Grants each of the representatives of the counties of Dutchess, Putnam, Orange and Rockland a vote during the proceedings of the metropolitan transportation authority.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5749
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 28, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
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,
24 one such member shall be, at the time of appointment, a resident of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06678-01-5
S. 5749 2
1 county of Nassau, one a resident of the county of Suffolk, one a resi-
2 dent of the county of Westchester, one a resident of the county of
3 Dutchess, one a resident of the county of Orange, one a resident of the
4 county of Putnam and one a resident of the county of Rockland, provided
5 that the term of any member who is a resident of a county that has with-
6 drawn from the metropolitan commuter transportation district pursuant to
7 section twelve hundred seventy-nine-b of this title shall terminate upon
8 the effective date of such county's withdrawal from such district. Of
9 the five voting members, other than the chairperson, appointed by the
10 governor without recommendation from any other person, three shall be,
11 at the time of appointment, residents of the city of New York and two
12 shall be, at the time of appointment, residents of such city or of any
13 of the aforementioned counties in the metropolitan commuter transporta-
14 tion district. Provided however, notwithstanding the foregoing residency
15 requirement, one of the five voting members appointed by the governor
16 without recommendation from any other person, other than the chair-
17 person, may be the director of the New York state division of the budg-
18 et, and provided further that, in the event of such appointment, the
19 budget director's membership in the authority shall be deemed ex-offi-
20 cio. Provided further, one of the twelve voting members, other than the
21 chairperson, appointed by the governor without recommendation by any
22 other person, or on the recommendation of the mayor of the city of New
23 York, or of the chief executive officer of the counties of Westchester,
24 Nassau, or Suffolk shall be a transit dependent individual. A "transit
25 dependent individual" shall mean an individual who is limited to public
26 transit as their primary mode of transportation because the individual
27 has a permanent disability, provided that any local or statewide transit
28 advocacy organization may recommend one or more transit dependent indi-
29 viduals to be considered for appointment pursuant to this section. The
30 chairperson and each of the members shall be appointed for a term of six
31 years, provided however, that the chairperson first appointed shall
32 serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-one,
33 provided that thirty days after the effective date of the chapter of the
34 laws of two thousand nine which amended this subparagraph, the term of
35 the chairperson shall expire; provided, further, that such chairperson
36 may continue to discharge the duties of [his or her] their office until
37 the position of chairperson is filled by appointment by the governor
38 upon the advice and consent of the senate and the term of such new
39 chairperson shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand fifteen. The
40 sixteen other members first appointed shall serve for the following
41 terms: The members from the counties of Nassau and Westchester shall
42 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-
43 five; the members from the county of Suffolk and from the counties of
44 Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall each serve for a term ending
45 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-two; two of the members
46 appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York shall
47 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-
48 four and, two shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nine-
49 teen hundred eighty-one; two of the members appointed by the governor
50 without the recommendation of any other person shall each serve for a
51 term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-two, two shall each
52 serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty and one
53 shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-
54 five. The two non-voting and four alternate non-voting members shall
55 serve until January first, two thousand one. [The members from the coun-
S. 5749 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
S. 5749 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.
