McMahon Proposes Patching MTA Budget With Federal Stimulus Money
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After the Metropolitan Transportation Authority passed its so-called "doomsday budget," Brooklyn-Staten Island Congressman Michael McMahon said federal stimulus money could help the agency avoid some of the proposed cuts. NY1's Joe Malvasio filed the following report.For many commuters, Wednesday's MTA budget vote was cause for alarm, with the promises of less service, no student free rides and longer wait times systemwide.
Brooklyn-Staten Island Congressman Michael McMahon said he knows how to plug the massive hole in the MTA's budget, with using federal stimulus dollars from Washington, D.C.
"There is an opportunity to use a small portion of this money, 10 percent, language that we put in there, for this very purpose," said McMahon.
That 10 percent would come from the $1.2 billion destined to reach the coffers of the MTA after the House of Representatives passed a jobs bill on Wednesday, that political insiders say will easily be passed in the U.S. Senate.
McMahon said the money could almost immediately fix the agency's budget woes by paying for operating expenses.
"If it was really concerned about eliminating the service cuts that are proposed, if it was really concerned about providing service to our students going to school everyday, the MTA would use this money and cancel those cuts," said McMahon.
MTA officials maintained any plan that includes siphoning cash from capital funds would be dead on arrival.
The agency released a statement Thursday that read in part, "The funding package passed by New York State legislators earlier this year provided only partial funding for our upcoming capital plan, which makes the use of stimulus funds that much more essential to maintain the integrity of our system."
For transit experts, the real issue is how to change the funding formula for the MTA.
"The problem is when you look at these financial systems, these transit systems around the country, there's been a number of different plugs and patches, repairs, and after awhile your patching a patch," said Jonathan Peters of the College of Staten Island. "And it really becomes a problem of long-term sustainability."
The MTA says the public will have its chance to weigh in at public hearings in the new year.