Authorizes the New York black car operators' injury compensation fund, inc. to offer drivers health, vision, dental, life, paid leave, retirement and financial services; allows the fund to provide for an additional 10% to pay for the additional benefits; further authorizes the fund to administer benefits or hire a third party administrator.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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5948
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 20, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RODRIGUEZ -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the authority of the
New York black car operators' injury compensation fund, inc. to
provide additional benefits
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 160-jj of the executive
2 law, as added by chapter 49 of the laws of 1999, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. To pay (a) the costs of the insurance purchased pursuant to subdi-
5 vision three of section one hundred sixty-ii of this article or (b) the
6 benefits due under the workers' compensation law in the event the fund
7 self-insures pursuant to subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-ii
8 of this article, and to pay (c) its expenses in carrying out its powers
9 and duties under this article and (d) its liabilities, if any, pursuant
10 to section fourteen-a of the workers' compensation law and (e) the costs
11 incurred by a third-party not-for-profit organization, as authorized by
12 the fund, in educating, sourcing, enrolling into and providing large
13 groups of black car operators with additional health services and
14 related benefits that black car operators do not typically have or have
15 access to including, but not limited to, health insurance, life insur-
16 ance, disability insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, paid
17 leave, retirement services, and financial services, the fund shall
18 ascertain by reasonable estimate the total funding necessary to carry on
19 its operations.
20 2. Based upon its estimation of operating costs, the fund shall estab-
21 lish a proposed uniform percentage surcharge to be added to (a) the
22 invoices or billings for covered services sent to the customers of the
23 fund's members by a member or its agent and (b) the credit payments for
24 covered services received by a member or its agent. The proposed
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06044-03-9
A. 5948 2
1 surcharge shall become effective thirty days after being filed with the
2 department. Notwithstanding the foregoing, beginning on the first day of
3 the first calendar month that shall commence at least seventy-five days
4 after the effective date of this article, and until the fund shall have
5 filed with the department a different surcharge amount, a three percent
6 surcharge shall be added to every invoice or billing for covered
7 services sent by a member or its agent to, and every credit payment for
8 covered services received by a member or its agent from, the customers
9 of the fund's members. The surcharge amounts not related to workers'
10 compensation benefits and allocated for paragraph (e) of subdivision one
11 of this section shall not be less than five percent nor shall they
12 exceed ten percent. Each member of the fund shall be liable for payment
13 to the fund of an amount equal to the product of (i) the percentages
14 surcharge due pursuant to this article, divided by one hundred and (ii)
15 all payments received by the member or its agent for covered services
16 from the member's customers, as provided in this subdivision, regardless
17 of whether the surcharge was billed or charged.
18 § 2. Paragraphs (f), (g) and (h) of subdivision 2 of section 160-gg of
19 the executive law are relettered paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) and a new
20 paragraph (f) is added to read as follows:
21 (f) establish a procedure to ensure delivery of prompt and accurate
22 data to determine whether a black car operator is eligible for benefits
23 under paragraph (e) of subdivision one of section one hundred sixty-jj
24 of this article for instances where the black car operator works across
25 multiple central dispatch facilities as defined in subdivision three of
26 section one hundred sixty-cc of this article;
27 § 3. Section 160-jj of the executive law is amended by adding two new
28 subdivisions (8) and (9) to read as follows:
29 (8) The third party not-for-profit organization providing benefits
30 pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision one of this section, shall have
31 experience in providing (procuring, sourcing or distributing) one or
32 more of the benefits to be provided to more than five thousand black car
33 operators. The fund shall choose this third-party not-for-profit organ-
34 ization with the advice and consent of a driver's labor group that
35 exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of representing the inter-
36 ests of black car operators. The labor group shall (a) be a not-for-pro-
37 fit organization having tax exempt status under section 501 (c) (3) of
38 the United States Internal Revenue Code, and (b) have been representing
39 the interests of black car operators for a minimum of two years.
40 (9) No county, municipality or public authority or commission operat-
41 ing within a county or municipality shall have the authority to impose a
42 surcharge on black car operators or services for the purpose of provid-
43 ing benefits pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision one of this
44 section.
45 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
46 have become a law.
