S07040 Summary:
| BILL NO | S07040A |
| SAME AS | SAME AS A03600-B |
| SPONSOR | COMRIE |
| COSPNSR | |
| MLTSPNSR | |
| Amd Arts 4, 7-B & 7-D, §1 of Chap 154 of 1921 | |
| Relates to port authority organization, appearance and notice; establishes the port authority transportation advisory committee. | |
S07040 Text:
Go to topSTATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7040--A 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 25, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions -- recommitted to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee 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 port authority organization, appearance and notice The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 5 and 6 of article 4 of section 1 of chap- 2 ter 154 of the laws of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York 3 and New Jersey, as amended by chapter 559 of the laws of 2015, paragraph 4 a of subdivision 6 as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2020, are 5 amended to read as follows: 6 1. Commissioners. a. The port authority shall consist of twelve voting 7 commissioners and four non-voting commissioners as described in para- 8 graph b of this subdivision. Of the twelve voting commissioners[,] 9 there shall be six resident voters from the state of New York, at least 10 four of whom shall be resident voters of the city of New York, and six 11 resident voters from the state of New Jersey, at least four of whom 12 shall be resident voters within the New Jersey portion of the district, 13 the New York members to be chosen by the state of New York and the New 14 Jersey members by the state of New Jersey in the manner and for the 15 terms fixed and determined from time to time by the legislature of each 16 state respectively, except as herein provided. The New York members 17 shall be appointed by the governor of New York with the advice and 18 consent of the New York state senate. The New Jersey members shall be 19 appointed by the governor of New Jersey with the advice and consent of 20 the New Jersey state senate. Each commissioner may be removed or EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02112-08-2S. 7040--A 2 1 suspended from office as provided by the law of the state from which he 2 shall be appointed. Any commissioner appointed to a term commencing on 3 or after January 1, 2023 shall have experience in one or more of the 4 following areas: transportation, public administration, business 5 management, finance, accounting, law, engineering, land use, urban and 6 regional planning, management of large capital projects, labor 7 relations, or experience in some other area of activity central to the 8 mission of the port authority. One of the six voting commissioners 9 chosen by the state of New York shall be appointed on the written recom- 10 mendation of the mayor of the city of New York. The voting commissioners 11 shall be appointed for a term of six years and shall serve no more than 12 two terms. The terms of the voting commissioners shall be staggered so 13 that three of the six voting commissioners appointed by the state of New 14 York will have their terms expire in alternating three year shifts and 15 three of the six voting commissioners appointed by the state of New 16 Jersey will have their terms expire in alternating three years shifts. 17 b. There shall be four non-voting commissioners of the port authority, 18 as established in paragraph a of this subdivision. The first non-voting 19 commissioner shall be a regular mass transit user of the state of New 20 York based facilities of the authority and be recommended to the gover- 21 nor of the state of New York by a rider advocacy group. The second non- 22 voting commissioner shall be a regular user of the state of New Jersey 23 based facilities of the authority and shall be recommended to the gover- 24 nor of the state of New Jersey by a rider advocacy group. The third 25 non-voting commissioner shall be recommended to the governor of the 26 state of New York by the labor organization representing the majority of 27 authority employees working in the state of New York. The fourth non- 28 voting commissioner shall be recommended to the governor of the state of 29 New Jersey by the labor organization representing the majority of 30 authority employees working in the state of New Jersey. The four non- 31 voting commissioners of the port authority shall be appointed for a term 32 of six years and shall serve no more than two terms. 33 5. Whistleblower access and assistance program. a. The chief ethics 34 and compliance officer shall recommend to the board of commissioners a 35 whistleblower access and assistance program to be administered by the 36 inspector general which shall include, but not be limited to: 37 (1) establishing an email address and toll-free telephone [and], 38 facsimile, and text messaging lines available to employees; 39 (2) offering advice regarding employee rights under applicable state 40 and federal laws and advice and options available to all persons; and 41 (3) offering an opportunity for employees to identify concerns regard- 42 ing any issue at the port authority. Any communication between an 43 employee and the inspector general pursuant to this section shall be 44 held strictly confidential by the inspector general, unless the employee 45 specifically waives in writing the right to confidentiality, except that 46 such confidentiality shall not exempt the inspector general from 47 disclosing such information, where appropriate, to the board of commis- 48 sioners and/or any law enforcement authority. 49 b. The port authority shall not fire, discharge, demote, suspend, 50 threaten, harass, or discriminate against an employee because of the 51 employee's role as a whistleblower, insofar as the actions taken by the 52 employee are legal. 53 c. As used in this subdivision: 54 (1) "Employees" means those persons employed at the port authority, 55 including but not limited to: full-time and part-time employees, those 56 employees on probation, and temporary employees.S. 7040--A 3 1 (2) "Whistleblower" means any employee of the port authority who 2 discloses information concerning acts of wrongdoing, misconduct, malfea- 3 sance, or other inappropriate behavior by an employee or board member of 4 the port authority, including, but not limited to, concerning the port 5 authority's investments, travel, acquisition of real or personal proper- 6 ty, the disposition of real or personal property, or the procurement of 7 goods and services. 8 6. Inspector general. a. The inspector general shall be responsible 9 for receiving and investigating, where appropriate, all complaints 10 regarding fraud, waste, and abuse by commissioners, officers, and 11 employees of the port authority or third-parties doing business with the 12 port authority. The inspector general shall also receive and investi- 13 gate complaints from any source, or upon his or her own initiative, 14 concerning allegations of corruption, fraud, use of excessive force, 15 criminal activity, conflicts of interest or abuse by any police officer 16 under the jurisdiction of the Port Authority. The inspector general 17 shall also be responsible for conducting investigations upon the inspec- 18 tor general's own initiative, as the inspector general shall deem appro- 19 priate. 20 b. The inspector general shall inform the board of commissioners and 21 the chief executive officer of allegations received by the inspector 22 general and the progress of investigations related thereto, unless 23 special circumstances require confidentiality; 24 c. The inspector general shall determine with respect to allegations 25 received by the inspector general whether disciplinary action or civil 26 prosecution by the port authority is appropriate, and whether the matter 27 should be referred to an appropriate governmental agency for further 28 action; 29 d. The inspector general shall prepare and make available to the 30 public written reports of completed investigations, as appropriate and 31 to the extent permitted by law, subject to redactions to protect a need 32 for confidentiality. The release of all or portions of reports may be 33 deferred to protect the confidentiality of ongoing investigations. 34 e. The inspector general shall have the power to: 35 (1) administer oaths or affirmations and examine witnesses under oath; 36 (2) require the production of any books and papers deemed relevant or 37 material to any investigation, examination or review; 38 (3) notwithstanding any law to the contrary, examine and copy or 39 remove documents or records of any kind prepared, maintained or held by 40 the port authority and its subsidiaries; 41 (4) interview any officer or employee of the port authority or its 42 subsidiaries on any matter related to the performance of such officer or 43 employee's official duties. To the extent that [any portion of this44paragraph is inconsistent with any current contractual obligations of45the port authority, this paragraph shall not be applicable to those46obligations until the earliest expiration of those terms under the47contract] the terms and conditions of employment of any employee are 48 established by collective negotiations, any interview conducted pursuant 49 to this paragraph must be in accordance with any applicable provisions 50 of the current, or most recent, if expired, collective negotiations 51 agreement covering the terms and conditions of employment of the employ- 52 ee; 53 (5) monitor the implementation by the port authority of any recommen- 54 dations made by the inspector general; and 55 (6) perform any other functions that are necessary or appropriate to 56 fulfill the duties and responsibilities of office.S. 7040--A 4 1 § 2. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of article 7-B of section 1 of chapter 154 2 of the laws of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New 3 Jersey, as added by chapter 559 of the laws of 2015, are amended to read 4 as follows: 5 1. Needs assessment. The port authority shall require that a needs 6 assessment be conducted by an independent entity prior to any increase 7 in tolls for the use of any port authority bridge or tunnel, or fares 8 for the use of the port authority trans-Hudson corporation rail system. 9 The assessment shall be made publicly available in a conspicuous 10 location on the port authority's website and presented by the independ- 11 ent entity to the board of commissioners at a public meeting to be held 12 at least ninety days prior to any meeting of the board of commissioners 13 to vote to any increase in the tolls for the use of any port authority 14 bridge or tunnel, or fares for the use of the port authority trans-Hud- 15 son corporation rail system. 16 3. Appearance. a. The port authority, at the request of the Assembly 17 or Senate of the New York state legislature or the General Assembly or 18 Senate of the New Jersey state legislature, shall be required to appear 19 before a committee of the requesting state legislative house, upon 20 request by the presiding officer of that state legislative house, to 21 present testimony on any topic or subject requested by the committee or 22 to respond to questions by members of the committee. The Assembly of 23 the New York state legislature, the Senate of the New York state legis- 24 lature, the General Assembly of the New Jersey state legislature, and 25 the Senate of the New Jersey state legislature shall each be entitled to 26 two such requests per calendar year. 27 b. Unless otherwise agreed to by the presiding officer of the state 28 legislative house requesting the appearance of the port authority, the 29 port authority shall, at a minimum, be represented by a chair or vice- 30 chair of the board, chief executive officer, the chief financial offi- 31 cer, and any staff deemed necessary by such chair or vice-chair of the 32 board, chief executive officer, or the chief financial officer to pres- 33 ent testimony or respond to questions at any appearance required pursu- 34 ant to this section. The presiding officer may request the appearance 35 of any officer or employee of the port authority. For purposes of this 36 section, as applicable to New York state "presiding officer" shall mean 37 the speaker of the Assembly of the New York state legislature or tempo- 38 rary president of the Senate of the New York state legislature. For 39 purposes of this section, as applicable to the state of New Jersey 40 "presiding officer" shall mean the president of the senate or the speak- 41 er of the general assembly of the state of New Jersey. 42 4. Subsidiaries of the port authority. a. The port authority shall 43 provide notice to the governor of each state, the majority leader of 44 each house of the legislature of each state, the chair of the finance 45 committee of New York, the chair of the senate budget and appropriations 46 committee of New Jersey, the chair of assembly ways and means committee 47 of New York, and the chair of the budget committee of New Jersey that it 48 will be creating a subsidiary no less than 60 days prior to the forma- 49 tion of the subsidiary. 50 b. The creation of a subsidiary corporation shall be approved by the 51 board of commissioners. 52 c. [On or before the first day of January, two thousand sixteen, and] 53 Within 60 days of the effective date of the chapter of the laws of 2022 54 that amended this subdivision, and on or before the first day of January 55 each year annually thereafter, any subsidiary corporation, in cooper- 56 ation with the port authority, shall provide to the governor and legis-S. 7040--A 5 1 lature of each state a report on the subsidiary corporation. Such report 2 shall include for each subsidiary: 3 (1) The complete legal name, address and contact information of the 4 subsidiary; 5 (2) The structure of the organization of the subsidiary, including the 6 names and titles of each of its members, directors and officers, as well 7 as a chart of its organizational structure; 8 (3) The complete by-laws and legal organization papers of the subsid- 9 iary; 10 (4) A complete report of the purpose, operations, mission and projects 11 of the subsidiary; and 12 (5) Any other information the subsidiary corporation deems important 13 to include in such report. 14 d. 60 days prior to the issuance of any debt by the subsidiary corpo- 15 ration, or the port authority on behalf of the subsidiary corporation, 16 the port authority shall provide notice to the governor of each state, 17 the majority leader of each house of the legislature of each state, the 18 chair of the senate finance committee of New York, the chair of the 19 senate budget and appropriations committee of New Jersey, the chair of 20 the assembly ways and means committee of New York, and the chair of the 21 assembly budget committee of New Jersey. For purposes of this section, 22 as applicable to New York state "majority leader" shall mean the speaker 23 of the assembly of the New York state legislature or temporary president 24 of the senate of the New York state legislature. For purposes of this 25 section, as applicable to the state of New Jersey "majority leader" 26 shall mean the president of the senate or the speaker of the general 27 assembly of the state of New Jersey. 28 § 3. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of article 7-D of section 1 of chapter 154 29 of the laws of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New 30 Jersey, as added by chapter 559 of the laws of 2015, are amended and two 31 new subdivisions 5 and 6 are added to read as follows: 32 3. Capital plan. a. The port authority shall adopt a ten-year capital 33 plan that is developed using a comprehensive planning process and risk- 34 based prioritization that considers asset condition, operational and 35 revenue impact, threat assessment, customer service, regional benefit, 36 and regulatory or statutory requirements. The capital plan shall be 37 dependent upon the availability of sufficient funding and other 38 resources to pursue the capital projects proposed for the ten-year peri- 39 od. Performance progress and revisions to reflect changes in programs, 40 policies and projects and the environment in which the port authority 41 operates shall be reviewed regularly by a committee designated by the 42 board of commissioners, and the capital plan shall be revised period- 43 ically as necessary and appropriate, and shall be reviewed with the 44 board of commissioners annually. The port authority shall publish an 45 annual report on the status of the capital program and such report shall 46 be made publicly available on the port authority's website. Prior to 47 adoption of a capital plan, the port authority shall make such proposed 48 plan available for public review and comments on its public website for 49 at least [two] four weeks prior to approval, and all comments received 50 are to be distributed to the board of commissioners for review prior to 51 consideration of the capital plan. 52 b. The port authority shall also provide that major capital projects 53 are monitored by independent engineering consultants. The independent 54 consultants shall prepare annual reports to be provided to the board and 55 made available to the public. The annual reports prepared by independent 56 consultants shall include, but not be limited to, a comparison of actualS. 7040--A 6 1 and target performance measures including, but not limited to, costs and 2 construction schedules, and a narrative explanation of any discrepancy 3 thereof. For the purposes of this section, "major capital project" means 4 an undertaking or program for the acquisition, creation, or development 5 of any crossing, transportation facility, or commerce facility or any 6 part thereof, with an estimated total project cost in excess of 7 $500,000,000. 8 c. No less than 60 days prior to any board adoption of a capital plan 9 as described in paragraph a of this subdivision, or any major revision 10 of the last adopted capital plan, the port authority shall: (1) notify 11 the assembly and senate of the New York state legislature and the gener- 12 al assembly and senate of the New Jersey state legislature of its inten- 13 tion to adopt a capital plan, or any major revision of the last adopted 14 capital plan; (2) submit to the assembly and senate of the New York 15 state legislature and the general assembly and senate of the New Jersey 16 state legislature the proposed capital plan, or any proposal constitut- 17 ing a major revision of the last adopted capital plan, for review by 18 each state legislature; and (3) make the proposed capital plan, includ- 19 ing any proposal constituting a major revision of the last adopted capi- 20 tal plan, publicly available on the port authority website. 21 d. Within 60 days of the notice provided in paragraph c of this subdi- 22 vision, the port authority shall conduct a public hearing about the 23 capital plan or any major revision thereof in New York state and in the 24 state of New Jersey. 25 e. The port authority shall conduct a status update public hearing in 26 New York state and in the state of New Jersey at least once every year 27 after the adoption of the capital plan by the port authority. Such 28 public hearing shall be known as "capital status update hearing" and at 29 such hearing the port authority shall provide in detail a written 30 description of the status of all capital plan projects and the costs and 31 the expected costs of those projects. At such public hearing, the port 32 authority shall provide a financing plan that identifies the source of 33 funding for each project. The port authority shall provide an analysis 34 that compares actual and target performance measures, and a detailed 35 written explanation of any discrepancy thereof at the public hearing. 36 4. Operating budget. The port authority shall prepare a detailed annu- 37 al operating budget beginning with the fiscal year commencing after the 38 effective date of the chapter of the laws of [2015] 2022 which [added] 39 amended this article. A preliminary annual operating budget shall be 40 made publicly available on the port authority's website in July of every 41 fiscal year and a final annual operating budget shall be made publicly 42 available in February of each fiscal year. 43 5. Port Authority Transportation Advisory Committee. a. There is here- 44 by established a port authority transportation advisory committee. The 45 purpose of the committee shall be to facilitate coordination between and 46 among the transportation agencies and officials in each state that 47 provide service or conduct business within the port district. The 48 committee shall consist of 13 members, to be appointed as follows: 49 (1) one individual appointed jointly by the chair and vice-chair of 50 the Port Authority; 51 (2) the executive director of the New Jersey transit corporation, ex 52 officio, or the executive director's designee; 53 (3) the chair of the metropolitan transportation authority, ex offi- 54 cio, or the chair's designee; 55 (4) the commissioner of the New York city department of transporta- 56 tion, ex officio, or the commissioner's designee;S. 7040--A 7 1 (5) the chairperson of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation 2 Board of Directors, ex officio, or the chairperson's designee; 3 (6) the commissioner of the New Jersey department of transportation, 4 ex officio, or the commissioner's designee; 5 (7) the commissioner of the New York state department of transporta- 6 tion, ex officio, or the commissioner's designee; 7 (8) one individual from the New Jersey executive branch, appointed by 8 the governor of New Jersey; 9 (9) one individual from the New York state executive branch, appointed 10 by the governor of New York; 11 (10) one individual appointed by the president of the New Jersey state 12 senate; 13 (11) one individual appointed by the speaker of the New Jersey state 14 general assembly; 15 (12) one individual appointed by the temporary president of the New 16 York state senate; and 17 (13) one individual appointed by the speaker of the New York state 18 assembly. 19 b. The individual appointed jointly by the chair and vice-chair of the 20 port authority shall serve for a term of three years. The legislative 21 appointments shall serve for a term of two years each. The individuals 22 appointed from the executive branch of New Jersey and from the executive 23 branch of New York shall serve at the pleasure of each respective gover- 24 nor. 25 c. Vacancies in the membership of the committee shall be filled in the 26 same manner as the original appointments are made and a member may be 27 eligible for reappointment. Vacancies occurring other than by expiration 28 of a term shall be filled for the unexpired term. 29 d. The members of the committee shall serve without compensation but 30 shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses necessarily incurred in the 31 performance of their duties within the limits of funds appropriated or 32 otherwise made available to the committee for its purposes. 33 e. The individual appointed jointly by the chair and vice-chair of the 34 port authority shall serve as the chair of the committee. The committee 35 may appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the committee. The 36 committee shall meet quarterly, at a minimum, to discuss the region's 37 transportation needs and to facilitate coordination between and among 38 the transportation agencies and officials in each state and the port 39 district in furtherance of the region's transportation needs. 40 f. The committee and each meeting of the committee shall serve as a 41 vehicle for each committee member to share information about that 42 member's agency and the agency's upcoming plans and objectives. Prior to 43 the commencement by an agency represented on the committee of any major 44 capital project with an estimated cost in excess of $50 million, the 45 individual representing that agency shall notify all members of the 46 committee. 47 6. Minority and women-owned business enterprise programs. a. In the 48 performance of projects pursuant to this article, minority and women- 49 owned business enterprises shall be given the opportunity for meaningful 50 participation. The port authority shall establish quantifiable standards 51 and measures and procedures, in accordance with the findings of period- 52 ical disparity studies regarding the participation of minority and 53 women-owned business enterprises in port authority contracts, to be 54 prepared by an entity independent of the port authority and selected 55 through a request for proposal process, to secure meaningful partic- 56 ipation and identify those contracts and items of work for which minori-S. 7040--A 8 1 ty and women-owned business enterprises may best bid to actively and 2 affirmatively promote and assist their participation in projects, so as 3 to facilitate the award of a fair share of contracts to such enter- 4 prises; provided, however, that nothing in this article shall be 5 construed to limit the ability of the port authority to assure that 6 qualified minority and women-owned business enterprises may participate 7 in the program. For purposes hereof, minority business enterprise shall 8 mean any business enterprise which is at least fifty-one per centum 9 owned by, or in the case of a publicly owned business, at least fifty- 10 one per centum of the stock or other voting interest is owned by citi- 11 zens or permanent resident aliens who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, Ameri- 12 can Indian, Pacific islander, or Alaskan native, and such ownership 13 interest is real, substantial and continuing and has the authority to 14 independently control the day-to-day business decisions of the entity 15 for at least one year; and women-owned business enterprise shall mean 16 any business enterprise which is at least fifty-one per centum owned by, 17 or in the case of a publicly owned business, at least fifty-one per 18 centum of the stock or other voting interests of which is owned by citi- 19 zens or permanent resident aliens who are women, and such ownership 20 interest is real, substantial and continuing and has the authority to 21 independently control the day-to-day business decisions of the entity 22 for at least one year. The provisions of this subdivision shall not be 23 construed to limit the ability of any minority business enterprise to 24 bid on any contract. The provisions of this subdivision shall not be 25 construed to require the port authority to engage in any unlawful 26 conduct in securing meaningful participation of minority and women-owned 27 business enterprises in port authority projects. 28 b. In order to implement the requirements and objectives of this 29 subdivision, the port authority shall establish procedures to monitor 30 compliance with provisions hereof, provide assistance in obtaining 31 competing qualified minority and women-owned business enterprises to 32 perform contracts proposed to be awarded, and take other appropriate 33 measures to improve the access of minority and women-owned business 34 enterprises to these contracts. 35 c. The port authority shall publish the standards, measures, and 36 procedures established pursuant to paragraphs a and b of this subdivi- 37 sion on its website, including any disparity study conducted pursuant to 38 this subdivision. 39 d. The port authority shall prepare an annual report on the number and 40 value of contracts awarded to minority and women-owned business enter- 41 prises, which shall be published on its website. 42 § 4. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 43 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 44 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 45 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 46 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 47 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 48 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 49 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 50 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 51 § 5. This act shall take effect upon the enactment into law by the 52 state of New Jersey of legislation having an identical effect with this 53 act, but if the state of New Jersey shall have already enacted such 54 legislation this act shall take effect immediately. The chair or vice- 55 chair of the port authority as recommended by the governor of the state 56 of New York shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission uponS. 7040--A 9 1 the occurrence of the enactment of the legislation provided for in 2 sections one, two and three of this act in order that the commission may 3 maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text 4 of the laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effectuating the 5 provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the 6 public officers law.