Bill Text: NY A05948 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes the New York black car operators' injury compensation fund, inc. to offer drivers health, vision, dental, life, paid leave, retirement and financial services; allows the fund to provide for an additional 10% to pay for the additional benefits; further authorizes the fund to administer benefits or hire a third party administrator.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to labor [A05948 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A05948-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5948 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 20, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. RODRIGUEZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the authority of the New York black car operators' injury compensation fund, inc. to provide additional benefits The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 160-jj of the executive 2 law, as added by chapter 49 of the laws of 1999, are amended to read as 3 follows: 4 1. To pay (a) the costs of the insurance purchased pursuant to subdi- 5 vision three of section one hundred sixty-ii of this article or (b) the 6 benefits due under the workers' compensation law in the event the fund 7 self-insures pursuant to subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-ii 8 of this article, and to pay (c) its expenses in carrying out its powers 9 and duties under this article and (d) its liabilities, if any, pursuant 10 to section fourteen-a of the workers' compensation law and (e) the costs 11 incurred by a third-party not-for-profit organization, as authorized by 12 the fund, in educating, sourcing, enrolling into and providing large 13 groups of black car operators with additional health services and 14 related benefits that black car operators do not typically have or have 15 access to including, but not limited to, health insurance, life insur- 16 ance, disability insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, paid 17 leave, retirement services, and financial services, the fund shall 18 ascertain by reasonable estimate the total funding necessary to carry on 19 its operations. 20 2. Based upon its estimation of operating costs, the fund shall estab- 21 lish a proposed uniform percentage surcharge to be added to (a) the 22 invoices or billings for covered services sent to the customers of the 23 fund's members by a member or its agent and (b) the credit payments for 24 covered services received by a member or its agent. The proposed EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06044-03-9A. 5948 2 1 surcharge shall become effective thirty days after being filed with the 2 department. Notwithstanding the foregoing, beginning on the first day of 3 the first calendar month that shall commence at least seventy-five days 4 after the effective date of this article, and until the fund shall have 5 filed with the department a different surcharge amount, a three percent 6 surcharge shall be added to every invoice or billing for covered 7 services sent by a member or its agent to, and every credit payment for 8 covered services received by a member or its agent from, the customers 9 of the fund's members. The surcharge amounts not related to workers' 10 compensation benefits and allocated for paragraph (e) of subdivision one 11 of this section shall not be less than five percent nor shall they 12 exceed ten percent. Each member of the fund shall be liable for payment 13 to the fund of an amount equal to the product of (i) the percentages 14 surcharge due pursuant to this article, divided by one hundred and (ii) 15 all payments received by the member or its agent for covered services 16 from the member's customers, as provided in this subdivision, regardless 17 of whether the surcharge was billed or charged. 18 § 2. Paragraphs (f), (g) and (h) of subdivision 2 of section 160-gg of 19 the executive law are relettered paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) and a new 20 paragraph (f) is added to read as follows: 21 (f) establish a procedure to ensure delivery of prompt and accurate 22 data to determine whether a black car operator is eligible for benefits 23 under paragraph (e) of subdivision one of section one hundred sixty-jj 24 of this article for instances where the black car operator works across 25 multiple central dispatch facilities as defined in subdivision three of 26 section one hundred sixty-cc of this article; 27 § 3. Section 160-jj of the executive law is amended by adding two new 28 subdivisions (8) and (9) to read as follows: 29 (8) The third party not-for-profit organization providing benefits 30 pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision one of this section, shall have 31 experience in providing (procuring, sourcing or distributing) one or 32 more of the benefits to be provided to more than five thousand black car 33 operators. The fund shall choose this third-party not-for-profit organ- 34 ization with the advice and consent of a driver's labor group that 35 exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of representing the inter- 36 ests of black car operators. The labor group shall (a) be a not-for-pro- 37 fit organization having tax exempt status under section 501 (c) (3) of 38 the United States Internal Revenue Code, and (b) have been representing 39 the interests of black car operators for a minimum of two years. 40 (9) No county, municipality or public authority or commission operat- 41 ing within a county or municipality shall have the authority to impose a 42 surcharge on black car operators or services for the purpose of provid- 43 ing benefits pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision one of this 44 section. 45 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 46 have become a law.