S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9663
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 27, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ZEBROWSKI  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
 
 AN ACT requiring all public authorities owning, leasing, and controlling
   critical infrastructure to study the potential consequences of  priva-
   tization
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings. 1. New York state  must  have  suffi-
 cient  numbers  of  properly  designed and maintained pieces of critical
 transportation infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, roads, airports,
 ports, container ports, railroads and rapid transit services in order to
 retain its economic competitiveness and grow its economy.
   2. Much of the state's existing critical infrastructure is  aging,  is
 experiencing capacity problems, has had maintenance problems, or in some
 other  manner  has  become  a  candidate for re-engineering, rebuilding,
 replacement or supplementation.
   3. The most critical and expensive  transportation  infrastructure  in
 New  York  state to re-engineer, rebuild or replace is under the control
 or ownership of public authorities,  and  such  critical  transportation
 infrastructure,  from  time  to  time,  is under consideration for sale,
 long-term lease or other transfer of ownership or control to the private
 business sector.
   § 2. For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall have  the
 following meanings:
   1.  "critical  transportation  infrastructure" shall refer to bridges,
 tunnels, roads, airports, ports, container ports,  railroads  and  rapid
 transit services owned by a state or local public authority;
   2.  "privatization"  shall refer to the sale, long-term lease or other
 transfer of ownership or control of pieces  of  critical  transportation
 infrastructure to the private business sector;
   3.  "comparable projects" shall refer to existing privatization initi-
 atives in the United States comparable in scope, scale and value to  the
 critical  transportation  infrastructure  controlled  by  state or local
 public authorities; and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD04055-01-3
 A. 9663                             2
 
   4. "privatization report" shall refer to the report  created  pursuant
 to this act.
   §  3.  1.  All  public authorities who are currently in the process of
 issuing concessions or selling or  otherwise  transferring,  or  issuing
 notices  of inquiry ("NOIs") or requests for proposal ("RFPs") for leas-
 ing, or selling or otherwise transferring control of any critical trans-
 portation infrastructure, or who have done so in  the  past  ten  years,
 shall  issue  a study reporting on the effects of privatization of crit-
 ical transportation infrastructure.
   2. (a) Each public authority shall issue its individual  privatization
 report  to  the  assembly  committees  on  corporations, authorities and
 commissions, economic development, transportation, and ways  and  means,
 and to the senate committees on commerce, economic development and small
 business, corporations, authorities and commissions, and transportation.
   (b)  Each  public  authority's  privatization report shall evaluate in
 detail the following:
   (i) the impact that sale  or  transfer  of  control  of  its  critical
 infrastructure  would  have  upon the authority's ability to pay any and
 all debt it has issued, or succeeded to, that is guaranteed  or  secured
 by any revenues arising from the authority's critical infrastructure, or
 by the ownership of such critical infrastructure;
   (ii)  whether the critical infrastructure involved any existing priva-
 tization initiatives in the United States are comparable in scope, scale
 and value to  the  critical  infrastructure  controlled  by  the  public
 authority;
   (iii)  the progress to date of any comparable projects and whether any
 such projects have experienced cost overruns  or  delays,  or  otherwise
 have  failed, or succeeded, in meeting the deadlines and costs put forth
 by the private entity.
   3. (a) The privatization report shall be due on or within 14  days  of
 December  1,  2024.  Within 90 days after the date each public authority
 submits the report provided for in subdivision one of  this  section  to
 the  committees,  such committees may, severally or collectively, submit
 further issues for study and inclusion in such report, which said public
 authorities shall study and include within such report  within  60  days
 after receipt of any such submission, at which point said public author-
 ities  shall submit the privatization report to the governor, the tempo-
 rary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the  minority
 leaders of the senate and assembly, the chairperson and ranking minority
 member  of  the senate corporations, authorities and commissions commit-
 tee, and the chairperson and ranking minority  member  of  the  assembly
 corporations, authorities and commissions committee.
   (b)  The  governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker
 of the assembly, the minority leaders of the senate  and  assembly,  the
 chairperson  and  ranking  minority  member  of the senate corporations,
 authorities and commissions committee, and the chairperson  and  ranking
 minority  member  of  the assembly corporations, authorities and commis-
 sions committee shall have a period of 90 days within  which  to  submit
 further issues for study and inclusion in such report, which said public
 authorities  shall  study  and include within such report within 60 days
 after receipt of any such submission.
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have  become  a  law.    Effective  immediately, the addition, amendment
 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
 of this act on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to  be  made  and
 completed on or before such effective date.