Transit Funding

The details of Governor Cuomo's economic plan, which includes both tax reform and a new infrastructure fund, were released today with support from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.

Governor Andrew Cuomo sent out an "editorial" this weekend putting infrastructure investment at the center of his job creation agenda. In a rough outline, the governor touted public-private partnerships (or PPPs, as they're known) as a key mechanism to pay for "the repair and development of highways, bridges and major construction projects."

Any moment now, Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce that Joe Lhota, the former budget director and deputy mayor for Rudy Giuliani, will be the next chairman of the MTA. There will be a press conference and press releases -- a singular opportunity for Cuomo and Lhota to put forward their vision for the transit agency.

If not for Albany's theft of $260 million in dedicated transit tax revenues over the past two years, the sweeping service cuts enacted by the MTA in 2010 might have been avoided. Transit riders can't afford a repeat. With the MTA on track to take on even more debt, squeezing its operating budget for years to come, the transit system needs to retain all the funding that's supposed to go toward transit.

Hugh Carey, governor of New York from 1975 to 1982, died yesterday at the age of 92. Even in an office held by the likes of Al Smith, Franklin Roosevelt, Nelson Rockefeller and Mario Cuomo, Carey was a giant; Mayor Ed Koch, who served at the same time as Carey, called him the greatest governor of the modern era.

Led by Assembly Member James Brennan, the State Assembly joined the Senate and took a strong stand in support of transit riders this afternoon, passing the transit lockbox bill by a unanimous vote of 98-0. Speaker Sheldon Silver came out in support of the legislation last night, putting it on a smooth path through the Assembly. The question now is whether Cuomo will sign the bill -- and there are a few indications that he may not.

Though the state legislature was expected to work well into the morning last night, dealing with major priorities like rent regulation and gay marriage in addition to lower-profile but still-important bills like the transit funding lockbox, the negotiated deals fell apart and the legislature put off all its business until this morning. The path to passage for any of those bills is a little less obvious than it was a day ago, but the lockbox still has a good chance of making it through the State Assembly.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver supports the transit lockbox bill, said spokesperson Mike Whyland this evening. According to Whyland, the bill will be voted out of the Rules Committee tonight and head to the floor.