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A09878 Summary:

A09878 Actions:

A09878 Committee Votes:

Committee:TRANSPORTATION   Chair:Gantt      
DATE:06/06/2016AYE/NAY:23/1  Action: Favorable refer to committee Codes        
Gantt
Aye
McDonough
Aye
Perry
Aye
Malliotakis
Aye
Cusick
Aye
Ra
Aye
Lupardo
Aye
DiPietro
Aye
Schimel
Excused
Lupinacci
Aye
DenDekker
Aye
Nojay
Aye
Crespo
Aye
Murray
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Bronson
Aye
Skartados
Aye
Skoufis
Aye
Steck
Aye
Brindisi
Aye
Simon
Nay
Jean-Pierre
Aye
Hunter
Aye
Hyndman
Aye
Williams
Aye

Committee:CODES   Chair:Lentol      
DATE:06/06/2016AYE/NAY:21/0  Action: Favorable refer to committee Ways and Means        
Lentol
Aye
Graf
Aye
Schimminger
Aye
Giglio
Aye
Weinstein
Aye
McKevitt
Aye
Hevesi
Aye
Montesano
Aye
Wright
Absent
Ra
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Tenney
Aye
Cook
Aye
Cymbrowitz
Aye
Titus
Aye
O'Donnell
Aye
Lavine
Aye
Perry
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Abinanti
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Mosley
Aye

Committee:WAYS AND MEANS   Chair:Farrell      
DATE:06/08/2016AYE/NAY:31/1  Action: Favorable refer to committee Rules        
Farrell
Aye
Oaks
Aye
Lentol
Aye
Crouch
Aye
Schimminger
Aye
Barclay
Aye
Gantt
Aye
Fitzpatrick
Aye
Weinstein
Aye
Saladino
Aye
Glick
Nay
Hawley
Aye
Nolan
Excused
Duprey
Excused
Pretlow
Aye
Corwin
Aye
Perry
Aye
Malliotakis
Aye
Colton
Aye
Walter
Aye
Cook
Aye
Cahill
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Hooper
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Wright
Aye
Cusick
Aye
Ortiz
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Markey
Aye
Moya
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Rodriguez
Aye
Ramos
Excused
Braunstein
Aye

Committee:RULES   Chair:Heastie      
DATE:06/14/2016AYE/NAY:27/0  Action: Favorable         
Heastie
Aye
Kolb
Aye
Gottfried
Aye
Tedisco
Aye
Lentol
Aye
Oaks
Aye
Farrell
Aye
Butler
Aye
Gantt
Aye
Crouch
Aye
Nolan
Aye
Finch
Excused
Weinstein
Aye
Barclay
Aye
Hooper
Aye
Raia
Aye
Ortiz
Aye
Duprey
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Cook
Aye
Glick
Aye
Morelle
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Englebright
Aye
Wright
Excused
Dinowitz
Excused
Colton
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Perry
Aye
Markey
Aye

A09878 Floor Votes:

A09878 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A9878A
 
SPONSOR: McDonald

 
TITLE OF BILL:
 
An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to authorizing
the Capital District transportation authority to enter into an agreement
with any city, town or village located within the Capital District
transportation district which has adopted an ordinance regulating the
registration and licensing of taxicab vehicles; and to authorize any
city, town or village located within the Capital District transportation
district to contract with the Capital District transportation authority
for certain purposes; and providing for the repeal of such provisions
upon expiration thereof
 
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
 
To authorize the Capital District Transportation Authority to enter into
an agreement with municipalities relating to the registration and
licensing of taxicab vehicles.
 
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
 
Section 1 - Authorizes the Capital District Transportation Authority to
enter into an agreement with certain municipalities to administer the
registration of taxicabs and the licensing of taxicab drivers.
 
Section 2 - Authorizes certain municipalities to enter into an agreement
with the Capital District Transportation Authority to administer the
registration of taxicabs and the licensing of taxicab drivers.
 
Section 3 - Effective date
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
The Capital Region has faced ongoing issues surrounding its taxicab
industry in terms of customer service, pricing, and overall quality.  In
an effort to alleviate these problems, several of its municipal govern-
ments have sought to work in concert with the Capital District Transpor-
tation Authority (CDTA) to coordinate and standardize some of the minis-
terial processes surrounding registration of taxicabs and licensing
taxicab drivers. This bill authorizes both CDTA and those municipalities
within the Capital District Transportation District (CDTC) that choose
to enter into an agreement where CDTA would manage a very limited piece
of these administrative services.
 
Taxicab service in the Capital Region has long been the subject of
controversy. Customer complaints have abounded in recent years. In a
region that is so reliant on travelers being able to move quickly and
comfortably between, for instance, the Albany International Airport or
the Rensselaer Train Station to their destination, taxi service must be
of the highest quality and consistency. This has not been the case. It
should not require an hours long wait time and excessive fees (charged,
quite frequently, in violation of local law) to simply traverse the
ten-minute distance between the Rensselaer Train Station and the New
York State Capitol.
 
This legislation seeks to give local governments and CDTA the ability to
work cooperatively to streamline administrative processes with the goal
of providing improved taxicab service to those visiting the Capital
Region. It comes at a critical point in the region's history.  As the
opening of the Albany Convention Center approaches in Albany, the Rivers
Casino in Schenectady as well as rumblings of ridesharing coming to the
area in upcoming years, providing taxi service that will benefit both
the region and its taxi service providers has never been more critical.
Regardless of whether or not ridesharing comes to the region, improved
taxi service is essential to the continued growth of the Capital Region
economy as well as local economies.  It is valuable to note that CDTA
will not be taking on the authority to make licensing decisions or which
cabs to register. Those decisions remain solely with municipal govern-
ments and will follow their municipal ordinances, as they always have.
CDTA will be working cooperatively to take on administration duties,
including a unified complaint process, but will not be making decisions.
 
This legislation accomplishes the goal of improved customer service for
those who use taxis. Additionally, this legislation will create a one
stop shop with one standard for taxi companies and drivers to have a
place to go to for their medallion as opposed to having to go to each
community to become licensed. Finally this legislation will maintain the
home rule responsibilities that local governments desire but also give
them the opportunity for a shared service effort that will save munici-
palities resources while working in a cooperative effort with CDTA to
improve the customer experience.
 
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
 
None.
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
 
None.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed
repealed July 1, 2021.

A09878 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
            S. 7359--A                                            A. 9878--A
 
                SENATE - ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 20, 2016
                                       ___________
 
        IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. BRESLIN -- read twice and ordered print-
          ed,  and  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transporta-
          tion -- committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as
          amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD, FAHY, STECK, McLAUGHLIN,
          SANTABARBARA,  GOTTFRIED,  SEPULVEDA,  ROBINSON,  BLAKE,  JEAN-PIERRE,
          CRESPO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. HOOPER, HYNDMAN -- read  once
          and   referred   to  the  Committee  on  Transportation  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation  to  authorizing
          the  Capital District transportation authority to enter into an agree-
          ment with any  city,  town  or  village  located  within  the  Capital
          District  transportation district which has adopted an ordinance regu-
          lating the registration and licensing  of  taxicab  vehicles;  and  to
          authorize  any  city,  town  or  village  located  within  the Capital
          District transportation district to contract with the Capital District
          transportation authority for certain purposes; and providing  for  the
          repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. The public authorities law  is  amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 1307-a to read as follows:
     3    §  1307-a.  Additional  special  powers  of  the authority. 1. For the
     4  purposes of this section, the following terms shall have  the  following
     5  meanings:
     6    (a)  "administer"  shall  mean  an  action carried out in a prescribed
     7  manner not  allowing for substantial personal discretion for the purpose
     8  of processing taxicab  driver  permits  and  taxicab  registrations  and
     9  licenses, consisting of: (i) making city, town or village taxicab driver
    10  permit  and taxicab vehicle registration and license applications avail-
    11  able to applicants; (ii) referring taxicab driver applicants to  medical
    12  and/or drug and alcohol testing personnel for any exam or testing as may
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14995-04-6
        S. 7359--A                          2                         A. 9878--A
 
     1  be  required to submit a taxicab driver application; (iii) acting as the
     2  designated entity for the  submission  of  such  applications  including
     3  forms  for  any  required medical exams and/or drug and alcohol testing;
     4  (iv)  processing criminal background and/or department of motor vehicles
     5  license checks as may be required by law for a taxicab  driver  applica-
     6  tion and as the authority is otherwise authorized by law to process such
     7  checks;  (v)  forwarding  applications, any required medical and/or drug
     8  and alcohol test forms and any required criminal background  or  depart-
     9  ment  of  motor  vehicles license checks to the applicable city, town or
    10  village; (vi) and, providing taxicab driver permits and taxicab  vehicle
    11  registrations  and  licenses upon receiving notification from such city,
    12  town or village that such municipality has  approved  such  applications
    13  and  issued  such permit, registration or license.  Such term shall also
    14  include the collection and forwarding of taxicab complaints to the rele-
    15  vant municipality;
    16    (b) "taxicab vehicle registration and license" shall mean the authori-
    17  ty granted by the relevant municipality, in the form of a taxicab medal-
    18  lion, for an applicant to own a vehicle designated as a taxicab and  for
    19  such taxicab to be used as such within such municipality's jurisdiction;
    20    (c)  "taxicab  driver  permit" shall mean the authority granted by the
    21  relevant municipality for an applicant to drive a vehicle with a taxicab
    22  medallion within such municipality's jurisdiction; and
    23    (d) "identical ordinance" shall mean ordinances of the several cities,
    24  towns and villages that are located in the Capital District  transporta-
    25  tion  district  that  regulate the registration and licensing of taxicab
    26  vehicles and regulate taxicab driver permits  pursuant  to  section  one
    27  hundred  eighty-one  of the general municipal law and are identical with
    28  the exception of rates for  taxicab  service  and  application,  permit,
    29  registration and license fees.
    30    2. (a) The authority is authorized to enter into an agreement with any
    31  city,  town  or  village located within the transportation district that
    32  has adopted an  identical  ordinance  regulating  the  registration  and
    33  licensing  of  taxicab  vehicles, and the permitting of taxicab drivers,
    34  pursuant to the provisions of section  one  hundred  eighty-one  of  the
    35  general  municipal law, to administer taxicab driver permits and taxicab
    36  vehicle registrations and licenses on  behalf  of  such  city,  town  or
    37  village.  Entry  into  such agreement shall be authorized only by resol-
    38  ution of the authority approved by not less than a majority of the whole
    39  number of members of the authority then in office.
    40    (b) Nothing contained in this act, or  in  any  state  or  local  law,
    41  order,  ordinance,  rule,  regulation  or  administrative code, shall be
    42  deemed to authorize the authority to approve or deny initial or  renewal
    43  of  taxicab  vehicle  registration  and  license applications or taxicab
    44  driver permit applications, or to cancel, suspend, revoke or take  other
    45  action  against  a  taxicab  vehicle registration and license or taxicab
    46  driver permit or the holder thereof, or  to  impose  any  penalties  for
    47  violations.
    48    (c)  Pursuant  to  an  agreement as described in paragraph (a) of this
    49  subdivision, the authority is authorized to perform medical or drug  and
    50  alcohol  testing for applicants to the extent the authority is currently
    51  authorized and performing such testing for the authority's bus  drivers,
    52  and  process  such  criminal  background  checks and department of motor
    53  vehicle license checks on each applicant for a taxicab driver permit  to
    54  the extent otherwise authorized by state and federal law.
    55    (d)  Nothing in this section or section two of the chapter of the laws
    56  of two thousand sixteen which added this section shall be  construed  to
        S. 7359--A                          3                         A. 9878--A
 
     1  prevent  a  city, town or village at any time to withdraw from or termi-
     2  nate an agreement to have the authority administer the issuance of taxi-
     3  cab driver permits and taxicab vehicle  registrations  and  licenses  on
     4  behalf of such city, town or village.
     5    3.  (a) The total cost to the authority of administering the agreement
     6  authorized  pursuant to this section shall  be  borne  entirely  by  the
     7  city,  town  or  village  within  the  district which is a party to such
     8  agreement.  On or before June first of each year,  the  authority  shall
     9  determine  and  certify  to each city, town or village with which it has
    10  entered into an agreement pursuant to this section the total cost to the
    11  authority for the twelve-month period ending the preceding  March  thir-
    12  ty-first,  of  administering  such  agreement  within each city, town or
    13  village, respectively. On or before the  following  September  first  of
    14  each  year, each   such city, town or village shall pay to the authority
    15  such cost so certified to it on or before the preceding June first.  Not
    16  later  than  twenty days after each such payment is submitted or is due,
    17  whichever occurs first, the authority shall submit to  the  director  of
    18  the budget and the chairpersons of the fiscal committees of the legisla-
    19  ture  a  report for each such city, town  and village showing the amount
    20  of costs so certified and the amount of payments so received or due.  If
    21  a  city,  town  or  village  fails  to  make the payment required to the
    22  authority by the twentieth day after the date such payment was due, such
    23  city, town or village shall no longer  be  deemed  a  signatory  to  the
    24  agreement  authorized  by  this  section  on  such twentieth day and the
    25  authority shall: (i) notify the director of the budget  and  the  chair-
    26  persons  of  the fiscal committees of the legislature of such occurrence
    27  within twenty-four hours of such day; and (ii) be prohibited from admin-
    28  istering the issuance of taxicab driver permits  and  taxicab  registra-
    29  tions and licenses on behalf of such city, town or village.
    30    (b)  If  the  authority  should  fail to submit any report required by
    31  paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the agreement between  the  authority
    32  and each city, town or village shall be deemed void on the ninetieth day
    33  after  the  date  such  report  was due, unless the authority shall have
    34  submitted such report prior to such ninetieth  day;  provided,  however,
    35  that  any taxicab driver permit and any taxicab vehicle registration and
    36  license issued pursuant to such agreement shall not be voided and  shall
    37  continue  in  full  force  and  effect  until its date of expiration and
    38  subject to the applicable local ordinance.
    39    4. The performance by the authority of the provisions of this  section
    40  shall,  for  the  purposes  of  this  section, be deemed to be a further
    41  purpose of the authority; provided, however, that the authority shall be
    42  prohibited from increasing omnibus fares, decreasing omnibus service, or
    43  in any way changing, modifying, or  altering  services  related  to  its
    44  primary  purpose  to  continue,  develop  and improve transportation and
    45  other services related thereto within the Capital  District  transporta-
    46  tion  district  by  railroad,  omnibus,  marine  and air as set forth in
    47  section thirteen hundred four of this title due to  its  performance  of
    48  any act authorized or required by the provisions of this section.
    49    §  2. Administration of taxicab vehicle registrations and licenses and
    50  taxicab  driver  permits  within  the  Capital  District  transportation
    51  district.  1.  The  municipal officers and boards in the several cities,
    52  towns and villages located within the  Capital  District  transportation
    53  district  which  have adopted identical ordinances regulating the regis-
    54  tration and licensing of taxicab vehicles and regulating taxicab  driver
    55  permits  pursuant  to section 181 of the general municipal law, with the
    56  exception of rates for taxicab service and application,  permit,  regis-
        S. 7359--A                          4                         A. 9878--A
 
     1  tration  and  license  fees, are each hereby authorized to enter into an
     2  agreement with the Capital District transportation authority  ("authori-
     3  ty")  for the authority to administer taxicab driver permits and taxicab
     4  vehicle  registrations  and licenses on behalf of such cities, towns and
     5  villages subject to the provisions of this section and section 1307-a of
     6  the public authorities law.
     7    2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of section 181 of
     8  the general municipal law, no agreement with the Capital District trans-
     9  portation authority shall take effect until a  minimum  of  two  cities,
    10  towns  or  villages  have  adopted  identical  ordinances as required by
    11  subdivision 1 of this section. Subsequent cities, towns and villages may
    12  enter into the agreement with the authority provided  that  their  ordi-
    13  nances  are  identical  to  the  ordinances that are already part of the
    14  agreement with the authority, with the exception of  rates  for  taxicab
    15  service or fees.
    16    3.  Nothing  in  this  section  or act shall be construed to prevent a
    17  city, town or village at any time  to  withdraw  from  or  terminate  an
    18  agreement to have the authority administer the issuance of taxicab driv-
    19  er  permits  and taxicab vehicle registrations and licenses on behalf of
    20  such city, town or village.
    21    4. For purposes of this section, the following terms  shall  have  the
    22  following meanings:
    23    a.  "Capital  District  Transportation Authority" or "authority" shall
    24  mean the corporation created by section 1303 of the  public  authorities
    25  law; and
    26    b. "Capital District transportation district" or "district" shall mean
    27  the  area  of the state included in the district created and governed by
    28  section 1302 of the public authorities law.
    29    § 3.  This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire  and  be
    30  deemed repealed July 1, 2021.