The draft agency reorganization legislation circulated by the MTA to state legislators apparently calls for significant change in the apportionment of funds between mass transit operating agencies.

This division of resources is now governed by legislatively enacted formulas.

The MTA’s draft bill contains two sections that repeal "statutory allocation of [dedicated tax] revenues between transit and commuter accounts."

City leaders and transit advocates regularly charge that NYC Transit gets the short end of most transit funding decisions made in Albany. Likewise, suburban leaders are on the look-out to defend commuter rail funding. It’s hard to imagine that either would be willing to see the statutory formulas dissolved in a general way without understanding whether their piece of the MTA would see more or less funding. Even more fundamentally, it’s hard to imagine the legislature giving this power of allocation to the MTA, as the draft bill seems to suggest.

The presence of a potentially politically-charged funding allocation provision in the legislation is one more sign that MTA reorganization is on the slow boat to Albany. The MTA’s draft had no legislative sponsor as of last week, and the MTA’s public stock is at a low ebb. State Assembly leaders have said the bill doesn’t contain thorough enough accountability reforms. Long Island legislators, including deputy Senate majority leader Dean Skelos had complained to the MTA last winter that they had received no information about on the implications of the mergers of Long Island Railroad and Long Island Bus into larger operating agencies (MTR #402).

MTA reorganization may re-emerge — possibly in the fall legislative session — after issues regarding the agency’s fare and toll hikes are settled. An appeals court is now considering the MTA’s recent losses in lower courts. This week at a pre-hearing rally, Brian O’Dwyer, an attorney representing transit riders, said "The lesson of Arthur Anderson and Enron will be taught to the MTA: You cannot fool the public, you cannot mislead the public, you cannot have two sets of books and expect to get away with it." 

MTR search facility and back issues:

Search our database of all past issues of Mobilizing the Region since Fall, 1994.

Go to index of all Mobilizing the Region back issues