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2024-06-05 Home Front: Politix
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NY's Dem governor indefinitely halts congestion pricing plan, putting party over climate [and $1B tax revenue]
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[FoxNews] New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that she would stop the planned June 30 roll out of a congestion pricing program, reportedly due to concerns about backlash at the voting booth.
"My commitment to a greener, more sustainable future is unwavering," Hochul said at a press conference Wednesday, announcing that she directed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to "indefinitely pause" the congestion pricing program. "I have been more committed to combatting climate change and protecting our environment than any governor in our history."
"We will continue to find strategies to address congestion, and we will continue to find solutions that benefit both our planet and our people," Hochul said. "This decision is about doing what’s right for the people who make our city thrive. It’s about standing up for the hardworking men and women who get up every single day, do their jobs and just want a fair shake. The little guy who feels like no one listens to them. I’m here to say, we are listening. This decision is about you. And to those cynics who question my motivation, I approach every decision through one lens: what is best for New Yorkers."
The stated goal of congestion pricing in the Big Apple is to get greener by improving air quality and reducing traffic, but Hochul is reportedly more concerned that what's billed as an environmental policy could hurt Democrats in this year's tight races.
A source familiar with the matter earlier told Politico that Hochul is responding to concerns brought by House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is vying to flip the House back blue come November.
The GOP managed to reclaim a thin majority in the House two years ago largely due to several key Republican congressional victories in New York.
The first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan was to take effect as New York City transit ridership has taken a nosedive due to public safety concerns. It had received serious blowback from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, former President Donald Trump and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
In a bid to seize power in the U.S. House once more, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity with Politico, said senior-level Hochul officials and staffers for Jeffries recently began floating the idea of delaying the congestion plan, which was projected to bring in $1 billion in revenue per year for the public transportation system.
The move preemptively drew criticism from activists.
"Pumping the brakes on congestion pricing would be a massive betrayal of several million public transit riders," Danny Pearlstein, the policy and communications director at Riders Alliance, which has spent years pushing for congestion pricing, told the New York Times. "It would also mean taking cues from the likes of Phil Murphy, Andrew Cuomo and Donald Trump."
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber warned in an interview with WABC-TV last month that there was "no Plan B" to raise the billions of dollars in funds the transportation authority needs for construction priorities – including making subway stations more accessible and buying clean electric buses – if a judge rules against the congestion pricing in one of at least eight federal lawsuits challenging the proposed program.
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Posted by Skidmark 2024-06-05 14:34||
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