While the New York State Senate does not formally meet this week, the political wheels are spinning fast and furious as time is running out for the MTA. While Senate Democrats continue to consider any and all possibilities for an MTA funding plan, transportation advocates are turning toward the GOP for support.
Republicans have been loathe to support any plan. The state party feels it has been largely left out of both the budget sessions and MTA discussions. Now, though, it sounds as though enough members of the Republican contingent could be convinced to support an MTA plan — but with strings attached. Any acceptable plan probably won’t include a payroll tax, and Republicans from north of the city want equal investment in upstate roads as a condition of any MTA package.
“To just ignore the highway, road and bridge plan and go to trying to negotiate a schedule for a new M.T.A. capital plan was just not the right thing to do,” Senator Thomas W. Libous, the top Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee, said to Times reporter William Neuman today. Neuman has more on the next potential move for the MTA:
In the past, the Legislature has generally allotted equal amounts to roads and transit. That has ensured support from both parties and all areas of the state: The city is seen as benefiting most from the transit money, while upstate areas rely heavily on roadway spending. But that pattern was broken last year when Mr. Paterson chose to seek a financial rescue for the authority first…
Mr. Paterson and Mr. Silver both support the plan, but in the Senate, where Democrats have a narrow 32-to-30 majority, a group of city Democrats has blocked the toll proposal while a group of suburban Democrats has opposed the payroll tax.
That has led to appeals for support from Republicans, who have largely sat on the sidelines as Democrats bickered. Republicans have pointed to the lack of a corresponding highway and bridge program and have also said that they have been left out of negotiations about a rescue plan.
Even the most ardent of transit supporters recognize the reality that New York State may need both a transit and road plan. Politically, tying the two together could bring in enough votes to pass both. Economically, infrastructure investment in roads and transit could spur on a stagnant New York economy.
“If you brought in the bridge and highway program, that would help it become a bipartisan issue, as it’s been in the past,” Robert D. Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, said to Neuman. “This is a pretty fundamental economic issue for the whole state.”
Meanwhile, Neuman covers some key ground. The road bill would probably be looked to draw as much money to upstate infrastructure as the MTA would be receiving downstate. Considering the tenor of the debate currently raging among the Democrats, how can we expect Albany to act before the fares are raised next month and before service cuts begin to go into effect in June?
Politically, Gov. Paterson and Sheldon Silver aren’t the only two New Yorkers going after the GOP. The Transit Workers Union started airing ads aimed at New York City-based Republicans who won’t support transit. All in all, this is a smart move. Right now, the city needs the MTA to stay up and running. If it means investing in upstate roads at the same time, so be it. We’ll all benefit in the end.
5 comments
Yeah, it doesn’t matter what the actual *need* is upstate, they just want an “equal amount”. That’s good thinking, Republicans. Go for it.
No one is asking the state to give the MTA money; we’ve given up on that. We are only asking to pass some laws allowing the collection of money from new sources. What are the new sources for upstate roads? Are they going to be self-sufficient, the way transit is expected to be self-sufficient? If it’s new tolls, then that may be OK.
Giving the upstate money for roads equal to the amount of funding for transit is wrong on many levels. MTA’s capital funding from the state has been zero for 15 years; for upstate roads, I think it’s safe to assume it has not been zero. Also, the MTA will be using some of the money for debt payments, while the entire amount for road building will go towards road building.
Really, the only fair way of allocating the money is payment per person or per use. Simply impose tolls to pay for roads, just like here we need new tolls to pay for transit.
Is the upstate economy tanking because of a lack of roads? Are any bridges or highways in danger of closing? Or are the Republicans holding us hostage to their demands, yet again? By tying together these two unrelated issues, we’re just seeing NYS politics as usual: corrupt to the end.
Still, the fact of the matter is that the state is having a hard time finding money to fund the MTA. Saying that money must also be allocated to upstate road projects will make the task even more difficult, if not impossible.
If they want to fund upstate road projects, add a payroll tax to upstate businesses. Add tolls to the tens of thousands of “free” bridges, and the hundreds of miles of “free” expressways.