A ride-sharing fee and NYCHA monitor are in the latest version of the budget as Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders close in on a final deal, the governor said on Wednesday.
Cuomo said he is pushing to send a total of $550 million to NYCHA in the next year and use a $2.75 surcharge on ride-sharing hails that cross 96th Street to fund much needed repairs for the MTA.
“We’re talking about congestion pricing, and taking first steps toward congestion pricing and we’re talking about a long term revenue stream for the subway,” Cuomo said.
Drivers are mounting a last-minute effort to kill the plan. Cuomo said the MTA funding is contingent on the city paying its fair share for repairs.
The NYCHA funds won’t go to New York City without an independent monitor to oversee management, if Cuomo gets his way.
Many policy items are being delayed until after the budget passes – likely this week – Cuomo expects to see gun control and stricter sex harassment policies bundled into the spending plan. Senate Democrats insist that the plan is being crafted without their input while they have the only female conference leader in Albany.
The Child Victim’s Act, which would lengthen the time victims could take legal action against abusers, is not likely to pass with the budget.
Kat Sullivan, a victim who took out three billboards to out her alleged rapist from the tony Emma Willard School outside Albany, said she is disappointed but will continue to fight.
“I moved here to get that done,” she said.
Early voting, criminal justice reform measures are among the policy issues that have fallen to the wayside as lawmakers race to pass a $168 billion-plus spending plan before Passover begins at sundown on Friday.
Sen. Majority Leader John Flanagan told the press that he’s confident that $1 billion in new taxes and fees proposed by Cuomo would stay out of the budget.
Cuomo, however, is still pushing for a payroll tax to replace the state’s income tax to soften the blow of changes the federal government has made, including eliminating state and local deductions that many New Yorkers rely on to lower their federal income tax bills.
Lawmakers are still parsing out how to divvy up $27 billion in school aid.
Cuomo said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a budget would pass on time” but he still acknowledged there are no guarantees.
“We don’t have a total agreement and until you have a total agreement anything is possible,” he said



