Reyes, Septimo, Alvarez, Taylor, Anderson, Berger, Cruz, Dinowitz, Tapia, De Los Santos
MLTSPNSR
Dais
Establishes the COVID-19 livery vehicle recovery act; provides any entity issuing for-hire vehicle licenses shall, for a minimum of one year upon the effective date of this act, allow for the renewal of livery vehicle licenses which expired during the COVID-19 pandemic, under the same vehicle type requirement that existed at the time of expiration unless the livery vehicle owner opts to renew at the current requirement; provides that livery vehicle owners seeking a renewal of an expired license during this open window shall not be penalized, such as through additional charges or fees.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6930A
SPONSOR: Burgos TITLE OF BILL:
An act establishing the "COVID-19 livery vehicle recovery act"
PURPOSE:
Enacts the "COVID-19 for-hire vehicle recovery act" to require the any
entity that issues for-hire vehicle ("FHV") licenses, including the NYC
Taxi and Limousine Commission, to allow the for-hire vehicle industry to
recover from the devastating economic effects of COVID-19 by allowing
for-hire vehicle owners an open window to renew for-hire vehicle
licenses which expired during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill is the short title.
Section 2 of the bill requires any entity that issues livery vehicle
licenses to, for a minimum of one year upon the effective date of this
act, allow at no penalty the renewal of livery vehicle licenses which
expired during the COVID-19 pandemic, under the same vehicle type
requirement that existed at the time of expiration unless the livery
vehicle owner opts to renew at the current requirement.
Section 3 of the bill defines "the COVID-19 pandemic" as having begun
'upon the issuance of Executive Order 202 on March 7, 2020 and having
ended upon. the expiration of Executive Order 11 after September 12,
2022.
Section 4 of the bill provides that "for-hire vehicle", "owner", and
"vehicle-license" shall mean the same as defined by local law or regu-
lation.
Section 5 of the bill is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2018, New York City enacted a 12-month moratorium (the "cap") (LL
144-B of 2018) on issuing new. For-hire Vehicle ("FHV") licenses. The
cap was placed to fight congestion exacerbated by the rapid expansion of
Uber, Lyft, and alike, which flooded over 100,000 Black Car-affiliated
FHVs onto the City streets between 2011 and 2018. Unfortunately, the
.cap was imposed on all FHV sectors, despite the smaller sectors such as
livery (which serves upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs) despite not
having been a driver of congestion. For example, there were approximate-
ly 14,000 Livery Cars in 2018. With the expiration of the 12-month mora-
torium, the Taxi & Limousine Commission ("TLC"), pursuant to its own
regulatory authority, has continued to extend the embargo on issuing new
FHV licenses.
Subsequently, with the onset of COVID-19 and the economic shutdown that
ensued, the demand for FHV transportation plummeted, causing many FHV
drivers to leave the industry and let their licenses lapse. Livery, the
lowest-profit sector in the FHV industry due to its affordability, was
the most severely impacted by the crash in demand, contracting from
about 12,000 livery-affiliated FHVs in the beginning of 2020 (pre-COVID)
to less than 6,000 livery-affiliated FHVs in 2022.
As the pandemic has eased and passenger demand has returned, FHV bases
are finding themselves unable to answer the increased demand and are
often forced to leave passengers stranded after they have made a reser-
vation. Most other businesses are able to answer increased and/or
returning demand to pre-COVID levels by hiring more employees, extending
opening hours, etc. However, lapsed FHV drivers are precluded from
returning to service by the TLC's regulatory embargo on new licenses.
This places a disproportionate harm on small FHV bases and FHV drivers,
leaving these fragile local businesses in the economically perilous
condition of collapsing.
Thus, the smaller FHV sectors such as livery have been injured by the
'TLC cap twice. For example, the livery sector lost approximately 2,000
FHV licenses (dropping from 14,000 in 2018 to 12,000 in 2020) due to the
imposition of the global embargo on new FHV licenses, and subsequently
by losing 6,000 more FHV licenses (dropping from 12,000 in 2020 to 6,000
in 2020) directly due to the pandemic. By lumping FHV licenses lost due
to normal attrition with FHV licenses lost due to the pandemic under the
same moratorium, the TLC is exacerbating the damage caused by COVID-19,
by failing to provide lapsed FHV owners the opportunity to return to
service to answer renewed demand.
The public policy of the State of New York has been to assist businesses
to recover from COVID-19. And NYC has instituted policies designed to
aid other industries and sectors (including yellow taxicabs) as demand
for their products and services return. The purpose of this legislation
is likewise to place the livery sector back in the status quo ante with
its position prior to the COVID-19 pandemic's negative impact on the
industry, by allowing FHV owners with lapsed TLC licenses a one-time
open window to renew their previous license at no penalty. This limited
and just remedy would provide much needed relief to FHV drivers and
drivers without significantly reworking the TLC's overall policies to
limit high-volume FHV services.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022 - A.10441 Similar bill - referred to Cities/S.8883 (Sepulveda)
referred to Transportation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after' it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6930--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURGOS, REYES, SEPTIMO -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Transportation -- recommitted to the Committee on
Transportation in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT establishing the "COVID-19 livery vehicle recovery 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 "COVID-19 livery vehicle recovery act".
3 § 2. Notwithstanding any local law to the contrary, any entity issuing
4 for-hire vehicle licenses shall, for a minimum of one year upon the
5 effective date of this act, allow for the renewal of livery vehicle
6 licenses which expired during the COVID-19 pandemic, under the same
7 vehicle type requirement that existed at the time of expiration unless
8 the livery vehicle owner opts to renew at the current requirement. Such
9 livery vehicle licenses restored pursuant to this act may not transfer
10 their base affiliation to individuals, partnerships, limited liability
11 companies, business corporations, sole proprietorships, or any combina-
12 tion of one or more such entities operating under, or in affiliation
13 with, one brand or trade name or a common brand, trade, business or
14 operating name, that offers, facilitates, or otherwise connects passen-
15 gers to for-hire vehicles by prearrangement in the city of New York,
16 utilizing software that allows a passenger or prospective passenger to
17 arrange for transportation using a passenger-facing booking tool,
18 including a smartphone or other electronic device, and that dispatches,
19 or facilitates the dispatching of, 10,000 or more trips in such city in
20 one day. Livery vehicle owners seeking a renewal of an expired license
21 during this open window shall not be penalized, such as through addi-
22 tional charges or fees. Provided further that, notwithstanding the
23 livery vehicle licenses restored pursuant to this act, this act shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11093-03-4
A. 6930--A 2
1 not otherwise affect the ability of the entity issuing for-hire vehicle
2 licenses from setting or regulating the number of for-hire vehicle
3 licenses, nor shall it impair such entity's ability to enter into agree-
4 ments with for-hire vehicles, including liveries, to transition to
5 hybrid or zero-emission vehicles by 2030.
6 § 3. For the purposes of this act, the COVID-19 pandemic is deemed to
7 have begun upon the issuance of Executive Order 202 on March 7, 2020,
8 and is deemed to have ended upon the expiration of Executive Order 11
9 after September 12, 2022.
10 § 4. For purposes of this act, "for-hire vehicle", "owner", "livery"
11 and "vehicle license" shall mean the same as defined by local law or
12 regulation.
13 § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
14 have become a law.
