: transportation, public administration, business management, 36 finance, accounting, law, engineering, land use, urban and regional 37 planning, management of large capital projects, labor relations, or have 38 experience in some other area of activity central to the mission of the 39 authority. [Four] Five of the [sixteen] seventeen members, one member 40 from each of New York city's five boroughs, as defined in section 2-202 41 of the administrative code of the city of New York, other than the 42 [chairman] chairperson shall be appointed on the written recommendation 43 of the mayor of the city of New York; and each of seven other members 44 other than the [chairman] chairperson shall be appointed after selection 45 from a written list of three recommendations from the chief executive 46 officer of the county in which the particular member is required to 47 reside pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision. Of the members 48 appointed on recommendation of the chief executive officer of a county, 49 one such member shall be, at the time of appointment, a resident of the 50 county of Nassau; one a resident of the county of Suffolk; one a resi- 51 dent of the county of Westchester; and one a resident of the county of 52 Dutchess, one a resident of the county of Orange, one a resident of the 53 county of Putnam and one a resident of the county of Rockland, provided 54 that the term of any member who is a resident of a county that has with- 55 drawn from the metropolitan commuter transportation district pursuant to 56 section twelve hundred seventy-nine-b of this title shall terminate upon
S. 2622 5 1 the effective date of such county's withdrawal from such district. Of 2 the five members, other than the [chairman] chairperson, appointed by 3 the governor without recommendation from any other person, three shall 4 be, at the time of appointment, residents of the city of New York and 5 two shall be, at the time of appointment, residents of such city or of 6 any of the aforementioned counties in the metropolitan commuter trans- 7 portation district. Provided however, notwithstanding the foregoing 8 residency requirement, one of the five voting members appointed by the 9 governor without recommendation from any other person, other than the 10 [chairman] chairperson, may be the director of the New York state divi- 11 sion of the budget, and provided further that, in the event of such 12 appointment, the budget director's membership in the authority shall be 13 deemed ex-officio. The [chairman] chairperson and each of the members 14 shall be appointed for a term of six years, provided however, that the 15 [chairman] chairperson first appointed shall serve for a term ending 16 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-one, provided that thirty days 17 after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nine 18 which amended this paragraph, the term of the [chairman] chairperson 19 shall expire; provided, further, that such [chairman] chairperson may 20 continue to discharge the duties of [his] their office until the posi- 21 tion of [chairman] chairperson is filled by appointment by the governor 22 upon the advice and consent of the senate and the term of such new 23 [chairman] chairperson shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand 24 fifteen. The sixteen other members first appointed shall serve for the 25 following terms: The members from the counties of Nassau and Westchester 26 shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 27 eighty-five; the members from the county of Suffolk and from the coun- 28 ties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall each serve for a 29 term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-two; two of the 30 members appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York 31 shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 32 eighty-four and, two shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, 33 nineteen hundred eighty-one; two of the members appointed by the gover- 34 nor without the recommendation of any other person shall each serve for 35 a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-two, two shall 36 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty and 37 one shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 38 eighty-five. Thirty days after the effective date of the chapter of the 39 laws of two thousand twenty-five which amended this paragraph, the terms 40 of the members appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the city of 41 New York shall expire, provided, that such members may continue to 42 discharge the duties of their office until the positions are filled by 43 appointment on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York and 44 the term of three of such new members shall terminate June thirtieth, 45 two thousand twenty-seven, and the term of two of such new members shall 46 terminate June thirtieth, two thousand thirty. The members from the 47 counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall cast one collec- 48 tive vote. 49 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately, however, the amendments 50 to subparagraph (1) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1263 of 51 the public authorities law made by section one of this act shall be 52 subject to the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to 53 section 3 of chapter 549 of the laws of 1994, as amended, when upon such 54 date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect. 55 PART C
S. 2622 6 1 Section 1. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new 2 section 1265-c to read as follows: 3 § 1265-c. Independent forensic audit. 1. Notwithstanding any other 4 provision of law, the authority shall, within sixty days of the effec- 5 tive date of this section and at its own expense, contract with a certi- 6 fied public accounting firm for the provision of an independent, compre- 7 hensive, forensic audit of the authority. Such audit shall be performed 8 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 9 Such audit shall be independent of and in addition to the independent 10 audit of the authority conducted pursuant to section twenty-eight 11 hundred two of this chapter. 12 2. The certified independent public accounting firm providing the 13 authority's independent, comprehensive, forensic audit shall be prohib- 14 ited from providing audit services if the lead or coordinating audit 15 partner having primary responsibility for the audit, or the audit part- 16 ner responsible for reviewing the audit, has performed audit services 17 for the authority within any of the ten previous fiscal years of the 18 authority. 19 3. The certified independent accounting firm performing the audit 20 pursuant to this section shall be prohibited from performing any non-au- 21 dit services for the authority contemporaneously with such audit. 22 4. It shall be prohibited for the certified independent public 23 accounting firm to perform for the authority any audit service if the 24 chief executive officer, comptroller, chief financial officer, chief 25 accounting officer or any other person serving in an equivalent position 26 in the authority was an employee, consultant or independent contractor 27 of such certified independent public accounting firm and participated in 28 any capacity in the audit of the authority at any time in the past. 29 5. The certified independent public accounting firm contracted to 30 perform the independent, comprehensive, forensic audit of the authority 31 pursuant to this section shall, on or before January first, two thousand 32 twenty-six, report its findings, conclusions and recommendations to the 33 governor, the state comptroller, the temporary president of the senate, 34 the speaker of the assembly, the chair and ranking minority member of 35 the senate finance committee, the chair and ranking minority member of 36 the assembly ways and means committee, the chairs and ranking minority 37 members of the senate and the assembly corporations, authorities and 38 commissions committees, and the chairs and ranking minority members of 39 the senate and the assembly transportation committees. 40 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be 41 deemed repealed upon the delivery of the report required pursuant to 42 subdivision 5 of section 1265-c of the public authorities law as added 43 by section one of this act; provided that the state comptroller shall 44 notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon receipt of such 45 report in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely 46 effective data base of the official text of the laws of the state of New 47 York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the 48 legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law. 49 § 2. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 50 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 51 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 52 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 53 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 54 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 55 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
S. 2622 7 1 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 2 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 3 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 4 the applicable effective date of Parts A through C of this act shall be 5 as specifically set forth in the last section of such Parts.