STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5049 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 4, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions 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: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "statewide transportation authority reinvestment (STAR) act of 3 2019". 4 § 2. Legislative intent. The public authorities that provide mass 5 transit service in the areas of New York City, Long Island, Hudson 6 Valley, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse and their suburbs are given 7 the power to issue debt, which they can use to fund capital projects or 8 operations. However, state law requires these authorities to pay the 9 state a fee each time they issue bonds, totaling up to almost 1% of 10 bonds issued depending on the amount of the issuance. The legislature 11 finds that in a time when these authorities face increasing fiscal chal- 12 lenges, the fees these authorities must pay to the state rob them of 13 resources to maintain reliable, attractive bus and rail service which is 14 an inherent public good. It is the intent of the legislature to relieve 15 transportation authorities of the burden of acting as a revenue source 16 for the state when they invest in their operations and capital infras- 17 tructure, and that these authorities use the savings accrued from 18 exemptions from this fee to maintain service levels and prevent service 19 cuts, or for transformative capital projects. 20 § 3. Section 2 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a 21 new subdivision 7 to read as follows: 22 7. "mass transit authority" shall mean the metropolitan transportation 23 authority, New York City transit authority, Triborough bridge and tunnel 24 authority, Capital District transportation authority, Central New York EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11065-01-9S. 5049 2 1 regional transportation authority, Rochester-Genesee regional transpor- 2 tation authority, Niagara Frontier transportation authority and all 3 subsidiaries thereof. It shall also refer to any local or state authori- 4 ty created for the purpose of operating transportation facilities 5 including, but not limited to railroad and/or omnibus facilities. In 6 addition, it shall refer to any local or state authority whose chairman 7 and members also serve as the chairman and members of a local or state 8 authority created for the purpose of operating transportation facilities 9 including, but not limited to railroad and/or omnibus facilities. 10 § 4. Subdivision 4 of section 2976 of the public authorities law, as 11 added by section 12 of part E of chapter 494 of the laws of 2009, is 12 amended to read as follows: 13 4. The provisions of subdivisions one and two of this section shall 14 not apply to bonds issued by mass transit authorities and to recovery 15 act bonds issued by the state of New York municipal bond bank agency in 16 connection with local American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pursuant to 17 section two thousand four hundred thirty-six-b of this chapter. 18 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.