New York’s newest governor gave his State of the State speech went unmarked in this space last week because of what he didn’t say. While he talked about smart growth, he didn’t discuss the MTA, and that silence left many fearful for the future of the city’s vital transit authority.
Today, City Hall News goes one better and names the MTA and Jay Walder the speech’s losers. They say:
Jay Walder – Walder took the Amtrak up to Albany to see Cuomo’s speech, but the fare might have been better put towards the cash-starved MTA operational budget. The governor did not mention anything about transportation or the beleaguered agency during his speech, leaving many straphangers and transportation advocates wondering whether it will even be on his priorities list. And with Republicans now in control of the Senate, a repeal of the payroll tax seems more likely than any expansion of one, no matter how bad the budget looks.
A repeal of the payroll tax by the State Senate would be a largely symbolic move as it is doubtful that the Assembly would pass a similar repeal or that Cuomo would sign off on the bill. Still, the MTA budget is under fire, and the payroll tax may become the victim of legislation logroll in which Republicans push through repeal in exchange for a congestion pricing measure.
With the recent fare hike fresh in New Yorkers’ minds, politicians are playing fast and loose with the MTA’s delicate budget. Things may just get far, far worse before they get better.
1 comment
Repealing the payroll tax in exchange for CP would be more than reasonable, it would be awesome.