Crossing That Bridge

State lawmakers passed several transportation measures in the state budget this year, but two of the biggest issues have yet to be resolved: what steps, if any, to take to reform the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and how to fully fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $32 billion capital plan.

And with just days left in this year’s legislative session, both questions are likely to go unanswered for at least another year.

Senate Republicans are in no hurry to address these issues—and no other major transportation bills are top priorities with the end of the session looming. A spokesman for state Sen. Joseph Robach, the chair of the Senate

Transportation Committee, said “there’s nothing big that’s going to be coming down between now and the end of session.”

But Assembly Democrats say action is urgently needed on both fronts, even if it’s unlikely to happen.

In the case of the MTA, officials are facing a $14 billion shortfall in its current five-year capital plan, which started this year and runs through 2019. It is unclear where all the money will come from to maintain and upgrade existing subway lines and to continue major expansion projects, such as the Second Avenue Subway.

The MTA has called for more funding from the city and the state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have earmarked some money, but MTA officials say it is not anywhere near enough to close the funding gap.

“We think that it is not in the public interest for the Legislature to leave Albany without trying to address the shortfalls in the capital plan because the five-year window has already begun and they are 43 percent unfunded,” said

Assemblyman James Brennan, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions. “So the risk is, commitments being made by the MTA to do long-term purchases or long-term construction might get broken up and disrupted without funding in place. The next time we come back, after June, is January, so it’s not good.”

Brennan said the state could provide some of the needed funding by enacting a small income tax hike for those making between $500,000 and $2 million and requiring a larger contribution from New York City. That would provide $600 million, along with about $8 billion through bonding, he said.

“Then it’s my belief that some increased state support from the general fund and some small MTA borrowings could come pretty close to handling the state shortfall,” Brennan said.

Another top priority has been to pass comprehensive reforms at the Port Authority. The bi-state authority has been under scrutiny ever since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration and appointees were caught up in the Bridgegate scandal, in which traffic on the George Washington Bridge was blocked for hours, allegedly to politically punish a local mayor.

Both legislative houses in New York and New Jersey approved a series of reform measures last year to improve governance and transparency and combat patronage and dysfunction at the beleaguered authority. However, Cuomo and

Christie vetoed the measure in late December, announcing their own reform package instead. The Port Authority’s board approved some of the reforms on its own earlier this year, but lawmakers continued working on a compromise measure to enact changes in law that are stronger and more permanent.

“We are going to amend our Port Authority bill to include the proposals of Christie and Cuomo with respect to leadership selection that they have proposed back in December at the time of the veto, and do some very minor streamlining of the bill that had passed all four houses of the Legislature and then attempt to re-pass it,” Brennan said.

The Assembly and state Senate met with Cuomo administration officials earlier this year, but the parties have yet to arrive at a new compromise following last year’s vetoes. The New Jersey Legislature has also been developing a new reform package, although New York lawmakers have raised concerns with it as well.

“In part, these are the result of some meetings with the governor’s office and the Senate and Assembly held in March,” Brennan said. “We’ll see what happens with that.”

What Got Done

• Two-year extension of design-build project bidding
• $250 million for four new Bronx Metro-North stations
• Funds for road and bridge maintenance and upstate transit

What's on the Docket

• Funding the MTA capital plan
• Port Authority reform