GOPer to city: Pay MTA now
ALBANY — State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan said Tuesday it’s time for the city to “ante up” and fund the MTA.
When asked what steps the Senate would consider to aid the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) put the onus on the city to find extra money for the transit agency.
“The city has to ante up its share,” Flanagan said. “The state has already made a commitment.”
Mayor de Blasio has so far balked at state and MTA demands that the city pay half the cost of the $863 million turnaround plan proposed last year by Authority Chairman Joe Lhota. Gov. Cuomo agreed to pay the other half.
De Blasio has argued the MTA is the state’s responsibility and that previous state raids on authority finances were to blame for the agency’s lack of repair funds.
“The city pays more than its fair share,” said de Blasio spokesman Austin Finan. “We aren’t about to bail out the state because it irresponsibly decided to spend MTA dollars on silly projects of no benefit to subway and bus riders.”
Flanagan’s comments came a day after Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said the Legislature needed to address the MTA’s funding needs. Heastie said MTA funding options include congestion pricing and new taxes on the wealthy.
Cuomo is also expected to propose details of a congestion pricing plan in the coming weeks.
Flanagan, the state’s most powerful Republican elected official, has already said it’s unlikely the Senate would support any congestion pricing plan and has vowed to reject tax increases.
De Blasio and other lawmakers, including Senate Deputy Minority Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) have called for a new tax on millionaires to support the MTA.
Flanagan’s remarks about the MTA Tuesday came at the end of a press conference in which he unveiled the Senate GOP's “Affordability Agenda” for 2018, which includes a mix of tax breaks and a permanent 2% cap on state spending.
The GOP agenda would also freeze seniors’ school property tax bills at current levels and then gradually eliminate those taxes for seniors over the next 10 years.
“We still think its tough to live in New York,” Flanagan said.