Bill Text: NY S04611 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to collective employment negotiations, notice of the issuance of debt and capital plans and projects of the port authority of New York and New Jersey.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS [S04611 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S04611-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4611

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 13, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  LANZA  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations,  Authorities
          and Commissions

        AN  ACT  to  amend  chapter 154 of the laws of 1921 relating to the port
          authority of New York  and  New  Jersey,  in  relation  to  collective
          employment  negotiations,  notice  of the issuance of debt and capital
          plans and projects

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Subparagraph 4 of paragraph e of subdivision 6 of article
     2  IV of section 1 of chapter 154 of the laws of 1921 relating to the  port
     3  authority  of  New York and New Jersey, as amended by chapter 559 of the
     4  laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
     5    (4) interview any officer or employee of the  port  authority  or  its
     6  subsidiaries on any matter related to the performance of such officer or
     7  employee's  official  duties.  [To  the  extent that any portion of this
     8  paragraph is inconsistent with any current  contractual  obligations  of
     9  the  port  authority,  this  paragraph  shall not be applicable to those
    10  obligations until the earliest  expiration  of  those  terms  under  the
    11  contract]  To  the extent that the terms and conditions of employment of
    12  any employee are established by collective negotiations,  any  interview
    13  conducted  pursuant  to  this  paragraph  must be in accordance with any
    14  applicable provisions of  the  current,  or  most  recent,  if  expired,
    15  collective  negotiations  agreement covering the terms and conditions of
    16  employment of the employee;
    17    § 2. Subdivision 8 of article IV of section 1 of chapter  154  of  the
    18  laws  of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New Jersey,
    19  as added by chapter 559 of the laws of  2015,  is  amended  to  read  as
    20  follows:
    21    8.  a. The port authority, at the request of the assembly or senate of
    22  the  New York state legislature or the general assembly or senate of the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08704-01-3
        S. 4611                             2

     1  New Jersey state legislature, shall  be  required  to  appear  before  a
     2  committee of the requesting state legislative house, upon request by the
     3  presiding  officer of that state legislative house, to present testimony
     4  on  any  topic  or  subject  requested by the committee or to respond to
     5  questions by members of the committee. The  assembly  of  the  New  York
     6  state  legislature,  the  senate  of the New York state legislature, the
     7  general assembly of the New Jersey state legislature, and the senate  of
     8  the  New  Jersey  state  legislature  shall each be entitled to two such
     9  requests per calendar year.
    10    b. Unless otherwise agreed to by the presiding officer  of  the  state
    11  legislative  house  requesting the appearance of the port authority, the
    12  port authority shall, at a minimum, be represented by the chair or vice-
    13  chair of the board, chief executive officer, the chief  financial  offi-
    14  cer,  and  any  staff deemed necessary by the chair or vice-chair of the
    15  board, chief executive officer, or the chief financial officer to  pres-
    16  ent  testimony or respond to questions at any appearance required pursu-
    17  ant to this subdivision. The presiding officer may request  the  appear-
    18  ance  of  any officer or employee of the port authority. For purposes of
    19  this subdivision, as applicable to New York state,  "presiding  officer"
    20  shall  mean speaker of the assembly of the New York state legislature or
    21  temporary president of the senate of the New York state legislature. For
    22  purposes of this subdivision, as applicable to the state of  New  Jersey
    23  "presiding officer" shall mean the president of the senate or the speak-
    24  er of the general assembly of the state of New Jersey.
    25    9.  Barrier-free  access. The port authority shall make or cause to be
    26  made all reasonable efforts to ensure that meetings are held in  facili-
    27  ties  that  permit barrier-free physical access to people with disabili-
    28  ties. If the board determines to use video conferencing or similar tech-
    29  nology to conduct its meeting, it shall provide an opportunity  for  the
    30  public to attend, listen and observe such a meeting.
    31    § 3. Subdivision 3 of article VII-B of section 1 of chapter 154 of the
    32  laws  of  1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New Jersey
    33  is amended by adding a new paragraph d to read as follows:
    34    d. 60 days prior to the issuance of any debt by the subsidiary  corpo-
    35  ration,  or  the port authority on behalf of the subsidiary corporation,
    36  the port authority shall provide notice to the governor of  each  state,
    37  the  majority leader of each house of the legislature of each state, the
    38  chair of the senate finance committee of New  York,  the  chair  of  the
    39  senate  budget  and appropriations committee of New Jersey, the chair of
    40  the assembly ways and means committee of New York, and the chair of  the
    41  assembly  budget  committee of New Jersey. For purposes of this section,
    42  as applicable to New York state "majority leader" shall mean speaker  of
    43  the assembly of the New York state legislature or temporary president of
    44  the  senate  of  the  New  York  state legislature. For purposes of this
    45  section, as applicable to the state  of  New  Jersey  "majority  leader"
    46  shall  mean  the  president  of the senate or the speaker of the general
    47  assembly of the state of New Jersey.
    48    § 4. Subdivision 3 of article VII-D of section 1 of chapter 154 of the
    49  laws of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New  Jersey,
    50  as  added  by  chapter  559  of  the laws of 2015, is amended to read as
    51  follows:
    52    3. Capital plan. a. The port authority shall adopt a ten-year  capital
    53  plan  that is developed using a comprehensive planning process and risk-
    54  based prioritization that considers  asset  condition,  operational  and
    55  revenue  impact,  threat assessment, customer service, regional benefit,
    56  and regulatory or statutory requirements.  The  capital  plan  shall  be
        S. 4611                             3

     1  dependent   upon  the  availability  of  sufficient  funding  and  other
     2  resources to pursue the capital projects proposed for the ten-year peri-
     3  od. Performance progress and revisions to reflect changes  in  programs,
     4  policies  and  projects  and the environment in which the port authority
     5  operates shall be reviewed regularly by a committee  designated  by  the
     6  board  of  commissioners,  and the capital plan shall be revised period-
     7  ically as necessary and appropriate, and  shall  be  reviewed  with  the
     8  board  of  commissioners  annually.  The port authority shall publish an
     9  annual report on the status of the capital program and such report shall
    10  be made publicly available on the port  authority's  website.  Prior  to
    11  adoption  of a capital plan, the port authority shall make such proposed
    12  plan available for public review and comments on its public website  for
    13  at  least  two weeks prior to approval, and all comments received are to
    14  be distributed to the board of commissioners for review prior to consid-
    15  eration of the capital plan.
    16    b. The port authority shall also provide that major  capital  projects
    17  are  monitored  by  independent engineering consultants. The independent
    18  consultants shall prepare annual reports to be provided to the board and
    19  made available to the public.  The annual reports prepared by  independ-
    20  ent  consultants  shall  include, but not be limited to, a comparison of
    21  actual and target performance measures including, but  not  limited  to,
    22  costs  and  construction  schedules,  and a narrative explanation of any
    23  discrepancy thereof. For the purposes of this subdivision, "major  capi-
    24  tal  project"  means  an  undertaking  or  program  for the acquisition,
    25  creation, or development of any crossing,  transportation  facility,  or
    26  commerce  facility  or any part thereof, with an estimated total project
    27  cost in excess of $500,000,000.
    28    c. No less than 60 days prior to any board adoption of a capital plan,
    29  as described in paragraph a of this subdivision, or any  major  revision
    30  of  the  last  adopted capital plan, the port authority shall notify the
    31  assembly and senate of the state of New York and  the  general  assembly
    32  and senate of the New Jersey state legislature of its intention to adopt
    33  a  capital plan, or any major revision of the last adopted capital plan.
    34  In either case, the notice shall recite the major elements of the  capi-
    35  tal plan to be adopted.
    36    d. Within 60 days of the notice provided in paragraph c of this subdi-
    37  vision,  the  port  authority  shall  conduct a public hearing about the
    38  capital plan or any major revision thereof in the state of New York  and
    39  in the the state of New Jersey.
    40    e.  The port authority shall conduct a status update public hearing in
    41  the state of New York and in the state of New Jersey at least once every
    42  three years after the adoption of the capital plan by the port  authori-
    43  ty.  Such  public hearing shall be known as "capital status update hear-
    44  ing" and at such hearing the port authority shall provide  in  detail  a
    45  written  description  of the status of all capital plan projects and the
    46  costs and the expected costs of those projects. At such public  hearing,
    47  the  port  authority  shall provide a financing plan that identifies the
    48  source of funding for each project. The port authority shall provide  an
    49  analysis  that  compares  actual  and target performance measures, and a
    50  detailed written explanation of any discrepancy thereof  at  the  public
    51  hearing.
    52    § 5. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
    53  sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
    54  competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
    55  impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
    56  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
        S. 4611                             4

     1  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
     2  ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
     3  the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
     4  invalid provisions had not been included herein.
     5    §  6.  This  act  shall take effect upon the enactment into law by the
     6  state of New Jersey of legislation having an identical effect with  this
     7  act,  and  upon  the  enactment  into  law by the state of New Jersey of
     8  legislation having an identical effect with chapter 559 of the  laws  of
     9  2015  pursuant  to  section  6  of such chapter, but if the state of New
    10  Jersey shall have already enacted such legislation, then this act  shall
    11  take  effect  immediately.  The  chairperson of the port authority shall
    12  notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the enactment  into
    13  law of such legislation by both such states in order that the commission
    14  may  maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of the official
    15  text of the laws of the state of New York in  furtherance  of  effecting
    16  the  provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of
    17  the public officers law.