What's going on when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is suddenly the voice of reason? Referring to the messy, inconclusive negotiations on aiding the MTA, Silver said, "Stop the partisan bickering. Forget about politics. That's for November 2010. It's not for now," in hopes that State Senate Republicans will help out.
Currently, Silver and Governor Paterson support a plan to raise subway/ bus fares by 8%, put tolls on East River and Harlem River Bridges and implement a payroll tax—all considered necessary to help fund MTA capital construction, deal with debt and prevent drastic service cuts—while Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's proposal offers a 4% fare hike, no bridge tolls, and a smaller payroll tax. The NY Times looks at how the State Senate's math is flawed, "The Senate plan overstates the amount of money it would raise over the next two years by more than $700 million. The governor’s office said that to make up for the shortfall, the Senate would have to increase fare revenues by a total of 13 percent."
Any plans for an MTA rescue have been put aside, with Smith saying the budget is more important. In the meantime, the MTA, which must pass a budget on March 25, is ready to raise fares, if push comes to shove.
