Lawmakers Form Caucus Opposing Anti-Congestion Tax

By Christian Wade | The Center Square

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from New York and New Jersey is teaming up to fight New York City’s plan to charge commuters a new congestion toll to enter the city.

The Congressional Anti-Congestion Tax Caucus, which will include U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., targets the New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority’s plans to charge some motorists a fee ranging from $9 to $23 to drive into Manhattan’s central business district.

Lawler called the MTA’s congestion pricing plan a “regressive tax on commuters to New York City who have no reliable mass transit options” and said the new caucus will focus on blocking the tax from going into effect and holding the public transit agency accountable for its spending.

“Before seeking more revenue, the MTA should work to get its house in order - especially on the runaway spending front,” he said in a statement. “Any transit agency that spends more money on consultants than the actual boring of a tunnel has its priorities totally out of whack.”

Malliotakis, whose district includes Staten Island, cited recent studies suggesting the tax would shift vehicle traffic from higher-income, more urbanized areas to lower-income, more vulnerable communities like NYC’s outer boroughs.

“The fact that the MTA and the Federal Highway Administration are jamming through a flawed Environmental Assessment that failed to include Staten Island in its street-level analysis not only makes our government vulnerable to a lawsuit but further shows how politicized the program’s implementation has become,” she said in a statement.

The lawmakers have introduced the Make Transportation Authorities Accountable and Transparent Act, which would require the Office of the Inspector General to conduct an audit of the MTA’s federal funding and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the congestion pricing plan.

The controversial tolling proposal has divided the region’s two Democratic governors, who’ve found themselves on opposite sides of the issue.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has defended the new policy, which was approved by the state Legislature in 2019, saying it will help reduce the region’s traffic congestion and blunt the impact of climate change by reducing tailpipe pollution.

But on the other side of the Hudson River, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is ripping the plan, saying it would be unfair to Jersey commuters and hurt communities still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

For motorists coming from New Jersey to the Manhattan district, the average round trip cost per vehicle would be $120 with the additional toll, according to a recent MTA report on the proposal.

MTA officials estimate the new fee will bring in about $1 billion annually that the agency will use as leverage to borrow more money for its $51 billion multi-year capital plan.

The MTA faces a potential $2.6 billion budget deficit in 2025 and is seeking more state funding to help reduce its projected shortfalls.

Gottheimer and lawmakers from both states have filed a bill that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Transportation from awarding any new capital investment grants to MTA projects in New York unless drivers from New Jersey and New York get an exemption from the congestion tax.

They’ve also called on the MTA’s leadership to testify before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and provide an accounting for federal funding the agency has received during the pandemic.

“There needs to be appropriate federal oversight and increased accountability for the MTA and their questionable uses of the billions in federal funds they’ve received,” Gottheimer said. “As that old Wendy’s ad said, where’s the beef? Where did all that money go?”