Bill Text: NY S08459 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the COVID-19 recovery commission to determine how much funding to seek and new issuances that will be sold to the Federal Reserve Municipal Liquidity Facility and to gather information, testimony, advice and other input to make allocation decisions in respect of the new funding and recovery efforts related to novel coronavirus, COVID-19; requires the commission to report its findings to the governor and legislature monthly.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-03 - REFERRED TO COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS [S08459 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S08459-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8459 IN SENATE June 3, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Commerce, Economic Devel- opment and Small Business AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to establish- ing the COVID-19 Recovery Commission The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The economic development law is amended by adding a new 2 article 23 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 23 4 COVID-19 RECOVERY COMMISSION 5 Section 460. COVID-19 recovery commission. 6 461. Powers and duties of the commission. 7 462. Reporting. 8 463. Assistance of other agencies. 9 § 460. COVID-19 recovery commission. 1. There is hereby established in 10 the department a commission, to be known as the COVID-19 recovery 11 commission. 12 2. Such commission shall consist of the director of the budget, the 13 president of the empire state development corporation, the superinten- 14 dent of the department of financial services, the president of the 15 metropolitan transportation authority, the president of the port author- 16 ity, the president of the dormitory authority, the commissioner of the 17 department of health and all other state commissioners in charge of 18 financing as determined by the governor. The commission shall also 19 include representatives of the state's principal subdivisions and appro- 20 priate public finance personnel appointed as follows: three members 21 shall be appointed by the governor, two members shall be appointed by 22 the temporary president of the senate, two members shall be appointed by 23 the speaker of the assembly, one member shall be appointed by the minor- 24 ity leader of the senate, and one member shall be appointed by the 25 minority leader of the assembly. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16226-03-0S. 8459 2 1 3. The commission members shall be appointed immediately upon the 2 effective date of this article and shall meet publicly at least every 3 week thereafter. 4 § 461. Powers and duties of the commission. The commission shall have 5 the following powers and duties: 6 1. to determine how much funding to seek and whom to authorize to 7 begin preparations for the new issuances that the state and its subdivi- 8 sions will sell to the Federal Reserve Municipal Liquidity Facility. 9 2. to consult with representatives of the Federal Reserve Bank of New 10 York (acting in an ex officio capacity if necessary). 11 3. to determine appropriate state and local personnel to handle note- 12 issuing and Federal Reserve-liaising tasks. 13 4. to gather information, testimony, advice and all other deliberative 14 inputs necessary to make sensible allocation decisions in respect of the 15 new funding and recovery efforts related to novel coronavirus, COVID-19, 16 that will be incoming from the Federal Reserve Municipal Liquidity 17 Facility. 18 5. to determine whether to approach the Federal Reserve for further 19 easing of the terms of the Federal Reserve Municipal Liquidity Facility 20 Term Sheet. 21 6. The commission shall also, once the municipal liquidity facility 22 application and associated note-issuance process is underway, determine: 23 (a) whether the state might benefit by establishing a public bank to 24 manage, and perhaps "lever-up" through lending of its own on the basis 25 of such deposits and/or capitalization as it receives, municipal liquid- 26 ity facility funds and such other funds as the state might receive (for 27 example, federal paycheck protection program or federal small business 28 administration economic injury disaster loan moneys) or make available 29 for purposes of COVID-19 relief; 30 (b) whether a public bank such as that contemplated in paragraph (a) 31 of this subdivision, or some other state instrumentality from among the 32 authorities named in this article, might benefit the state by funding a 33 comprehensive "gold standard" system of testing and contact-tracing 34 persons residing or doing business in the state for COVID-19 infection; 35 (c) whether a public bank such as that contemplated in paragraph (a) 36 of this subdivision, or some other state instrumentality from among the 37 authorities named in this article, might benefit the state by compulso- 38 rily purchasing, through use of the eminent domain authority, all nurs- 39 ing homes in the state owned by for-profit private sector entities, 40 private equity funds in particular; 41 (d) whether a public bank such as that contemplated in paragraph (a) 42 of this subdivision, or some other state instrumentality from among the 43 authorities named in this article, might benefit the state by affording 44 lower-income residents of the state any form of temporary rent relief or 45 mortgage debt relief; 46 (e) whether a public bank such as that contemplated in paragraph (a) 47 of this subdivision, or some other state instrumentality from among the 48 authorities named in this article, might benefit the state of New York 49 by using federal paycheck protection program moneys, federal small busi- 50 ness administration economic injury disaster loan moneys, or other 51 moneys either to keep workers employed by their present employers or, 52 barring that, to assist workers in purchasing equity stakes in or full 53 ownership of the firms that employ them; and 54 (f) whether a public bank such as that contemplated in paragraph (a) 55 of this subdivision, or some other state instrumentality from among the 56 authorities named in this article, might benefit the state in some otherS. 8459 3 1 manner or manners through direct or indirect use of newly acquired 2 federal municipal liquidity facility, federal paycheck protection 3 program, or federal small business administration economic injury disas- 4 ter loan funds. 5 § 462. Reporting. The commission shall report its findings to the 6 governor and the legislature within one month of the effective date of 7 this article and monthly thereafter. Upon the transmission of the 8 report to the governor and the legislature, the commissioner shall with- 9 in thirty days determine whether the commission shall continue in opera- 10 tion, or whether it shall be changed in some manner, or whether it shall 11 be dissolved, and shall report his or her findings and recommendations 12 to the governor and the legislature. 13 § 463. Assistance of other agencies. To effectuate the purposes of 14 this article, the commission may request and shall receive from any 15 department, division, board, bureau, commission or other agency or 16 authority of the state such assistance, information and data as will 17 enable the commission to properly carry out its powers and duties as 18 described in section four hundred sixty-one of this article. Such 19 assistance shall not waive or impair the terms of an existing agreement 20 negotiated between the relevant employer and employee organization nor 21 limit any obligation to bargain terms and conditions of employment 22 pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law. 23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
