Relates to collective employment negotiations, notice of the issuance of debt and capital plans and projects of the port authority of New York and New Jersey.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4611
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities
and Commissions
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 collective
employment negotiations, notice of the issuance of debt and capital
plans and projects
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subparagraph 4 of paragraph e of subdivision 6 of article
2 IV of section 1 of chapter 154 of the laws of 1921 relating to the port
3 authority of New York and New Jersey, as amended by chapter 559 of the
4 laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
5 (4) interview any officer or employee of the port authority or its
6 subsidiaries on any matter related to the performance of such officer or
7 employee's official duties. [To the extent that any portion of this
8 paragraph is inconsistent with any current contractual obligations of
9 the port authority, this paragraph shall not be applicable to those
10 obligations until the earliest expiration of those terms under the
11 contract] To the extent that the terms and conditions of employment of
12 any employee are established by collective negotiations, any interview
13 conducted pursuant to this paragraph must be in accordance with any
14 applicable provisions of the current, or most recent, if expired,
15 collective negotiations agreement covering the terms and conditions of
16 employment of the employee;
17 § 2. Subdivision 8 of article IV of section 1 of chapter 154 of the
18 laws of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New Jersey,
19 as added by chapter 559 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as
20 follows:
21 8. a. The port authority, at the request of the assembly or senate of
22 the New York state legislature or the general assembly or senate of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08704-01-3
S. 4611 2
1 New Jersey state legislature, shall be required to appear before a
2 committee of the requesting state legislative house, upon request by the
3 presiding officer of that state legislative house, to present testimony
4 on any topic or subject requested by the committee or to respond to
5 questions by members of the committee. The assembly of the New York
6 state legislature, the senate of the New York state legislature, the
7 general assembly of the New Jersey state legislature, and the senate of
8 the New Jersey state legislature shall each be entitled to two such
9 requests per calendar year.
10 b. Unless otherwise agreed to by the presiding officer of the state
11 legislative house requesting the appearance of the port authority, the
12 port authority shall, at a minimum, be represented by the chair or vice-
13 chair of the board, chief executive officer, the chief financial offi-
14 cer, and any staff deemed necessary by the chair or vice-chair of the
15 board, chief executive officer, or the chief financial officer to pres-
16 ent testimony or respond to questions at any appearance required pursu-
17 ant to this subdivision. The presiding officer may request the appear-
18 ance of any officer or employee of the port authority. For purposes of
19 this subdivision, as applicable to New York state, "presiding officer"
20 shall mean speaker of the assembly of the New York state legislature or
21 temporary president of the senate of the New York state legislature. For
22 purposes of this subdivision, as applicable to the state of New Jersey
23 "presiding officer" shall mean the president of the senate or the speak-
24 er of the general assembly of the state of New Jersey.
25 9. Barrier-free access. The port authority shall make or cause to be
26 made all reasonable efforts to ensure that meetings are held in facili-
27 ties that permit barrier-free physical access to people with disabili-
28 ties. If the board determines to use video conferencing or similar tech-
29 nology to conduct its meeting, it shall provide an opportunity for the
30 public to attend, listen and observe such a meeting.
31 § 3. Subdivision 3 of article VII-B of section 1 of chapter 154 of the
32 laws of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New Jersey
33 is amended by adding a new paragraph d to read as follows:
34 d. 60 days prior to the issuance of any debt by the subsidiary corpo-
35 ration, or the port authority on behalf of the subsidiary corporation,
36 the port authority shall provide notice to the governor of each state,
37 the majority leader of each house of the legislature of each state, the
38 chair of the senate finance committee of New York, the chair of the
39 senate budget and appropriations committee of New Jersey, the chair of
40 the assembly ways and means committee of New York, and the chair of the
41 assembly budget committee of New Jersey. For purposes of this section,
42 as applicable to New York state "majority leader" shall mean speaker of
43 the assembly of the New York state legislature or temporary president of
44 the senate of the New York state legislature. For purposes of this
45 section, as applicable to the state of New Jersey "majority leader"
46 shall mean the president of the senate or the speaker of the general
47 assembly of the state of New Jersey.
48 § 4. Subdivision 3 of article VII-D of section 1 of chapter 154 of the
49 laws of 1921 relating to the port authority of New York and New Jersey,
50 as added by chapter 559 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as
51 follows:
52 3. Capital plan. a. The port authority shall adopt a ten-year capital
53 plan that is developed using a comprehensive planning process and risk-
54 based prioritization that considers asset condition, operational and
55 revenue impact, threat assessment, customer service, regional benefit,
56 and regulatory or statutory requirements. The capital plan shall be
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1 dependent upon the availability of sufficient funding and other
2 resources to pursue the capital projects proposed for the ten-year peri-
3 od. Performance progress and revisions to reflect changes in programs,
4 policies and projects and the environment in which the port authority
5 operates shall be reviewed regularly by a committee designated by the
6 board of commissioners, and the capital plan shall be revised period-
7 ically as necessary and appropriate, and shall be reviewed with the
8 board of commissioners annually. The port authority shall publish an
9 annual report on the status of the capital program and such report shall
10 be made publicly available on the port authority's website. Prior to
11 adoption of a capital plan, the port authority shall make such proposed
12 plan available for public review and comments on its public website for
13 at least two weeks prior to approval, and all comments received are to
14 be distributed to the board of commissioners for review prior to consid-
15 eration of the capital plan.
16 b. The port authority shall also provide that major capital projects
17 are monitored by independent engineering consultants. The independent
18 consultants shall prepare annual reports to be provided to the board and
19 made available to the public. The annual reports prepared by independ-
20 ent consultants shall include, but not be limited to, a comparison of
21 actual and target performance measures including, but not limited to,
22 costs and construction schedules, and a narrative explanation of any
23 discrepancy thereof. For the purposes of this subdivision, "major capi-
24 tal project" means an undertaking or program for the acquisition,
25 creation, or development of any crossing, transportation facility, or
26 commerce facility or any part thereof, with an estimated total project
27 cost in excess of $500,000,000.
28 c. No less than 60 days prior to any board adoption of a capital plan,
29 as described in paragraph a of this subdivision, or any major revision
30 of the last adopted capital plan, the port authority shall notify the
31 assembly and senate of the state of New York and the general assembly
32 and senate of the New Jersey state legislature of its intention to adopt
33 a capital plan, or any major revision of the last adopted capital plan.
34 In either case, the notice shall recite the major elements of the capi-
35 tal plan to be adopted.
36 d. Within 60 days of the notice provided in paragraph c of this subdi-
37 vision, the port authority shall conduct a public hearing about the
38 capital plan or any major revision thereof in the state of New York and
39 in the the state of New Jersey.
40 e. The port authority shall conduct a status update public hearing in
41 the state of New York and in the state of New Jersey at least once every
42 three years after the adoption of the capital plan by the port authori-
43 ty. Such public hearing shall be known as "capital status update hear-
44 ing" and at such hearing the port authority shall provide in detail a
45 written description of the status of all capital plan projects and the
46 costs and the expected costs of those projects. At such public hearing,
47 the port authority shall provide a financing plan that identifies the
48 source of funding for each project. The port authority shall provide an
49 analysis that compares actual and target performance measures, and a
50 detailed written explanation of any discrepancy thereof at the public
51 hearing.
52 § 5. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
53 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
54 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
55 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
56 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
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1 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
2 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
3 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
4 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
5 § 6. This act shall take effect upon the enactment into law by the
6 state of New Jersey of legislation having an identical effect with this
7 act, and upon the enactment into law by the state of New Jersey of
8 legislation having an identical effect with chapter 559 of the laws of
9 2015 pursuant to section 6 of such chapter, but if the state of New
10 Jersey shall have already enacted such legislation, then this act shall
11 take effect immediately. The chairperson of the port authority shall
12 notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the enactment into
13 law of such legislation by both such states in order that the commission
14 may maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of the official
15 text of the laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effecting
16 the provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of
17 the public officers law.