What's happening
This bill updates the membership, duties, and reporting requirements of the interagency coordinating committee on rural public transportation, including oversight of rural Medicaid transportation rates.
Why it matters
Adds new oversight responsibilities for Medicaid transportation rates in rural counties. , meaning rural communities could see changes in how Medicaid transportation services are priced and delivered, potentially improving access and affordability for low-income residents.
Shifts voting power on the committee to appointees from the legislature and the DOT commissioner. , giving rural transportation providers and consumers more direct influence, which could result in policy decisions better reflecting local needs.
Requires more detailed annual reporting on rural transportation systems, including data on ridership, financial challenges, and Medicaid patient usage. , increasing transparency and accountability, and supplying lawmakers with better information for funding and policy decisions.
Mandates quarterly meetings and formal consultation with the committee before Medicaid rates are set or adjusted for rural areas. , ensuring that rural perspectives and data are considered in statewide decision-making, and possibly leading to more appropriate rate structures that balance cost savings with service quality.
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Strengthen Rural Transit Committee
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History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1601
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sen. O'MARA -- 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
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; 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 of whom shall be transportation providers or consumers representing rural counties 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
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05807-01-9
S. 1601 2
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 speaker of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, and the governor 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.] e. 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.] f. 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. upon request, compile and forward to the commissioner any data or other information required by this section].
3. The committee shall be required to examine reimbursement rates developed by transportation managers pursuant to subdivision four of section three hundred sixty-five-h of the social services law for counties with a population of two hundred thousand or less. The committee shall submit recommendations for proposed and effective rates for rural communities to the commissioner of health with recommendations including, but not limited to, adjustments to individual ridership fares for public transportation utilization, rates for low-cost coordinated transportation with other human service agencies, and rates for private transportation with considerations of availability and cost savings.
The commissioner of health shall consult with the committee prior to approval of rates proposed under subdivision four of section three hundred sixty-five-h of the social services law for counties with a population of two hundred thousand or less. Any proposal for a rate adjustment for rural communities after approval shall be examined by the committee prior to approval by the commissioner.
4. 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
S. 1601 3
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. This act shall take effect immediately.
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
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 (812 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 be 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 transit services, and as a result public transit systems must also be utilized by constituencies relying on State funded means of transportation. 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 county was responsible for arranging the necessary Medicaid funded transportation for its citizens. Often, coun- ties developed coordinated transit services that met not only the Medi- caid transportation need, but also the transportation needs of other social service agencies and the general public's. Their level of coordi- nation 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 he 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
2018 - S7421
Fiscal implications
Unknown.
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.
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