New York is keeping secret its plan for new taxes and fees to fund $33 billion for the flailing Metropolitan Transportation Authority even as Gov.Kathy Hochul is set to propose her budget this week.
Hochul continues to refuse to publicly outline ideas to fill the massive hole in the MTA’s $68 billion five-year capital plan as sources said she’s highly unlikely to include a proposal in her executive budget proposal set to be released Tuesday.Instead, the governor is continuing to point the figer at state legislative leaders who refused to sign onto the massively underfunded plan.“That’s their prerogative,” Hochul told CBS News’ Marcia Kramer Sunday morning. “And now they’ll go back and put together the plan that they want me to look at.Obviously, we need to get something done,” the governor added.The leaders – Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) – have refused to fire back at Hochul, as top Democrats have been more keen to negotiating out of eyes of taxpayers.“It’s a budget.
We’ll figure it out,” Heastie told reporters last week when asked if he thinks the ball is in their court to propose a plan.Heastie and Stewart-Cousins have admitted taxes and fees are going to be part of the discussion to fill the revenue hole, something Hochul’s budget director said as early as November.“I assume raising revenue will absolutely be on the table,” Heastie told Spectrum News last week.With all sides refusing to blink publicly to float a proposal to raise revenue, those negotiations are almost certain to be worked out behind closed doors and outside the regular budget process.“It’s cynical and it’s kind of a projection of fearfulness rather than strength,” said John Kaehny, executive director of good government group Reinvent Albany.“It’s just dumb cynical gamesmanship I think ultimately will bite the governor since the public just doesn’t like that,” Kaehny...