Amends provisions of the economically sustainable transportation demonstration program to provide an on demand transit service for seniors using automobiles driven by volunteer and paid drivers.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2155--B
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 12, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sens. SERINO, MARCHIONE -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Aging -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Aging in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said
committee and committed to the Committee on Finance -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the elder law, in relation to an economically sustaina-
ble transportation demonstration program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2, 3, 4 and 6 of section 223 of the elder law,
2 as added by section 3 of part J of chapter 57 of the laws of 2006, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 2. The director shall establish the economically sustainable transpor-
5 tation demonstration program for the purpose of enabling seniors to
6 remain independent and mobile in their community. The program would
7 provide an on demand transit service for seniors [that would use] estab-
8 lishing, at a minimum, operational hours during normal business hours
9 using automobiles driven by volunteer and paid drivers to transport
10 seniors to where they need and want to go. [After a period of five
11 years, the program would no longer be eligible for state funding and
12 would be completely self-sustaining, relying on consumer fares and
13 voluntary community support to remain operational.]
14 3. Before carrying out the economically sustainable transportation
15 demonstration program, the director shall enter into a contract or a
16 cooperative agreement with an eligible entity to provide recommendations
17 and support to the director regarding the administration of such a
18 program. [(a)] The eligible entity that enters into a contract or agree-
19 ment under subdivision three of this section shall:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04890-05-8
S. 2155--B 2
1 [(1)] (a) Provide initial and ongoing technical assistance and support
2 to the director for the administration of the sustainable transportation
3 demonstration program.
4 [(2)] (b) Provide initial and ongoing technical assistance to econom-
5 ically sustainable transportation providers.
6 [(3)] (c) Provide recommendation to the director about the establish-
7 ment of, and requirements concerning locations where the economically
8 sustainable transportation services will be provided in the state.
9 [(4)] (d) Provide recommendations to the director for the creation and
10 use of qualified transportation accounts for the transportation
11 services, including the provisions that such an account:
12 [(i)] (1) may be funded with credits or funds equal to the value of a
13 vehicle traded to an economically sustainable transportation provider
14 by, or on behalf of, a qualified individual, or by other means;
15 [(ii)] (2) shall be used only to provide transportation services to
16 the qualified individual;
17 [(iii)] (3) shall have a designated beneficiary; and
18 [(iv)] (4) shall be transferable to an individual other than the qual-
19 ified individual.
20 [(5)] (e) Provide recommendations to the director regarding partic-
21 ipation in any federal grant program for an economically sustainable
22 transportation program.
23 (f) Provide recommendations to the director about the establishment of
24 rules and regulations considering requisite automobile and liability
25 insurance requirements as well as any other necessary rules and regu-
26 lations to facilitate the implementation of the program. Nothing in this
27 section shall preclude the director from consulting with the department
28 of motor vehicles, the department of financial services, or any other
29 state agencies who may provide support.
30 4. After receiving the recommendations and support described in subdi-
31 vision three of this section, the director shall promulgate rules and
32 regulations for the implementation of the program and develop a request
33 for proposal to carry out the economically sustainable demonstration
34 program.
35 6. [Within amounts appropriated, the] The director shall establish a
36 pilot program within amounts appropriated therefor, in up to five coun-
37 ties, each with not more than three hundred fifty thousand persons as of
38 the two thousand ten United States census, or a collaborative project of
39 two contiguous counties that each do not have more than four hundred
40 thousand persons as of the two thousand ten United States census. The
41 director shall make grants available to qualified economically sustaina-
42 ble transportation providers of no less than fifty-five thousand dollars
43 per grantee [in the first year of the operation of the program]. Each
44 provider shall be required to submit a report to the director within one
45 year of the implementation of such pilot program which shall include,
46 but not be limited to, documentation of participation rates, any imped-
47 iments to implementation encountered, steps taken to ensure sustainabil-
48 ity of the program and proposals for expansion to other service areas.
49 Such providers shall be eligible to receive funding under this section
50 annually for up to five years. After such time, providers must be able
51 to provide economically sustainable transportation services without
52 receiving further public financial assistance for operating or capital
53 expenses.
54 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.