Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he's so determined to get legislators to support congestion pricing that he has tied more than $7 billion that the state plans to give to the MTA to passing some version of a congestion pricing scheme.
Under the plan, cars entering Manhattan's central business district would be charged a fee. And while many lawmakers are already on board with congestion pricing, some feel linking critical money to passing it is not the best approach.
"The way in which he expressed support, I think speaks to the old Albany," Queens State Sen. Jessica Ramos said.
Ramos is one of several progressive freshman senators who defeated longtime incumbents. She says her mandate is to stop the horsetrading in Albany.
"I, and those of us who are part of the new cohort in the state Senate, for certain feel very strongly that we ran because we want to change the culture in Albany," Ramos said. "We need to stop this tit-for-tat. Congestion pricing is something that needs to happen. Speed cameras is something that needs to happen. But you can't hold funds hostage."
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Congestion pricing would raise about $1 billion a year. But that money could then be bonded for a total of $15 billion. On top of that would be the $7.3 billion the state has already committed this year, which means a total of more than $22 billion for the MTA. But Cuomo says this will only happen if the legislature passes congestion pricing as part of the budget in March.
In a statement, State Budget Director Rob Mujica said, "Given the urgent need to provide substantial additional funding to the MTA, we made a strategic decision to tie these critical measures together to ensure the legislature does not dismiss them out of hand."
"I know these are tough choices. I know congestion pricing is not popular," the governor said in a phone interview on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show. "But it's the right thing to do."
Further complicating matters, Cuomo's budget language also mixes congestion pricing in with his call for more speed cameras in school zones and a reorganization of the MTA board — although there are still not many details about what the new structure would look like.
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