Cuomo cuts $65M from MTA budget

Transit advocates rallied in Albany Monday for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to restore $65 million in funds promised to the MTA as the state agency struggles to address widespread delays and overcrowding. According to Riders Alliance, the budget must still be negotiated with the state Senate and Assembly, which have the power to demand the funds be invested in transportation.

In 2011, Cuomo peeled back the Payroll Mobility Tax, which helps fund the MTA, but promised to replace those funds every year, Riders Alliance said.

For six years, Cuomo’s office kept with its commitment to replace the MTA funds each year by contributing between $307 million and $311 million every year. This year, however, Cuomo proposed to only reimburse the MTA with $244 million, a 21 percent reduction from last year’s $309 million, which will leave a $65 million gap.

State Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows) stood with the Riders Alliance to call for the state government to make up the $65 million difference.

Read more: http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2017/7/mtacut_2017_02_17_q.html