WMHT, New York – Recently, on the floor of the New York State Senate, State Sen. Tom Libous was adamant that upstate roads and bridges would be hurt by the new Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) bailout plan. The MTA, New York City’s public transit operator, has an operating budget deficit of some $1.2 billion, and has been forced to raise fares for commuters — with little consideration from the state capitol in Albany. There is not only an upstate-downstate divide among legislators, but also a further divide between politicians in New York City.
This New York Now report on WMHT public television — as a part of Blueprint America — looks at how state spending may relate more to power than to need when it comes to the New York’s aging infrastructure.
______________________________________________________________________________________
WMHT, in Binghamton, NY, is a partner station of Blueprint America
(4 votes)
Loading ...
06/05/2009 :: 07:44:21 AM
Richard L. Jorgensen, DDS Says:
If Senator Libous is so adamant at this time, why then did he not put forth NYS budget expenditures from the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund (DHBTF) during his tenure as Senate Transportation Committee Chairman? The NYS Comptroller reports for the years that Senator Libous was Chair of the Transportation Committee, not a single dollar of the DHBTF was used as statute dictated. Why did it take a bridge collapse in Minneapolis for everyone to start looking at roads and bridges?