Following the sudden brake slam on congestion pricing, Gov. Kathy Hawkle made a last-minute appeal to state lawmakers on Thursday that was unsuccessful.
What you need to know
- Gov. Kathy Hawkle has asked state lawmakers to approve a new tax on New York City businesses that would fill a $1 billion hole the MTA currently must fill.
- Albany lawmakers rejected a last-minute proposal by Hoffle to replace congestion pricing with a tax, which he argued would raise $1 billion needed for long-planned upgrades to the transportation system.
- But now lawmakers and Hawkle must decide how to fund the MTA’s planned billions of dollars of future projects.
She called for approval of a new tax on New York City businesses to help close the $1 billion hole the MTA currently must fill.
But Albany lawmakers rejected a last-minute proposal by Hochl to replace congestion pricing with a tax that he claimed would raise $1 billion needed for long-planned upgrades to the transportation system.
“She just went to the Vatican to discuss climate change. I don’t think this was part of the discussion with the pope,” said state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat. “I don’t think there’s any support.”
Haukle’s proposal would increase what’s called a “payroll shifting tax” on businesses in the city.
“I think a payroll tax just for New York City is a terrible idea,” said state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat.
Sources told NY1 that Haukl’s team offered to sign other policies into law in exchange for a vote on the new taxes.
“This issue was thrust upon us suddenly yesterday, and it is unrealistic to expect serious and substantive deliberation on such an important issue within 24 hours,” Gianaris said.
The council approved a similar increase last year.
“Last year, we put the burden on New York City to bail out the MTA with this very tax money, and I don’t think many of us who represent the city are in support of doing that again,” Gianaris added.
But now lawmakers and Haukl must decide how to fund the MTA’s planned billions of dollars of future projects.
“You have people thinking this is just a $1 billion loss, but what does the MTA board say it is, and what does the MTA capital plan say it is? We’re talking about $15 billion,” Krueger said.
The state Senate finance chairman also listed projects at risk.
“Cancel the Second Avenue subway contract, eliminate handicapped subway and bus access under the ADA, and cancel the northern bus and subway contracts,” she said.
Still, some people celebrated.
“Pre-pandemic policies are working post-pandemic, and yesterday’s decision was a good government decision and one that listened to many New Yorkers who have been voicing their concerns for quite some time,” said state Assemblyman Kenny Burgos, a Bronx Democrat.
Thursday was supposed to be the last official day of the Congressional session.
But now lawmakers are discussing the possibility of returning to Albany before the end of the year.
“This is all still developing, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it goes,” Gianaris said.
“Now we have to look at the plan and think about the responsibility of how we pay for the remaining capital projects and how we pay for new capital projects,” said state Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat.
Haukle has yet to take questions from reporters since making the official announcement in a recorded video on Wednesday.
