Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, 513 U.S. 30, 15 (1994)

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44

HESS v. PORT AUTHORITY TRANS-HUDSON CORPORATION

Opinion of the Court

themselves, and that Congress concurred in that purpose." Id., at 401.

The Court in Lake Country found "no justification for reading additional meaning into the limited language of the Amendment." Indeed, all relevant considerations in that case weighed against TRPA's plea. The compact called TRPA a "political subdivision," and required that the majority of the governing members be county and city appointees. Ibid. Obligations of TRPA, the compact directed, "shall not be binding on either State." TRPA's prime function, we noted, was regulation of land use, a function traditionally performed by local governments. Further, the agency's performance of that function gave rise to the litigation. Moreover, rules made by TRPA were "not subject to veto at the state level." Id., at 402.

This case is more complex. Indicators of immunity or the absence thereof do not, as they did in Lake Country, all point the same way. While 8 of the Port Authority's 12 commissioners must be resident voters of either New York City or other parts of the Port of New York District,13 this indicator of local governance is surely offset by the States' controls. All commissioners are state appointees. Acting alone, each State through its Governor may block Port Authority measures; and acting together, both States, through their legislatures, may enlarge the Port Authority's powers and add to its responsibilities.

The compact and its implementing legislation do not type the Authority as a state agency; instead they use various terms: "joint or common agency"; 14 "body corporate and poli-13 Cf. Farias v. Bexar Cty. Bd. of Trustees for Mental Health Mental Retardation Servs., 925 F. 2d 866, 875 (CA5) (entity held autonomous, and thus not shielded by Eleventh Amendment, where board members had to be "qualified voters of the region"), cert. denied, 502 U. S. 866 (1991).

14 N. J. Stat. Ann. § 32:1-1 (West 1990); N. Y. Unconsol. Law § 6401 (Mc-Kinney 1979).

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