S 5908: Increases the membership of the metropolitan transportation authority from sixteen to seventeen members; provides for the appointment for one member from each of New York City's boroughs on the written recommendation of the mayor of New York City.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5908 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 3, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to the member- ship of the metropolitan transportation authority The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 2 1263 of the public authorities law, as amended by chapter 68 of the laws 3 of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 4 (1) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation authori- 5 ty." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a 6 public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a chair- 7 person, [sixteen] seventeen other voting members, and two non-voting and 8 four alternate non-voting members, as described in subparagraph two of 9 this paragraph appointed by the governor by and with the advice and 10 consent of the senate. Any member appointed to a term commencing on or 11 after June thirtieth, two thousand nine shall have experience in one or 12 more of the following areas: transportation, public administration, 13 business management, finance, accounting, law, engineering, land use, 14 urban and regional planning, management of large capital projects, labor 15 relations, or have experience in some other area of activity central to 16 the mission of the authority. [Four] Five of the [sixteen] seventeen 17 voting members, one member from each of New York city's five boroughs, 18 as defined in section 2-202 of the administrative code of the city of 19 New York, other than the chairperson shall be appointed on the written 20 recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York; and each of seven 21 other voting members other than the chairperson shall be appointed after 22 selection from a written list of three recommendations from the chief 23 executive officer of the county in which the particular member is 24 required to reside pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision. Of 25 the members appointed on recommendation of the chief executive officer EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04306-01-5 
 S. 5908 2 1 of a county, one such member shall be, at the time of appointment, a 2 resident of the county of Nassau, one a resident of the county of 3 Suffolk, one a resident of the county of Westchester, one a resident of 4 the county of Dutchess, one a resident of the county of Orange, one a 5 resident of the county of Putnam and one a resident of the county of 6 Rockland, provided that the term of any member who is a resident of a 7 county that has withdrawn from the metropolitan commuter transportation 8 district pursuant to section twelve hundred seventy-nine-b of this title 9 shall terminate upon the effective date of such county's withdrawal from 10 such district. Of the five voting members, other than the chairperson, 11 appointed by the governor without recommendation from any other person, 12 three shall be, at the time of appointment, residents of the city of New 13 York and two shall be, at the time of appointment, residents of such 14 city or of any of the aforementioned counties in the metropolitan commu- 15 ter transportation district. Provided however, notwithstanding the fore- 16 going residency requirement, one of the five voting members appointed by 17 the governor without recommendation from any other person, other than 18 the chairperson, may be the director of the New York state division of 19 the budget, and provided further that, in the event of such appointment, 20 the budget director's membership in the authority shall be deemed ex-of- 21 ficio. Provided further, one of the twelve voting members, other than 22 the chairperson, appointed by the governor without recommendation by any 23 other person, or on the recommendation of the mayor of the city of New 24 York, or of the chief executive officer of the counties of Westchester, 25 Nassau, or Suffolk shall be a transit dependent individual. A "transit 26 dependent individual" shall mean an individual who is limited to public 27 transit as their primary mode of transportation because the individual 28 has a permanent disability, provided that any local or statewide transit 29 advocacy organization may recommend one or more transit dependent indi- 30 viduals to be considered for appointment pursuant to this section. The 31 chairperson and each of the members shall be appointed for a term of six 32 years, provided however, that the chairperson first appointed shall 33 serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-one, 34 provided that thirty days after the effective date of the chapter of the 35 laws of two thousand nine which amended this subparagraph, the term of 36 the chairperson shall expire; provided, further, that such chairperson 37 may continue to discharge the duties of [his or her] office until the 38 position of chairperson is filled by appointment by the governor upon 39 the advice and consent of the senate and the term of such new chair- 40 person shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand fifteen. The sixteen 41 other members first appointed shall serve for the following terms: The 42 members from the counties of Nassau and Westchester shall each serve for 43 a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-five; the members 44 from the county of Suffolk and from the counties of Dutchess, Orange, 45 Putnam and Rockland shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, 46 nineteen hundred ninety-two; two of the members appointed on recommenda- 47 tion of the mayor of the city of New York shall each serve for a term 48 ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-four and, two shall each 49 serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-one; two 50 of the members appointed by the governor without the recommendation of 51 any other person shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, 52 nineteen hundred eighty-two, two shall each serve for a term ending June 53 thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty and one shall serve for a term ending 54 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-five. Thirty days after the 55 effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-five 56 which amended this subparagraph, the terms of the members appointed on 
 S. 5908 3 1 recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York shall expire, 2 provided, that such members may continue to discharge the duties of 3 their office until the positions are filled by appointment on recommen- 4 dation of the mayor of the city of New York and the term of three of 5 such new members shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand twenty- 6 eight, and the term of two of such new members shall terminate June 7 thirtieth, two thousand thirty-one. The two non-voting and four alter- 8 nate non-voting members shall serve until January first, two thousand 9 one. The members from the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rock- 10 land shall cast one collective vote. 11 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1263 of the public 12 authorities law, as amended by section 2 of part E of chapter 39 of the 13 laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 14 (a) There is hereby created the "metropolitan transportation authori- 15 ty." The authority shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a 16 public benefit corporation. The authority shall consist of a [chairman] 17 chairperson and [sixteen] seventeen other members appointed by the 18 governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate. Any member 19 appointed to a term commencing on or after June thirtieth, two thousand 20 nine shall have experience in one or more of the following areas of 21 expertise: transportation, public administration, business management, 22 finance, accounting, law, engineering, land use, urban and regional 23 planning, management of large capital projects, labor relations, or have 24 experience in some other area of activity central to the mission of the 25 authority. [Four] Five of the [sixteen] seventeen members, one member 26 from each of New York city's five boroughs, as defined in section 2-202 27 of the administrative code of the city of New York, other than the 28 [chairman] chairperson shall be appointed on the written recommendation 29 of the mayor of the city of New York; and each of seven other members 30 other than the [chairman] chairperson shall be appointed after selection 31 from a written list of three recommendations from the chief executive 32 officer of the county in which the particular member is required to 33 reside pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision. Of the members 34 appointed on recommendation of the chief executive officer of a county, 35 one such member shall be, at the time of appointment, a resident of the 36 county of Nassau; one a resident of the county of Suffolk; one a resi- 37 dent of the county of Westchester; and one a resident of the county of 38 Dutchess, one a resident of the county of Orange, one a resident of the 39 county of Putnam and one a resident of the county of Rockland, provided 40 that the term of any member who is a resident of a county that has with- 41 drawn from the metropolitan commuter transportation district pursuant to 42 section twelve hundred seventy-nine-b of this title shall terminate upon 43 the effective date of such county's withdrawal from such district. Of 44 the five members, other than the [chairman] chairperson, appointed by 45 the governor without recommendation from any other person, three shall 46 be, at the time of appointment, residents of the city of New York and 47 two shall be, at the time of appointment, residents of such city or of 48 any of the aforementioned counties in the metropolitan commuter trans- 49 portation district. Provided however, notwithstanding the foregoing 50 residency requirement, one of the five voting members appointed by the 51 governor without recommendation from any other person, other than the 52 [chairman] chairperson, may be the director of the New York state divi- 53 sion of the budget, and provided further that, in the event of such 54 appointment, the budget director's membership in the authority shall be 55 deemed ex-officio. The [chairman] chairperson and each of the members 56 shall be appointed for a term of six years, provided however, that the 
 S. 5908 4 1 [chairman] chairperson first appointed shall serve for a term ending 2 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-one, provided that thirty days 3 after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nine 4 which amended this paragraph, the term of the [chairman] chairperson 5 shall expire; provided, further, that such [chairman] chairperson may 6 continue to discharge the duties of [his] their office until the posi- 7 tion of [chairman] chairperson is filled by appointment by the governor 8 upon the advice and consent of the senate and the term of such new 9 [chairman] chairperson shall terminate June thirtieth, two thousand 10 fifteen. The sixteen other members first appointed shall serve for the 11 following terms: The members from the counties of Nassau and Westchester 12 shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 13 eighty-five; the members from the county of Suffolk and from the coun- 14 ties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall each serve for a 15 term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-two; two of the 16 members appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York 17 shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 18 eighty-four and, two shall each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, 19 nineteen hundred eighty-one; two of the members appointed by the gover- 20 nor without the recommendation of any other person shall each serve for 21 a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-two, two shall 22 each serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty and 23 one shall serve for a term ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred 24 eighty-five. Thirty days after the effective date of the chapter of the 25 laws of two thousand twenty-five which amended this paragraph, the terms 26 of the members appointed on recommendation of the mayor of the city of 27 New York shall expire, provided, that such members may continue to 28 discharge the duties of their office until the positions are filled by 29 appointment on recommendation of the mayor of the city of New York and 30 the term of three of such new members shall terminate June thirtieth, 31 two thousand twenty-eight, and the term of two of such new members shall 32 terminate June thirtieth, two thousand thirty-one. The members from the 33 counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland shall cast one collec- 34 tive vote. 35 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 36 the amendments to subparagraph (1) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of 37 section 1263 of the public authorities law made by section one of this 38 act shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such paragraph 39 pursuant to section 3 of chapter 549 of the laws of 1994, as amended, 40 when upon such date the provisions of section two of this act shall take 41 effect.