NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Senator Martin J. Golden have successfully shepherded legislation through a divided state legislature to require funding dedicated to public transportation systems (including the MTA) be used for their intended purpose. The bill also requires any legislation that diverts public transportation funding to include a diversion impact statement which reflects the amount of the diversion from each fund listed separately, the amount diverted expressed as current monthly transit fares, the cumulative amount of diversion from the previous five years, and a detailed estimate of the impact on service, maintenance, security, and current capital program.

For many years, the MTA has seen their operational costs increasingly used to pay debt service. The MTA’s debt service payments have grown from essentially nothing in the early 1980’s to over $2.5 billion in 2018. Despite this increasing cost burden siphoning much-needed resources away from a subway system in crisis, the MTA and other transportation systems has remained a frequent target of Governors who wish to use dedicated taxes to support transit projects to cover budgetary shortfalls in unrelated areas. The diverted funds are then replaced with bonds or loans that are backed by these same taxes, further adding to the existing debt burden.

Assemblyman Dinowitz has championed this bipartisan and common-sense legislation with State Senator Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn), resurrecting the bill as the MTA is once again in a state of crisis. A similar bill was vetoed by Governor Cuomo in 2013. Transit and good government advocates have hailed the legislation as a much-needed salve of transparency which will both hold the Governor and Legislature accountable when it comes to adequately funding public transportation systems in New York State. The bill (A8511/S6807) will next be delivered to the Governor, where it faces an uncertain future despite an estimated $38 billion in needed capital funding to meet the aspirational goals of the MTA’s ‘Fast Forward’ Plan to bring its transit system into the 21st Century.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) said: “As we examine every way to raise dedicated and sustainable revenue for mass transit in New York, it has become increasingly clear that we need to ensure that our promises to straphangers remain kept. If the people of New York are expected to continue paying increased fares and new taxes or fees to fix our subways and buses, then they should be confident that this money is being spent in the right place. I am proud of my colleagues for supporting this bill, and urge Governor Cuomo to sign this bill into law.”

State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-Brooklyn) said: “As the Senate Representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Review Board, I know how important it is that resources dedicated to the MTA, stay with the MTA. The Executive should not be able to “sweep” monies dedicated for transportation and use them in other ways. This bill stops this shortsighted practice, and ensures that we have the funding needed to bring the MTA transportation system up to speed. This bill will help ensure that our transit system is efficient, reliable and a safe for commuters.”

John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany said: “It’s common sense that state taxes and fees collected for the MTA should go to the MTA to pay for subways, buses and commuter rail. We ask Governor Cuomo to finally sign the Transit Lockbox bill, which passed the assembly and senate thanks to the work of Jeff Dinowitz and his colleagues, and has the support of a wide ranging coalition of transit and environmental advocates, community groups, labor unions and budget watchdogs.”

Nick Sifuentes, executive director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign said: “We are pleased that both chambers of the New York State Legislature passed important legislation that will guarantee public transit funding stays lockboxed to public transit. As the state is asked to find additional funding sources to ensure our subways, buses, and commuter rail lines get the support they need, this lockbox is a necessary step to restoring public confidence. We look forward to Governor Cuomo signing this bill into law.”

John Raskin, Executive Director of the Riders Alliance said: “Money intended for transit should actually go to transit. But too often in the past, New York State elected officials have diverted transit funds elsewhere. Now, with NYCT President Andy Byford's Fast Forward plan to modernize the subway on the table, Governor Cuomo and the state legislature must raise the billions of dollars that will be required to make the plan a reality and spend them as intended. Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz's lockbox bill, championed throughout by Reinvent Albany, is a valuable step toward restoring essential accountability to our transit budget.”

Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives said: “Our transportation system is in a state of crisis. Cuts to basic upkeep have crippled the subway and bus networks. Subway stations are literally crumbling to pieces, and aging trains and signal systems can’t keep up with growing ridership. Meanwhile, past diversions of transit funds led to the elimination of 36 bus routes, subway service, and paratransit service, leaving New Yorkers with greater waits, more crowding, and longer trips. The status quo is no longer an option. Fixing this will require steady and reliable funding sources. And if we're going to ask New Yorkers to dig deep to save their transit network, the very least we can do is ensure their money won't be diverted to pay for unrelated projects.”

“For too long, transit funding has been susceptible to budget raids, all while fares have increased, service has been cut, and the New York City transit system has fallen into a state of disrepair,” said Jaqi Cohen, Campaign Coordinator for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign. “The MTA’s debt has continued to skyrocket, and ultimately it has fallen to riders themselves to shoulder the debt burden while paying higher fares for lesser service. New Yorkers need a guarantee that every dollar set aside for public transit in the state budget will actually be spent towards transit, particularly at a time where the system is so starved for investment and is in desperate need of repair.”