Establishes the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund reform act; ensures that money deposited into the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund is spent on construction purposes and not DOT and DMV operational activities.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5082
SPONSOR: Palmesano (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the
dedicated highway and bridge trust fund reform act
PURPOSE:
This bill will ensure that money deposited into the Dedicated Highway
and Bridge Trust Fund is spent on construction purposes and not DOT and
DMV operational activities.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one titles the bill the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund
Reform Act.
Section two repeals section 1 of part B of Chapter 84 of the Laws of
2002 by forbidding the Dedicated Fund from being used to pay for costs
of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), including personal and non-
personal services.
Section three repeals section 1 of part 0 of Chapter .151 of the Laws of
2001 by forbidding that the Dedicated Fund from being used for snow and
ice removal by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and other costs
related to that program.
Section four states that the act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
When it was created in 1991, the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund
(DHBTF) was intended to fund transportation capital projects, supported
through dedicated taxes and fees. Unfortunately, in the years since the
Fund's establishment, less and less of these revenues have gone toward
capital construction.
This legislation is an attempt return the DHBTF to its original purpose
of providing a secure and reliable funding stream for bridge and road
investment.
Although Part UU of Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2018 redirects DOT and DMV
operational programs out of the DHBTF and to the General Fund, State
Finance Law still allows the DHBTF to be used for expenses of these
programs.
This bill would ensure that these programs are not returned to the
DHBTF, allowing it to operate more like the capital construction fund
that it was always intended to be.
With so many bridges and roads in need of investment across the State,
it is imperative that we safeguard revenues and ensure they are used for
transportation infrastructure investment and not unrelated purposes.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021 - A.5790: held in Ways & Means
2020 - A.6798: held in Ways & Means
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amendments to
paragraph a of subdivision 5 of section 89-b of the state finance law
made by section two of this act shall be subject to the expiration and
reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 2 of part B of chapter
B4 of the laws of 2002, as amended, when upon such date the provision of
section three of this act shall take effect.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5082
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 2, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PALMESANO, BARCLAY, RA, BLANKENBUSH, BRABENEC,
DeSTEFANO, DiPIETRO, FRIEND, J. M. GIGLIO, MANKTELOW, McDONOUGH, MILL-
ER, MORINELLO, NORRIS, REILLY, SMULLEN, TAGUE, WALSH -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. BYRNES, COOK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the
dedicated highway and bridge trust fund reform act
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 "dedicated highway and bridge trust fund reform act".
3 § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 5 of section 89-b of the state finance
4 law, as amended by section 10 of part C of chapter 57 of the laws of
5 2014, is amended to read as follows:
6 a. Moneys in the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund shall,
7 following appropriation by the legislature, be utilized for: recon-
8 struction, replacement, reconditioning, restoration, rehabilitation and
9 preservation of state, county, town, city and village roads, highways,
10 parkways, and bridges thereon, to restore such facilities to their
11 intended functions; construction, reconstruction, enhancement and
12 improvement of state, county, town, city, and village roads, highways,
13 parkways, and bridges thereon, to address current and projected capacity
14 problems including costs for traffic mitigation activities; aviation
15 projects authorized pursuant to section fourteen-j of the transportation
16 law and for payments to the general debt service fund of amounts equal
17 to amounts required for service contract payments related to aviation
18 projects as provided and authorized by section three hundred eighty-six
19 of the public authorities law; programs to assist small and minority and
20 women-owned firms engaged in transportation construction and recon-
21 struction projects, including a revolving fund for working capital
22 loans, and a bonding guarantee assistance program in accordance with
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08488-01-3
A. 5082 2
1 provisions of this chapter; matching federal grants or apportionments to
2 the state for highway, parkway and bridge capital projects; the acquisi-
3 tion of real property and interests therein required or expected to be
4 required in connection with such projects; preventive maintenance activ-
5 ities necessary to ensure that highways, parkways and bridges meet or
6 exceed their optimum useful life; [expenses of control of snow and ice
7 on state highways by the department of transportation including but not
8 limited to personal services, nonpersonal services and fringe benefits,
9 payment of emergency aid for control of snow and ice in municipalities
10 pursuant to section fifty-five of the highway law, expenses of control
11 of snow and ice on state highways by municipalities pursuant to section
12 twelve of the highway law, and for expenses of arterial maintenance
13 agreements with cities pursuant to section three hundred forty-nine of
14 the highway law; personal services, nonpersonal services, and fringe
15 benefit costs of the department of transportation for bus safety
16 inspection activities, rail safety inspection activities, and truck
17 safety inspection activities; costs of the department of motor vehicles,
18 including but not limited to personal and nonpersonal services;] costs
19 of engineering and administrative services of the department of trans-
20 portation, including but not limited to fringe benefits; the contract
21 services provided by private firms in accordance with section fourteen
22 of the transportation law; personal services and nonpersonal services,
23 for activities including but not limited to the preparation of designs,
24 plans, specifications and estimates; construction management and super-
25 vision activities; costs of appraisals, surveys, testing and environ-
26 mental impact statements for transportation projects; expenses in
27 connection with buildings, equipment, materials and facilities used or
28 useful in connection with the maintenance, operation, and repair of
29 highways, parkways and bridges thereon; and project costs for:
30 construction, reconstruction, improvement, reconditioning and preserva-
31 tion of rail freight facilities and intercity rail passenger facilities
32 and equipment; construction, reconstruction, improvement, reconditioning
33 and preservation of state, municipal and privately owned ports;
34 construction, reconstruction, improvement, reconditioning and preserva-
35 tion of municipal airports; privately owned airports and aviation capi-
36 tal facilities, excluding airports operated by the state or operated by
37 a bi-state municipal corporate instrumentality for which federal funding
38 is not available provided the project is consistent with an approved
39 airport layout plan; and construction, reconstruction, enhancement,
40 improvement, replacement, reconditioning, restoration, rehabilitation
41 and preservation of state, county, town, city and village roads, high-
42 ways, parkways and bridges; and construction, reconstruction, improve-
43 ment, reconditioning and preservation of fixed ferry facilities of
44 municipal and privately owned ferry lines for transportation purposes,
45 and the payment of debt service required on any bonds, notes or other
46 obligations and related expenses for highway, parkway, bridge and
47 project costs for: construction, reconstruction, improvement, recondi-
48 tioning and preservation of rail freight facilities and intercity rail
49 passenger facilities and equipment; construction, reconstruction,
50 improvement, reconditioning and preservation of state, municipal and
51 privately owned ports; construction, reconstruction, improvement, recon-
52 ditioning and preservation of municipal airports; privately owned
53 airports and aviation capital facilities, excluding airports operated by
54 the state or operated by a bi-state municipal corporate instrumentality
55 for which federal funding is not available provided the project is
56 consistent with an approved airport layout plan; construction, recon-
A. 5082 3
1 struction, enhancement, improvement, replacement, reconditioning, resto-
2 ration, rehabilitation and preservation of state, county, town, city and
3 village roads, highways, parkways and bridges; and construction, recon-
4 struction, improvement, reconditioning and preservation of fixed ferry
5 facilities of municipal and privately owned ferry lines for transporta-
6 tion purposes, purposes authorized on or after the effective date of
7 this section. Beginning with disbursements made on and after the first
8 day of April, nineteen hundred ninety-three, moneys in such fund shall
9 be available to pay such costs or expenses made pursuant to appropri-
10 ations or reappropriations made during the state fiscal year which began
11 on the first of April, nineteen hundred ninety-two. Beginning the first
12 day of April, nineteen hundred ninety-three, moneys in such fund shall
13 also be used for transfers to the general debt service fund and the
14 revenue bond tax fund of amounts equal to that respectively required for
15 service contract and financing agreement payments as provided and
16 authorized by section three hundred eighty of the public authorities
17 law, section eleven of chapter three hundred twenty-nine of the laws of
18 nineteen hundred ninety-one, as amended, and sections sixty-eight-c and
19 sixty-nine-o of this chapter.
20 § 3. Paragraph a of subdivision 5 of section 89-b of the state finance
21 law, as amended by section 52 of part JJJ of chapter 59 of the laws of
22 2021, is amended to read as follows:
23 a. Moneys in the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund shall,
24 following appropriation by the legislature, be utilized for: recon-
25 struction, replacement, reconditioning, restoration, rehabilitation and
26 preservation of state, county, town, city and village roads, highways,
27 parkways, and bridges thereon, to restore such facilities to their
28 intended functions; construction, reconstruction, enhancement and
29 improvement of state, county, town, city, and village roads, highways,
30 parkways, and bridges thereon, to address current and projected capacity
31 problems including costs for traffic mitigation activities; aviation
32 projects authorized pursuant to section fourteen-j of the transportation
33 law and for payments to the general debt service fund of amounts equal
34 to amounts required for service contract payments related to aviation
35 projects as provided and authorized by section three hundred eighty-six
36 of the public authorities law; programs to assist small and minority and
37 women-owned firms engaged in transportation construction and recon-
38 struction projects, including a revolving fund for working capital
39 loans, and a bonding guarantee assistance program in accordance with
40 provisions of this chapter; matching federal grants or apportionments to
41 the state for highway, parkway and bridge capital projects; the acquisi-
42 tion of real property and interests therein required or expected to be
43 required in connection with such projects; preventive maintenance activ-
44 ities necessary to ensure that highways, parkways and bridges meet or
45 exceed their optimum useful life; [expenses of control of snow and ice
46 on state highways by the department of transportation including but not
47 limited to personal services, nonpersonal services and fringe benefits,
48 payment of emergency aid for control of snow and ice in municipalities
49 pursuant to section fifty-five of the highway law, expenses of control
50 of snow and ice on state highways by municipalities pursuant to section
51 twelve of the highway law, and for expenses of arterial maintenance
52 agreements with cities pursuant to section three hundred forty-nine of
53 the highway law; personal services, nonpersonal services, and fringe
54 benefit costs of the department of transportation for bus safety
55 inspection activities, rail safety inspection activities, and truck
56 safety inspection activities; costs of the department of motor vehicles,
A. 5082 4
1 including but not limited to personal and nonpersonal services;] costs
2 of engineering and administrative services of the department of trans-
3 portation, including but not limited to fringe benefits; the contract
4 services provided by private firms in accordance with section fourteen
5 of the transportation law; personal services and nonpersonal services,
6 for activities including but not limited to the preparation of designs,
7 plans, specifications and estimates; construction management and super-
8 vision activities; costs of appraisals, surveys, testing and environ-
9 mental impact statements for transportation projects; expenses in
10 connection with buildings, equipment, materials and facilities used or
11 useful in connection with the maintenance, operation, and repair of
12 highways, parkways and bridges thereon; and project costs for:
13 construction, reconstruction, improvement, reconditioning and preserva-
14 tion of rail freight facilities and intercity rail passenger facilities
15 and equipment; construction, reconstruction, improvement, reconditioning
16 and preservation of state, municipal and privately owned ports;
17 construction, reconstruction, improvement, reconditioning and preserva-
18 tion of municipal airports; privately owned airports and aviation capi-
19 tal facilities, excluding airports operated by the state or operated by
20 a bi-state municipal corporate instrumentality for which federal funding
21 is not available provided the project is consistent with an approved
22 airport layout plan; and construction, reconstruction, enhancement,
23 improvement, replacement, reconditioning, restoration, rehabilitation
24 and preservation of state, county, town, city and village roads, high-
25 ways, parkways and bridges; and construction, reconstruction, improve-
26 ment, reconditioning and preservation of fixed ferry facilities of
27 municipal and privately owned ferry lines for transportation purposes,
28 and the payment of debt service required on any bonds, notes or other
29 obligations and related expenses for highway, parkway, bridge and
30 project costs for: construction, reconstruction, improvement, recondi-
31 tioning and preservation of rail freight facilities and intercity rail
32 passenger facilities and equipment; construction, reconstruction,
33 improvement, reconditioning and preservation of state, municipal and
34 privately owned ports; construction, reconstruction, improvement, recon-
35 ditioning and preservation of municipal airports; privately owned
36 airports and aviation capital facilities, excluding airports operated by
37 the state or operated by a bi-state municipal corporate instrumentality
38 for which federal funding is not available provided the project is
39 consistent with an approved airport layout plan; construction, recon-
40 struction, enhancement, improvement, replacement, reconditioning, resto-
41 ration, rehabilitation and preservation of state, county, town, city and
42 village roads, highways, parkways and bridges; and construction, recon-
43 struction, improvement, reconditioning and preservation of fixed ferry
44 facilities of municipal and privately owned ferry lines for transporta-
45 tion purposes, purposes authorized on or after the effective date of
46 this section. Beginning with disbursements made on and after the first
47 day of April, nineteen hundred ninety-three, moneys in such fund shall
48 be available to pay such costs or expenses made pursuant to appropri-
49 ations or reappropriations made during the state fiscal year which began
50 on the first of April, nineteen hundred ninety-two. Beginning the first
51 day of April, nineteen hundred ninety-three, moneys in such fund shall
52 also be used for transfers to the general debt service fund and the
53 general fund of amounts equal to that respectively required for service
54 contract and financing agreement payments as provided and authorized by
55 section three hundred eighty of the public authorities law, section
56 eleven of chapter three hundred twenty-nine of the laws of nineteen
A. 5082 5
1 hundred ninety-one, as amended, and sections sixty-eight-c and sixty-
2 nine-o of this chapter.
3 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
4 the amendments to paragraph a of subdivision 5 of section 89-b of the
5 state finance law made by section two of this act shall be subject to
6 the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 2 of
7 part B of chapter 84 of the laws of 2002, as amended, when upon such
8 date the provisions of section three of this act shall take effect.
