Bill Text: NY S02155 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Amends provisions of the economically sustainable transportation demonstration program to provide an on demand transit service for seniors using automobiles driven by volunteer and paid drivers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-12 - referred to aging [S02155 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S02155-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2155--B
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 12, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sens. SERINO, MARCHIONE -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Aging -- commit-
          tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and  recom-
          mitted  to  said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Aging in
          accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported favorably from  said
          committee  and  committed  to  the  Committee  on Finance -- committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee
        AN ACT to amend the elder law, in relation to an economically  sustaina-
          ble transportation demonstration program
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 2, 3, 4 and 6 of section 223 of the elder law,
     2  as added by section 3 of part J of chapter 57 of the laws of  2006,  are
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    2. The director shall establish the economically sustainable transpor-
     5  tation  demonstration  program  for  the  purpose of enabling seniors to
     6  remain independent and mobile in  their  community.  The  program  would
     7  provide an on demand transit service for seniors [that would use] estab-
     8  lishing,  at  a  minimum, operational hours during normal business hours
     9  using automobiles driven by volunteer  and  paid  drivers  to  transport
    10  seniors  to  where  they  need  and  want to go. [After a period of five
    11  years, the program would no longer be eligible  for  state  funding  and
    12  would  be  completely  self-sustaining,  relying  on  consumer fares and
    13  voluntary community support to remain operational.]
    14    3. Before carrying out  the  economically  sustainable  transportation
    15  demonstration  program,  the  director  shall enter into a contract or a
    16  cooperative agreement with an eligible entity to provide recommendations
    17  and support to the director  regarding  the  administration  of  such  a
    18  program. [(a)] The eligible entity that enters into a contract or agree-
    19  ment under subdivision three of this section shall:
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04890-05-8

        S. 2155--B                          2
     1    [(1)] (a) Provide initial and ongoing technical assistance and support
     2  to the director for the administration of the sustainable transportation
     3  demonstration program.
     4    [(2)]  (b) Provide initial and ongoing technical assistance to econom-
     5  ically sustainable transportation providers.
     6    [(3)] (c) Provide recommendation to the director about the  establish-
     7  ment  of,  and  requirements concerning locations where the economically
     8  sustainable transportation services will be provided in the state.
     9    [(4)] (d) Provide recommendations to the director for the creation and
    10  use  of  qualified  transportation  accounts  for   the   transportation
    11  services, including the provisions that such an account:
    12    [(i)]  (1) may be funded with credits or funds equal to the value of a
    13  vehicle traded to an economically  sustainable  transportation  provider
    14  by, or on behalf of, a qualified individual, or by other means;
    15    [(ii)]  (2)  shall  be used only to provide transportation services to
    16  the qualified individual;
    17    [(iii)] (3) shall have a designated beneficiary; and
    18    [(iv)] (4) shall be transferable to an individual other than the qual-
    19  ified individual.
    20    [(5)] (e) Provide recommendations to the  director  regarding  partic-
    21  ipation  in  any  federal  grant program for an economically sustainable
    22  transportation program.
    23    (f) Provide recommendations to the director about the establishment of
    24  rules and regulations considering  requisite  automobile  and  liability
    25  insurance  requirements  as  well as any other necessary rules and regu-
    26  lations to facilitate the implementation of the program. Nothing in this
    27  section shall preclude the director from consulting with the  department
    28  of  motor  vehicles,  the department of financial services, or any other
    29  state agencies who may provide support.
    30    4. After receiving the recommendations and support described in subdi-
    31  vision three of this section, the director shall  promulgate  rules  and
    32  regulations  for the implementation of the program and develop a request
    33  for proposal to carry out  the  economically  sustainable  demonstration
    34  program.
    35    6.  [Within  amounts appropriated, the] The director shall establish a
    36  pilot program within amounts appropriated therefor, in up to five  coun-
    37  ties, each with not more than three hundred fifty thousand persons as of
    38  the two thousand ten United States census, or a collaborative project of
    39  two  contiguous  counties  that  each do not have more than four hundred
    40  thousand persons as of the two thousand ten United  States  census.  The
    41  director shall make grants available to qualified economically sustaina-
    42  ble transportation providers of no less than fifty-five thousand dollars
    43  per  grantee  [in the first year of the operation of the program].  Each
    44  provider shall be required to submit a report to the director within one
    45  year of the implementation of such pilot program  which  shall  include,
    46  but not be limited  to, documentation of participation rates, any imped-
    47  iments to implementation encountered, steps taken to ensure sustainabil-
    48  ity  of  the program and proposals for expansion to other service areas.
    49  Such providers shall be eligible to receive funding under  this  section
    50  annually  for  up to five years. After such time, providers must be able
    51  to provide  economically  sustainable  transportation  services  without
    52  receiving  further  public financial assistance for operating or capital
    53  expenses.
    54    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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