Lawmakers, Advocates Claim Cuomo Is Planning To Cut MTA Budget
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Sixty-five lawmakers and a transit group were demanding Monday that Gov. Andrew Cuomo find a way to replace $65 million that he plans to cut from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget.
As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, Cuomo and the New York State Legislature in 2011 scaled back the so-called payroll mobility tax. But they promised to replace the missing money each year.
"For six years, the state kept its promise and put in about $309 million every year," said John Raskin of the Riders Alliance.
But Raskin, along with a number of state Assembly members, claim that has changed.
"Governor Cuomo is threatening to cut $65 million," Raskin said.
But in a written statement, a gubernatorial spokesman declared state aid to the MTA last year was $4.456 billion, while this year it is $4.486 billion.
"It's an indisputable fact the state is providing $30 million more to the MTA this year," the spokesman said in the statement. "We're happy to help anybody do the math."