A04361 Summary:

BILL NOA04361
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORKolb (MS)
 
COSPNSRMcDonough, Blankenbush, Crouch, DiPietro, Finch, Hawley, Johns, Lalor, Montesano, Palmesano, Stec, Brabenec, Giglio, LiPetri, Salka, Smullen, Walsh, Miller B, Manktelow
 
MLTSPNSRBarclay
 
Amd §§351, 352, 360 & 363, Pub Auth L; amd §§11 & 14, add §23, Transp L
 
Enacts the New York state thruway authority accountability act; names the commissioner of DOT as chair of the thruway authority board; directs the commissioner of DOT to submit a plan to merge the thruway authority into the department of transportation.
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A04361 Actions:

BILL NOA04361
 
02/04/2019referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
01/08/2020referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
07/13/2020held for consideration in corporations, authorities and commissions
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A04361 Committee Votes:

CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS Chair:Paulin DATE:07/13/2020AYE/NAY:19/7 Action: Held for Consideration
PaulinAyeLawrenceNay
CookAyeBlankenbushNay
GalefAyeFriendNay
RodriguezAyeMalliotakisNay
QuartAyePalmesanoNay
OtisAyeLalorNay
RozicAyeLiPetriNay
KimAye
BuchwaldAye
SeawrightAye
DilanAye
RichardsonAye
De La RosaAye
Pheffer AmatoAye
VanelAye
CarrollAye
NiouAye
FallAye
Jean-PierreAye

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A04361 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
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A04361 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          4361
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    February 4, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M. of A. KOLB, McDONOUGH, BLANKENBUSH, CROUCH, DiPIETRO,
          FINCH, HAWLEY, JOHNS, LALOR,  MONTESANO,  PALMESANO,  STEC,  BRABENEC,
          GIGLIO  --  Multi-Sponsored  by  --  M. of A. BARCLAY -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
 
        AN ACT to amend the public authorities law and the  transportation  law,
          in  relation to enacting the New York state thruway authority account-
          ability act
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  This act shall be known and be may cited as the "New York
     2  state thruway authority accountability act".
     3    § 2. Section 351 of the public authorities law is amended by adding  a
     4  new subdivision 4-a to read as follows:
     5    4-a.  The  term  "department" shall mean the department of transporta-
     6  tion.
     7    § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 352 of the public  authorities  law,  as
     8  amended  by  chapter  766  of  the  laws  of 2005, is amended to read as
     9  follows:
    10    1. (a) A board to be known as "New York state  thruway  authority"  is
    11  hereby created. Such board shall be a body corporate and politic consti-
    12  tuting a public corporation. It shall consist of seven members appointed
    13  by  the  governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate. [The
    14  members first appointed shall serve for terms ending three, six and nine
    15  years, respectively from January first next  succeeding  their  appoint-
    16  ment.  Provided,  however,  that two board members first appointed on or
    17  after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand five
    18  which amended this subdivision shall serve an initial term of two years;
    19  provided further that two other board  members  first  appointed  on  or
    20  after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand five
    21  which  amended  this  subdivision  shall  serve an initial term of three
    22  years. Their successors shall be appointed for terms of nine years each.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05712-01-9

        A. 4361                             2

     1  A member to be designated as chairman in his or  her  appointment  as  a
     2  member  shall  be chairman of such board until his or her term as member
     3  expires.] The commissioner of transportation  shall  be  designated  and
     4  serve  ex-officio as the chair of the board until the end of the term of
     5  the governor by whom he or she  was  appointed  and  until  his  or  her
     6  successor  is  appointed  and  has qualified. The chairman and the other
     7  members shall serve without additional salary or other compensation, but
     8  shall be entitled  to  reimbursement  for  their  actual  and  necessary
     9  expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
    10    (b)  Notwithstanding  any  other provision of law or the provisions of
    11  any appointment by the governor, the terms of  all  members  serving  as
    12  such  as  of March thirty-first, two thousand nineteen, or on the effec-
    13  tive date of this paragraph, whichever date is later, shall  immediately
    14  terminate,  except that such members shall continue to serve until their
    15  successors are appointed and have qualified.
    16    (c) Any member appointed shall have experience in one or more  of  the
    17  following  areas: transportation, business management, finance, account-
    18  ing or management of large capital projects.
    19    (d) Two members of the board appointed on or after  April  first,  two
    20  thousand nineteen, shall be appointed to terms of three years; two other
    21  members  of the board shall be appointed to terms of four years; and two
    22  members of the  board  shall  be  appointed  to  terms  of  five  years,
    23  provided,  however,  that such members shall continue to serve after the
    24  end of their terms until their successors are appointed and have  quali-
    25  fied,  and  provided  further that notwithstanding the term to which any
    26  such member shall have been appointed such a continuation of the term of
    27  a member shall not require confirmation by the senate.
    28    § 4. Section 11 of the transportation law, as amended by  chapter  460
    29  of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
    30    § 11. Department  of  transportation;  commissioner. There shall be in
    31  the state government a department of transportation.   The head  of  the
    32  department  shall  be  the  commissioner of transportation, who shall be
    33  appointed by the governor, by and with the advice  and  consent  of  the
    34  senate,  and  hold  office  until the end of the term of the governor by
    35  whom he was appointed and until his successor is appointed and has qual-
    36  ified.
    37    The commissioner of transportation  shall  have  sole  charge  of  the
    38  administration of the department and the New York state thruway authori-
    39  ty  established  pursuant  to  title  nine  of article two of the public
    40  authorities law. The commissioner of transportation  shall  serve  as  a
    41  member  and chair of the thruway authority board established pursuant to
    42  section three hundred fifty-two of the public authorities law.
    43    § 5. The transportation law is amended by adding a new section  23  to
    44  read as follows:
    45    §  23.  New York state thruway authority administration and oversight.
    46  1. The commissioner shall  establish a plan to merge the  operations  of
    47  the  thruway  authority  with  that  of  the  department and consolidate
    48  services where appropriate, provided that no employee of  the  authority
    49  or  the  department  shall be terminated as a consequence of the merger.
    50  The commissioner shall submit a report to the governor  and  legislature
    51  within  one  hundred  twenty days of the effective date of this section.
    52  The report shall be submitted to the temporary president of the  senate,
    53  the  speaker  of  the  assembly,  the minority leader of the senate, the
    54  minority leader of the assembly, the chair and ranking  minority  member
    55  of  the  senate finance committee, the chair and ranking minority member
    56  of the assembly ways and means committee, the chairs and ranking minori-

        A. 4361                             3
 
     1  ty members of the senate  and  assembly  corporations,  authorities  and
     2  commissions  committees,  and the chairs and ranking minority members of
     3  the senate and assembly transportation committees.
     4    2. (a) The commissioner shall, within sixty days of the effective date
     5  of  this  section,  and  every  three  years thereafter, contract with a
     6  certified public accounting firm for the provision  of  an  independent,
     7  comprehensive, forensic audit of the thruway authority. Such audit shall
     8  be  performed  in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
     9  standards.
    10    (b) The certified independent public  accounting  firm  providing  the
    11  independent,  comprehensive,  forensic  audit  of  the thruway authority
    12  shall be prohibited from providing audit services if the lead or coordi-
    13  nating audit partner, having primary responsibility for  the  audit,  or
    14  the  audit  partner  responsible  for reviewing the audit, has performed
    15  audit services for the authority within any of the ten  previous  fiscal
    16  years of the authority.
    17    (c)  The  certified  independent  accounting firm performing the audit
    18  pursuant to this section shall be prohibited from performing any non-au-
    19  dit services for the authority contemporaneously with the audit.
    20    (d) It shall  be  prohibited  for  the  certified  independent  public
    21  accounting  firm  to  perform  any  audit service if the chief executive
    22  officer, comptroller, chief financial officer, chief accounting  officer
    23  or  any  other person serving in an equivalent position in the authority
    24  was an employee, consultant or independent contractor of that  certified
    25  independent  public  accounting firm and participated in any capacity in
    26  the audit of the authority at any time in the past.
    27    (e) The certified independent public  accounting  firm  contracted  to
    28  perform  the  independent,  comprehensive, forensic audit of the thruway
    29  authority shall, within one year of  the  initiation  of  the  contract,
    30  report  its  findings,  conclusions and recommendations to the governor,
    31  the state comptroller, the temporary president of the senate, the speak-
    32  er of the assembly, the minority leader  of  the  senate,  the  minority
    33  leader  of  the  assembly,  the chair and ranking minority member of the
    34  senate finance committee, the chair and ranking minority member  of  the
    35  assembly  ways  and  means  committee,  the  chairs and ranking minority
    36  members of the senate and the  assembly  corporations,  authorities  and
    37  commissions  committees,  and the chairs and ranking minority members of
    38  the senate and the assembly transportation committees.
    39    § 6. Section 360 of the public authorities law, as amended by  section
    40  8  of  part  TT of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as
    41  follows:
    42    § 360. Operation and maintenance. Operation  and  maintenance  by  the
    43  authority of any thruway section or connection or any part thereof or of
    44  a  highway  connection  of  which  it  has assumed jurisdiction shall be
    45  performed (a) by the use  of  authority  forces  and  equipment  at  the
    46  expense  of the authority or by agreement at the expense of the state or
    47  other parties;  (b)  by  contract  with  municipalities  or  independent
    48  contractors;  (c) at the request of the [authority] commissioner, by the
    49  [commissioner and his subordinates in the department  of  transportation
    50  as agents for,] authority and at the expense of the authority, or (d) by
    51  a combination of such methods.
    52    §  7. Section 363 of the public authorities law, as amended by chapter
    53  766 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
    54    § 363. Annual report. The authority shall submit to the  governor,  to
    55  the  [legislature,  to] speaker of the assembly, the temporary president
    56  of the senate, the minority leader of the senate, the minority leader of

        A. 4361                             4
 
     1  the assembly, the senate finance committee, the assembly ways and  means
     2  committee,  the  comptroller  and  to  the  director of the budget on or
     3  before the first day of February of each year a detailed report  setting
     4  forth  its  [operations  and]  fiscal  transactions during the preceding
     5  calendar year with a statement of its financial condition as of the  end
     6  of  such  year  and  a statement of all receipts and expenditures during
     7  such year. Such report shall include detailed  information  relating  to
     8  additional  expenditures  incurred  by  the authority as a result of the
     9  amendments made to subdivision four of section three hundred  fifty-nine
    10  of  this [chapter] title pursuant to the chapter of the laws of nineteen
    11  hundred ninety-two which enacted this sentence.
    12    § 8. Section 14 of the transportation law is amended by adding  a  new
    13  subdivision 13-a to read as follows:
    14    13-a.  As  part  of the department's annual budget request, to include
    15  any requests for thruway authority toll increases and justification  for
    16  such increases.
    17    § 9. This act shall take effect immediately.
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