Sheldon Silver Driving a Hard Bargain on Traffic Tax
March 4, 2008
With four weeks left to persuade city and state lawmakers to approve a plan to ease traffic in Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Spitzer have begun a complex negotiation over legislative wish lists.
The mayor has until March 31 to get legislative backing for his plan to charge motorists an $8 daily fee to drive into Manhattan below 60th Street in order not to forfeit about $350 million in federal funds that would help pay for the program.
Whether Mr. Bloomberg and the governor, whose administration is close to completing a draft of a congestion pricing bill, succeed in securing enough votes will to a large extent come down to the outcome of a horse trade with lawmakers who have withheld their support for the legislation but have indicated they are open to talks.
Since Mr. Bloomberg began promoting his plan last year as a long-term way to relieve traffic, improve environmental quality, and pay for improvements to the mass transit system, he has encountered resistance from suburban and outer-borough lawmakers who have criticized the proposed toll as a regressive tax and have questioned how the money raised would be spent.
“It’s a hard vote to cast because it’s been falsely painted as a new tax on the middle class,” the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde, said.
Lawmakers and officials close to the issue say the upcoming negotiations are likely to be wide-ranging and move into areas that don’t relate to mass transportation. Deals could encompass promises of more express bus lines and new subway stops but also grants for affordable housing or political contributions, sources say. Mr. Spitzer is also likely to offer as a carrot a pay raise for state lawmakers.
Source: NY Sun Read the full story here
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