Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz is urging Governor Paterson and the state legislature to rekindle discussions about congestion pricing or the commuter tax in an effort to stave off increases to the MTA mobility tax.
The governor’s proposal includes a 60 percent increase in the mobility tax levied on area businesses. The tax was first enacted last year and is now being expanded to fuel revenues and close the MTA’s massive budget shortfall.
Cymbrowitz says the tax unfairly penalizes employers in the five boroughs, which will be asked to pay .54 percent per $100 of payroll, while suburban businesses get away with paying only .17 percent per $100 of payroll. Currently, inner-city businesses pay .34 percent.
“Pitting New York City’s businesses against suburban firms might make political sense for the governor, but is likely to become an economic calamity. The commuters from Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and the other nine counties that fall under the MTA mobility tax use our mass transit system just as my constituents and other New York City residents do. So, why should businesses in the suburbs have less of a responsibility to the MTA than those in the City?” Cymbrowitz wrote in a press release.
The assemblyman is asking his Albany colleagues to begin debating alternatives – including the commuter tax and congestion pricing – immediately.
Read the assemblyman’s press release
(courtesy of NBC New York)
Over the weekend, gay rights activists marched in front of State Senator Carl Kruger’s Mill Basin home, enraged at the senator’s recent vote against marriage equality in New York State. According to NBC New York, activists called Kruger a “bigot”, and are planning more protests in the coming weeks.
Kruger has defended his vote as a reflection of his constituents’ wishes, not of his own beliefs. He said he considers the Orthodox Jewish community a “bedrock” part of his district. He added, “When it becomes an emotional, gut-wrenching issue, when it cuts through the fabric of traditions and values, then I have my community as the cornerstone of my decision.” (Others say Kruger’s vote was the result of a “chit cashed” by fellow “Amigo” Ruben Diaz.)
What do you think? Should a senator put his constituents’ wishes before his own moral beliefs? Always/Never? And is the Orthodox Jewish community reflective of the the entire district, which includes Bergen Beach, Flatlands, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, and Midwood.
Meanwhile, in other Kruger news, the good senator continues to get slammed for his budget shenangigans and role in the MTA deficit (here and here).
MTA will not raise fares in 2010, but is considering cutting services and staff to close the budget gap
MTA Chairman Jay H. Walder told reporters yesterday that the agency will avoid jacking prices next year, despite a $140 million cut from its budget.
“It is my intent to stay with the schedule of fare hikes that was agreed with the Legislature in May, which does not call for a fare hike in 2010,” he told reporters after a three-hour hearing in Lower Manhattan on the authority’s capital plan. “It is my intent to stay with that.”
Instead, the authority is looking at ways to tighten the belt in-house, and is weighing service cuts, worker layoffs, and maximizing other revenue sources to fill the gap.
Still, Walder says the agency will look to raise fares 7.5 percent in 2011 and 2013, as approved by Legislature.
(Photo courtesy of via William Darhy Flickr)
In the 18th Century, Samuel Johnson said, “If you are idle, be not solitary” – and with those words, as if by magic, the New York State Senate was established; and a whole lot of otherwise idle men were grouped together, to be idle, but not solitary.
With the state facing a $3.2 billion budget gap, little has been accomplished except a continuous ticking-off-the-list of things we can’t do to fix the budget. Why can’t we do them? It’s this senator’s pet project, or that senator’s constituency (or, perhaps, campaign contributor). Meanwhile, New York State is just days away from declaring bankruptcy.
And who’s leading the shenanigans? Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger. Continue Reading »
Angered by Governor Paterson’s moves to slash spending in education and healthcare, State Senator Carl Kruger proposed an alternative budget and blasted the governor for wantonly depicting a “doomsday scenario.”
From the New York Times:
Despite a deficit of more than $3 billion, Mr. Kruger has threatened to block any significant cuts to health care and education, the biggest spending areas in the budget. He has presented his own budget plan, which has startled even Albany veterans for its reliance on one-time maneuvers and financial gimmickry.
…
Where the governor would cut spending, Mr. Kruger and the Senate prefer one-time measures like restructuring the state’s tobacco bonds, a move that would increase New York’s debt burden. Mr. Kruger would also draw from the treasuries of public authorities to a greater degree than the governor and wants to increase gambling hours at gaming facilities.
And Mr. Kruger believes the state should set up a commission to study ways to make government more efficient, a step that could take years to show gains.
Kruger represents parts of Sheepshead Bay, Homecrest, Gravesend, Midwood, Mill Basin, Flatlands, Manhattan Beach, and Bergen Beach. In a power play over the summer, Kruger joined three other Democratic lawmakers and threatened to caucus with the Republicans, putting the Dems at risk of forfeiting their majority. He came out of the play as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and has raised more than $2.1 million for his 2010 reelection bid – far more than any other state legislator.
It’s been a terrible year for New York City schools. It kicked off when the city announced $405 million worth of cuts back in May. Then, the summer’s charter application season saw more attempts by private contractors to funnel off money and talent from the public school system, including two heated battles in our own district. They’ve begun discussing removing caps on the number of charter schools allowed in the state, and last month the state proposed an additional mid-year cut of $686 million from the education system. And today marks the last day of employment for 500 New York City public school aides.
Yes, it’s shaping up to be a terrible school year, and we’re not even halfway through it. That’s why, over in Manhattan Beach, leaders of the Manhattan Beach Community Group are organizing a letter-writing campaign to the state representatives in order to battle the $686 million mid-year cut. About a third of that, $223 million, is slated specifically for the city’s school system. MBCG writes:
Our children will be losing out again. Please take a moment and call our Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz and ask him to vote against these cuts … Don’t let our children get short changed. Cut the fat. Cut the waste. Leave schools alone. Let our children learn.
We agree. That’s why we’re joining them in asking all of our readers to contact your state senator and state assemblyman. Contact information for representatives in our area are below. If you need to know who represents you, click here. Remind our representatives to protect our children and their education. Tell them hands-off on schools.
State Senator Martin J. Golden
718-238-6044 - golden@senate.state.ny.us
State Senator Carl Kruger
718-743-8610 - kruger@senate.state.ny.us
State Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz
718-743-4078 - CymbroS@assembly.state.ny.us
State Assemblyman Alan Maisel
718-968-2770 - MaiselA@ assembly.state.ny.us
