NY State Senate Bill 2021-S3435

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Corporations, Authorities And Commissions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
May 11, 2021	committee discharged and committed to corporations, authorities and commissions
Jan 29, 2021	referred to finance

co-Sponsors

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Corporations, Authorities And Commissions
Law Section:: Public Authorities Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§2 & 2976, Pub Auth L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S5049
2023-2024: S5594

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the statewide transportation authority reinvestment (STAR) act; exempts mass transit authorities from bond issuance charges.

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S3435

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to exempting
mass transit authorities from bond issuance charges

 
PURPOSE:

To exempt all mass transit authorities in New York State from bond issu-
ance charges/fees required under current law.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill is the bill title.

Section 2 of the bill states the Legislative intent.

Section 3 defines "mass transit authority" to include several public
authorities involved in the operation of transportation authorities, as

well as provides a general definition of the term for future authorities
that may be created. The term is also defined to include public authori-
ties like the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which does not
provide mass transit services itself, but is a subsidiary of and helps
fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Section 4 of the bill amends subdivision 4 of section 2976 of the Public
Authorities Law to exempt all of these mass transit authorities from the
state bond issuance charge.

Section 5 of the bill provides that this act shall take effect imme-
diately.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Currently, bonds issued by all public authorities are subject to the
bond issuance charge imposed by Public Authorities Law section
2976-which was originally enacted 30 years ago. This fee ranges from

0.168 to 0.84% of the bonds issued, depending on the monetary amount of
the bonds.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The state's transportation authorities provide robust mass transit
services across most of the state's biggest cities and area, including
New York, Long Island, Hudson Valley, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syra-
cuse, and their suburbs, serving over eight and one half billion riders
each day. Usage of mass transit services is shown to have appreciable
positive effects on mobility and pollution reduction while investments
in mass transit generate valuable economic activity. These transporta-
tion authorities often face fiscal obstacles in the way of making
desired improvement s to their service. These financial challenges often
manifest through cuts, rather than increases, to the level of rail and
bus service operated, and by postponing major capital projects like
modernizing rail infrastructure and rail/bus facilities, building new
rail lines to expand the reach of service, or creating bus rapid transit
projects to make bus service more attractive and reliable. These author-
ities often issue debt to invest in operations or capital projects, and
as a result must pay the state's bond issuance charge. This proposal
will reduce the cost of issuing bonds for these mass transit authori-
ties, and free up funds to be reinvested into operations (maintaining
current service levels for riders) or investments into capital projects.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill for 2019; Passed that year. However, prior pieces of separate
legislation have aimed to exempt some of the mass transit authorities
listed in Section 3 of this bill from bond issuance fees on an individ-
ual basis.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined. Several sources do provide estimates of money spent on
bond issuance fees, however. According to the Daily News publication in
February 2012, the metropolitan transportation authority paid $106
million in bond issuance fees over the preceding six years. It also
stated that the authority paid $30 million in bond issuance fees in year
2008-2009 and almost $20 million in fees in year 2010-2011.

According to the state Comptroller's office, the MTA paid about $14
million in bond issuance fees in 2015-2016. The state collected a total
of $91 million in fees during that year from just 14 public authorities
According to the New York Times publication in November 2017, the MTA
paid $328 million in bond issuance fees over the preceding 15 years.  It
should be noted that in 2012 and 2013, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo agreed
to waive the bond issuance charge for certain types of bonds issued by
the metropolitan transportation authority, saving the authority an esti-
mated $50 million.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect immediately.

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3435
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 29, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the public authorities law, in relation to exempting
   mass transit authorities from bond issuance charges
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "statewide  transportation  authority  reinvestment  (STAR)  act  of
 2021".
   §  2.  Legislative  intent.  The  public authorities that provide mass
 transit service in the areas of  New  York  City,  Long  Island,  Hudson
 Valley, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse and their suburbs are given
 the  power to issue debt, which they can use to fund capital projects or
 operations. However, state law requires these  authorities  to  pay  the
 state  a  fee  each  time  they issue bonds, totaling up to almost 1% of
 bonds issued depending on the amount of the  issuance.  The  legislature
 finds that in a time when these authorities face increasing fiscal chal-
 lenges,  the  fees  these  authorities must pay to the state rob them of
 resources to maintain reliable, attractive bus and rail service which is
 an inherent public good. It is the intent of the legislature to  relieve
 transportation  authorities  of the burden of acting as a revenue source
 for the state when they invest in their operations and  capital  infras-
 tructure,  and  that  these  authorities  use  the  savings accrued from
 exemptions from this fee to maintain service levels and prevent  service
 cuts, or for transformative capital projects.
   §  3.  Section  2 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a
 new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
   7. "MASS TRANSIT AUTHORITY" SHALL MEAN THE METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION
 AUTHORITY, NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT AUTHORITY, TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE AND TUNNEL
 AUTHORITY, CAPITAL DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, CENTRAL  NEW  YORK
 REGIONAL  TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, ROCHESTER-GENESEE REGIONAL TRANSPOR-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD07567-01-1

 S. 3435                             2
 
 TATION AUTHORITY, NIAGARA  FRONTIER  TRANSPORTATION  AUTHORITY  AND  ALL
 SUBSIDIARIES THEREOF. IT SHALL ALSO REFER TO ANY LOCAL OR STATE AUTHORI-
 TY  CREATED  FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  OPERATING  TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
 INCLUDING,  BUT  NOT  LIMITED  TO RAILROAD AND/OR OMNIBUS FACILITIES. IN
 ADDITION, IT SHALL REFER TO ANY LOCAL OR STATE AUTHORITY WHOSE  CHAIRMAN
 AND  MEMBERS  ALSO SERVE AS THE CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF A LOCAL OR STATE
 AUTHORITY CREATED FOR THE PURPOSE OF OPERATING TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
 INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO RAILROAD AND/OR OMNIBUS FACILITIES.
   § 4. Subdivision 4 of section 2976 of the public authorities  law,  as
 added  by  section  12  of part E of chapter 494 of the laws of 2009, is
 amended to read as follows:
   4. The provisions of subdivisions one and two of  this  section  shall
 not  apply  TO  BONDS ISSUED BY MASS TRANSIT AUTHORITIES AND to recovery
 act bonds issued by the state of New York municipal bond bank agency  in
 connection with local American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pursuant to
 section two thousand four hundred thirty-six-b of this chapter.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S3435

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Corporations, Authorities And Commissions Committee

co-Sponsors

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S3435

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Sponsored By

Leroy Comrie

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Corporations, Authorities And Commissions Committee

co-Sponsors

Jessica Ramos

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S3435 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments