Jimmy Vielkind, one of Politicker NY’s Albany-based reporters, has been doing a top-notch job with his reports on the state of the MTA bailout. Last night, he focused on the utter lack of unity among State Senate Democrats as they attempt to save the MTA. Some Senators want to reinstate the commuter tax; others want to ensure money for transit agencies in the Niagara areas; others are afraid of tolls; and still others are against the payroll tax. Yikes.
Anyway, this afternoon’s filing from Vielkind focuses the March 25 deadline. Some State Senators — majority leader Malcolm Smith included — believe that the fast-approaching drop-dead date is flexibile. In other words, the MTA, believes these senators, is bluffing on its intentions to implement the Doomsday buget in short order. Writes Vielkind:
Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith is calling the March 25 deadline for the M.T.A. bailout “questionable” and saying that while his members are “working on it every day” there is no consensus on a package to address the authority’s deficit.
A few reporters caught Smith on the way to an event on reforming Rockefeller drug laws. He didn’t say why he is questioning March 25, but spokesman Austin Shafran said the deadline is “artificial because it came from the M.T.A. board.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, however, after speaking at the same event, said “I’m not going to engage in a game of chicken.”
Smith’s statements are patently absurd because the MTA is required by law — New York State law nonetheless — to pass and balance its budget. They have to do so when they meet on March 25 unless the legislature somehow commands them otherwise.
It seems as though Smith is engaging in just that game of chicken against which Sheldon Silver is speaking. Smith doesn’t have the votes or party loyalty to save the MTA right now, and instead of shouldering that responsibility, he is playing politics to shift the blame to the beleaguered transit agency. It’s a fairly transparent move, and it won’t help avoid fare hikes and service cuts when the MTA Board meets in two weeks from tomorrow.
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I’m sure the MTA will adopt a budget resolution on March 25th. But until the date that toll hikes and service cuts are actually implemented, I’m sure they could be altered if the legislature comes through with a rescue plan.
A budget is only a piece of paper; on its own, it accomplishes nothing. I suspect that if a rescue is adopted, it will be much closer to the true drop-dead date. The Senators standing in the way have every incentive to hold out for every last drop of concessions that they can squeeze out of the process.
You’re right, Marc. The legislature really has until around mid-June when the MTA would being to implement the hikes and cuts. But I don’t think it’s a matter of exacting concessions right now. Rather, the State Senate has no idea what plan to enact, and Smith has no idea what he can propose to rally the Democrats to his side. It’s a mess of politics right now, and Smith is attempting to leverage the MTA’s perhaps artificial deadline into a political chit. I don’t like it.
The MTA Board’s argument is that it would have to approve the fare and toll hikes with some lead time in order to implement them by June. Printing all new fare schedules, and reprogramming the fareboxes and turnstiles and MetroCard/ticket vending machines and E-ZPass readers can’t be done overnight. Whether it takes two months or could be done more quickly, well, I don’t know. But that’s the reason for the deadline.
Good thing Paterson is using 9 billion in stimulus money to build high speed rail to dead cities upstate like Poughkeepsie and Plattsburg instead of fixing what we already have.
[…] budget, the State Senate remains deadlocked, and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, as I noted yesterday, is prepared to blow the MTA-imposed March 25 […]
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