S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    284
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. RHOADS, BORRELLO, GRIFFO, O'MARA, WEIK -- 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 board
   submitting a recommendation regarding the  central  business  district
   toll amounts to the legislature and recommending a privacy risk plan
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds and declares that
 legislative accountability is a core element in any  democratic  polity.
 The  commuter  tax  legislation tried to sidestep that accountability by
 passing off the  burden  of  establishing  the  commuter  tax  rates  to
 unelected  bureaucrats and announcing such rates the week after the 2020
 election.  This legislation would restore the crucial element of  legis-
 lative accountability by requiring that the legislature approve any rate
 established for the commuter tax.
   §  2.  Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 553-k of the public authorities
 law, as added by section 8 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of the
 laws of 2019, are amended to read as follows:
   2. The board shall make a recommendation regarding the  central  busi-
 ness  district toll amounts to be established pursuant to article forty-
 four-C of the vehicle and traffic law, which shall include  a  variable-
 pricing  structure,  no  [sooner] LATER than [November] APRIL fifteenth,
 two thousand [twenty and no later than December thirty-first, two  thou-
 sand  twenty,  or  no  later  than thirty days before a central business
 district tolling program is initiated, whichever is later] TWENTY-SEVEN.
 Such recommendation shall be submitted to the LEGISLATURE FOR  APPROVAL.
 THE  LEGISLATURE SHALL VOTE ON SUCH RECOMMENDATION BY JUNE THIRTY-FIRST,
 TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN. THE AUTHORITY  SHALL  ONLY  BE  PERMITTED  TO
 ESTABLISH  CENTRAL  BUSINESS  TOLL  DISTRICT  AMOUNTS IF APPROVED BY THE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD01041-01-5
 S. 284                              2
 
 LEGISLATURE. IF APPROVED BY THE LEGISLATURE, SUCH  RECOMMENDATION  SHALL
 BE  SUBMITTED TO THE board of the Triborough bridge and tunnel authority
 for consideration before the  Triborough  bridge  and  tunnel  authority
 board  may  approve  central  business district toll amounts that may be
 established and adopted.
   3. For purposes of recommending a central business  district  toll  or
 tolls  in  addition  to  the goal of reducing traffic within the central
 business district, the board  shall,  at  minimum,  ensure  that  annual
 revenues  and  fees  collected  under  such  program, less costs of such
 program, provide for revenues into the central business district tolling
 capital lockbox fund,  established  pursuant  to  section  five  hundred
 fifty-three-j of this [chapter] TITLE, necessary to fund fifteen billion
 dollars  for  capital  projects  for  the  2020  to  [2024] 2027 capital
 program, and any additional revenues above that amount to  be  available
 for  any successor program. The board shall consider for purposes of its
 recommendations, factors including but not limited to, traffic patterns,
 traffic mitigation measures,  operating  costs,  public  impact,  public
 safety,  hardships,  vehicle  type,  discounts for motorcycles, peak and
 off-peak rates and environmental impacts, including but not  limited  to
 air  quality  and emissions trends. The board shall recommend a plan for
 credits, discounts, and/or exemptions for  tolls  paid  on  bridges  and
 crossings which shall be informed by a traffic study associated with the
 impact  of  any  such credits, discounts and/or exemptions on the recom-
 mended toll. The board shall recommend a plan  for  credits,  discounts,
 and/or  exemptions  for  for-hire  vehicles  defined,  and  subject to a
 surcharge imposed by, article twenty-nine-C of the tax law  for  a  for-
 hire transportation trip based on factors including, but not limited to,
 initial  market  entry  costs  associated with licensing and regulation,
 comparative contribution to congestion in the central business district,
 and general industry impact. THE BOARD SHALL RECOMMEND  A  PRIVACY  RISK
 PLAN  IN RELATION TO THE COLLECTION, PROCESSING, TRANSFER AND DISCLOSURE
 OF PERSONAL DATA, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, HISTORICAL OR REAL-TIME
 GEOLOCATION DATA, UNDER SUCH A PROGRAM AND REQUIRE THAT USE,  DISCLOSURE
 OR  ACCESS  TO  AN INDIVIDUAL'S PERSONAL DATA SHALL REQUIRE AFFIRMATIVE,
 EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL. The board shall  produce  a  detailed
 report  TO  BE  SENT  TO  THE  GOVERNOR,  THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE
 SENATE, THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY, THE MINORITY LEADER OF  THE  SENATE
 AND  THE  MINORITY  LEADER  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY, that provides information
 regarding the board's review and analysis for purposes  of  establishing
 its  recommendations, including but not limited to, all of the consider-
 ations referred to in this subdivision. The board shall not recommend  a
 toll  that  provides for charging passenger vehicles registered pursuant
 to subdivision six of section four hundred one of the vehicle and  traf-
 fic law more than once per day.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.