Amid Major Revenue Losses, Senate Passes Gianaris Legislation Protecting M.T.A. Funds From Being Raided

ALBANY – Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris announced Senate passage of his legislation to protect MTA funds from being raided to bail out other state agencies.

“Now more than ever, we need the MTA on the right track to operate safely in the COVID era and make the critical investments riders need and deserve,” said Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris. “The MTA cannot be used to bail out other state agencies when they need to manage a crisis of historic proportions.”

Senator Gianaris first introduced this legislation after the State of New York used MTA funds, described as reimbursement to the general fund for services rendered by other state agencies, to bail out the Olympic Regional Development Authority in Lake Placid. The bill now moves to the Assembly for consideration.

Nick Sifuentes, Executive Director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign said, "This bill gives the MTA a lifeline in the midst of their efforts to provide stable, safe transit during the most extreme funding shortfall they have experienced. We applaud the Senate for this action, knowing that it will help safeguard the funds the MTA desperately needs in the coming months, as well as providing consistency for the future."

Danny Pearlstein, Policy and Communications Director of Riders Alliance said, "With horrific transit cuts and fare hikes now on the table, New Yorkers need Congress to rescue the MTA not Albany to empty the agency's pockets of its last dime. Buses and subways carried essential workers through the pandemic and are the linchpin of our recovery. With New York's transit system teetering on a fiscal cliff, the state cannot afford to push it over the edge."