State Senate passes transit lockbox, but…

The Transit Lockbox bill unanimously passed the State Senate yesterday. Celebrated as a victory for the broad coalition of transit advocates and labor groups who pushed for the measure, the bill bars removal of dedicated transit funds by executive action and requires stringent reporting records for any legislative action that reappropriates transit funding. The key disclosure provisions, as I explored in May, include one requiring “a detailed estimate of the impact of diversion from dedicated mass transit funds will have on the level of mass transit service, maintenance, security and the current capital program.”

Of course, there is a “but” to this news before we can celebrate: The bill has yet to clear the Assembly, and it’s unclear if Sheldon Silver will allow it to come up for a vote. As Streetsblog noted, this measure has the support of 39 Assembly representatives, and James Brennan has been working to get it onto the Ways and Means Committee agenda.

For now, we’ll wait on news from the Assembly, but I’m not holding my breath. The state has long viewed the MTA as its own personal piggy bank, and even as the authority has suffered through its own financial hardships, the state has seen fit to remove $260 million from MTA coffers over the past few years. Protecting dedicated revenue sources remains a top priority for those who support transit, and this measure would be a huge step in the right direction. Can Albany do the right thing?