Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) President Andrew S. Rein released this statement on behalf of the CBC:

“With Governor Hochul’s announcement to indefinitely suspend congestion pricing, substitute financing options are being discussed. All should be acutely aware that alternatives that raise New York’s already highest-in-the-nation business taxes or deplete the State’s precious reserves come with real consequences.

Put plainly, the State should not now raise the Payroll Mobility Tax $1 billion annually to replace congestion pricing. It is not the appropriate substitute. It would tax locally to fund a regional system, would hit the very same businesses whose taxes were raised $1.1 billion last year to fund the MTA operating budget, would hamper New York’s competitiveness, and would have no congestion or emissions benefits.

Raiding reserves would weaken the State’s capacity to protect New Yorkers from the next recession or severe emergency.

Knee jerk reactions rarely result in the best long-term decisions.

Much better would be to stay the course and implement congestion pricing.

Congestion pricing revenue is an appropriate resource for MTA capital investment. All sectors should contribute to improving transit, including drivers. Furthermore, it is a regional system that underpins the State’s economic engine. Sharing the cost of investment is the best strategy for the environment and the economy.

For both the current and the next five-year capital programs, there needs to be a thoughtful, information-based discussion of the MTA’s needs for state of good repair investment—how much they will cost and how appropriately and fairly to finance those needs.”