GOP: No ‘sale’ on congestion

ALBANY — State Senate Republicans aren’t ready to embrace congestion pricing but they are prepared to seize a portion of New York City’s sales tax revenue to help fund the MTA.

A budget resolution prepared by the GOP-controlled Senate includes a measure that calls for the state to divert $428 million from the city’s annual sales tax revenue to cover the city’s share of repair costs under the turnaround plan proposed last year by Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota.

The measure was first proposed by Bronx Sen. Jeffrey Klein, who heads the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference. He said the proposal is the quickest way to get funds to the MTA.

The resolution also said the Senate “supports continuing the discussion on developing means to decrease congestion in Lower Manhattan and providing additional and stable revenue streams for the MTA.”

The resolution’s adoption sets the state for three-way budget negotiations between the Senate, Assembly and Gov. Cuomo to reach agreement on a new spending plan before the March 31 deadline.

Mayor de Blasio has blasted Klein’s proposal as “ridiculous.”