What's happening
This bill updates the membership and duties of the rural public transportation committee and prioritizes use of public transit for Medicaid transportation in rural areas.
Why it matters
Expands and updates committee membership. to include more agencies (like the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs), and adds a labor union representative, potentially bringing broader expertise and perspectives to rural public transportation planning.
Requires more frequent and detailed committee reporting,. including data on ridership, financial challenges, Medicaid patient use, and populations lacking access—creating accountability and a clearer picture of rural transit needs and opportunities.
Mandates that Medicaid transportation in rural areas prioritize public transit systems. when they are appropriate, available, and least expensive, which could improve efficiency, increase use of local transit, and better support the financial stability of rural transit providers.
Allows rural counties to opt out of the new Medicaid transport rule. by notifying the commissioner, giving local governments flexibility if the public transit-first approach is not feasible or beneficial for their community.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Improve Rural Transit Oversight
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1597
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sens. O'MARA, AKSHAR, AMEDORE, FUNKE, GALLIVAN, RANZENHOF- ER, SEWARD, YOUNG -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the transportation law, in relation to the interagency coordinating committee on rural public transportation; and to amend the social services law, in relation to the transportation of eligible persons residing in a rural area
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 73-d of the transportation law, as amended by chapter 562 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as follows:
§ 73-d. Interagency coordinating committee on rural public transportation. 1. There is hereby created a committee to be known as the "interagency coordinating committee on rural public transportation", to be comprised of nineteen members. The commissioner or his or her designee shall serve as chairperson. Twelve of such members shall be the following or his or her duly designated representative: the director of the office for the aging; the commissioner of education; the commissioner of labor; the commissioner of health; the commissioner of the office of mental health; the commissioner of the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services; the commissioner of the office [of mental retardation and] for people with developmental disabilities; the commissioner of [social services; state advocate for the disabled] the office for temporary and disability assistance; the executive director of the New York state justice center for the protection of people with special needs; the secretary of state; the commissioner of agriculture and markets[; the director of the office of rural affairs] and the [director of the division for youth] commissioner of the office of children and family services. Six additional members, [all] five of whom shall be transportation providers or consumers representing rural counties and one shall be a representative of a labor union affiliated with public
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05819-01-9
S. 1597 2
transportation systems receiving public transportation systems operating assistance account funds, shall be appointed to serve a term of three years as follows: two by the [president pro-tempore] temporary president of the senate, two by the speaker of the assembly, one by the minority leader of the senate, and one by the minority leader of the assembly. Efforts shall be made to provide a broad representation of consumers and providers of transportation services in rural counties when making such appointments. [Members of the committee shall receive no salary.] The six members appointed by the legislature, as well as the commissioner or his or her designee, shall be the voting members. The balance of the committee will serve in an advisory or consulting capacity. The committee shall keep a record of its official actions.
The commissioner shall cause the department to provide staff assistance necessary for the efficient and effective operation of the committee.
2. The committee shall[:] meet at least once every three months and shall report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly annually, beginning October first, two thousand twenty. The annual report shall:
a. identify existing rural transportation systems and provide data on ridership, revenue, and financial challenges for each system;
b. identify rural populations currently utilizing public transportation, as well as populations in need of public transportation without access, and discuss recommendations for maintaining and expanding services;
c. include a breakdown by county of cost savings, modes of transportation provided to Medicaid patients, and rates of utilization of public transportation by Medicaid patients;
d. identify programs and the annual amounts and sources of funds from such programs that are eligible to be used to support a coordinated public transportation service, and the annual amounts and sources of such funds that are actually used for client transportation or for transportation of persons in connection with agency-affiliated programs or services; such data shall be provided on a county basis;
[b. identify restrictions on existing programs that inhibit funds from such programs being used to pay for a coordinated public transportation service in rural counties;
c.] e. recommend changes in state or local laws or regulations that would improve the coordination of funds, facilities, vehicles or equipment and other resources used for transportation at the local level;
[d.] f. upon request, compile and forward to the commissioner any data or other information required by this section.
3. A majority of the whole number of voting members of the committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the committee's business. The committee shall have the power to act by a majority vote of the voting members. Committee members shall hold office until their successors have been appointed and have qualified. The selection of successors to fill a vacancy shall be made in the same manner in which the retiring committee members shall have been selected. Members of the committee shall receive no salary or other compensation, but shall be entitled to their actual and necessary expenses, including traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties.
§ 2. The opening paragraph of subdivision 4 of section 365-h of the social services law is designated paragraph (a) and a new paragraph (b) is added to read as follows:
S. 1597 3
(b) Where the commissioner of health elects to assume such responsibility from a local social services district authorized transportation for an eligible person, whose originating location exists within a county defined as a rural area pursuant to subdivision seven of section four hundred eighty-one of the executive law, shall be assigned to an existing public transportation system, as defined in subdivision one of section eighteen-b of the transportation law, if that system provides an appropriate, available and least expensive mode of transportation. A county defined as a rural area pursuant to subdivision seven of section four hundred eighty-one of the executive law may opt out of such election by the commissioner of health by notifying such commissioner in writing.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that section two of this act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law and that the amendments to subdivision 4 of section 365-h of the social services law, made by section two of this act, shall not affect the expiration and repeal of such section, and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the transportation law, in relation to the interagency coordinating committee on rural public transportation; and to amend the social services law, in relation to the transportation of eligible persons residing in a rural area
Purpose or general idea of bill
To improve the availability and quality of public transportation services in rural counties.
Summary of specific provisions
(1) modifies section 73-d of the transportation law, as amended by chap- ter 562 of the laws of 1987
Read the full memo (837 words)
(2) require that the committee report to the Executive and the Legisla- ture on an annual basis on the existing rural transportation systems and provide data on ridership, revenue and challenges for each system; iden- tify current utilization and discuss recommendations for maintaining and expanding services; include an analysis on a county by county basis of cost savings, modes of transportation and rates of utilization of public transportation by Medicaid patients;
(3) establish that a majority of the whole number of voting members of the committee shall constitute a quorum for transaction of the commit- tee's business.
Section 2
(1) establishes that where the commissioner of health assumes responsi- bility for transportation of Medicaid recipients in rural counties, a public transportation system shall he prioritized for assignment where the system is available, appropriate, and the least expensive means.
(2) Allows counties with a population below two hundred thousand the opportunity to resume their own transportation management of NEMT.
Section 3
(1) states the effective date.
Justification
Public transportation systems all across upstate New York provide crit- ical transportation links between individuals and work, medical appoint- ments, school, shopping, and other destinations. It has been estimated that upstate public transportation systems carry more than 570,000 riders every day, making them cumulatively the equivalent of the seventh largest transit system in the country. Transit offers riders mobility, and is a vital component in the transportation infrastructure for economic development, job growth, anti-poverty and housing initiatives, energy conservation and environmental protection. In rural counties, fares alone are not sufficient to cover all the costs of providing tran- sit services, and as a result public transit systems must also be utilized by constituencies relying on State funded means of transporta- tion. This .bill is a means by which sustainable funding options can be identified in order to provide for growth and stability, creating further opportunities for supporting mobility options for rural upstate New York residents.
The State Department of Health takeover and delivery of Medicaid NEMT and other related transportation plans may work in heavily urban areas. However, it has created unintended negative impacts on public transpor- tation in rural counties in upstate New York.
Since the adoption of the centralized nonemergency medical transporta- tion (NEMT) manager system in New York State, many rural counties have experienced a sharp decrease in ridership and associated revenue to their public transportation systems. As a result, many counties have reduced or eliminated routes. In Tioga County, the entire public trans- portation. system has been eliminated. Prior to this change, each coun- ty was responsible for arranging the necessary Medicaid funded transpor- tation for its citizens. Often, counties developed coordinated transit services that met not only the Medicaid transportation need, but also the transportation needs of other social service agencies and the gener- al public's. Their level of coordination and efficiency has not been replicated under the state takeover.
Numerous studies have identified that public transportation is critical for economic vitality and health of our communities. Effective coordi- nation is critical for successful public transportation initiatives. It is upon this fundamental perspective that the federal United We Ride initiative and movements in mobility management emerged. After so much hard work to establish public transportation systems in rural areas, of the State, rural communities should not be left behind now. Some of the most vulnerable populations--including those relying on NEMT services-- need robust public transportation services to support their integration into the communities. By providing more effective mobility to work-- and increasing accessibility to health and food services, and educational opportunities, these transportation systems can more efficiently support our rural and vulnerable populations.
To ensure that public transportation systems in rural counties continue to be prioritized in NEMT rider assignment, this legislation will require assignment to public transportation systems where the rider originates from a rural county.
Allowing rural communities to work together to provide the best trans- portation options for their residents will bring the responsibility back to the counties to rebuild their transportation systems in a community- based approach and tackle this rural mobility crisis.
Prior legislative history
2013 - S7421
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
Immediately, however, section two shall come into effect on the thirti- eth day after it becomes law, and that the amendments to subdivision 4 of section 365-h of the social services law, made by section two of this act, shall not affect the expiration and repeal of such section, and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.