NY Republicans call on McConnell to provide $3.9B in additional MTA funding | TheHill – The Hill

Eighteen New York Republicans, including close allies of President TrumpDonald John TrumpRon Perlman, Matt Gaetz get into back-and-forth on Twitter The NYT and the Cotton op-ed: Opinion or party line? Robert Gates joins calls for Army bases named after Confederate leaders to be renamed MORE like Reps. Lee ZeldinLee ZeldinNY Republicans call on McConnell to provide .9B in additional MTA funding Flynn urged Russian diplomat to have 'reciprocal' response to Obama sanctions, new transcripts show The Hill's Coronavirus Report: Surgeon General stresses need to invest much more in public health infrastructure, during and after COVID-19; Fauci hopeful vaccine could be deployed in December MORE and Elise StefanikElise Marie StefanikNY Republicans call on McConnell to provide .9B in additional MTA funding Bipartisan House bill seeks to improve pandemic preparedness The Hill's Coronavirus Report: Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga says supporting small business single most important thing we should do now; Teva's Brendan O'Grady says U.S. should stockpile strategic reserve in drugs like Strategic Oil Reserve MORE, signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellNY Republicans call on McConnell to provide .9B in additional MTA funding GOP struggles to confront racial issues Navarro floats T price tag for next coronavirus relief bill MORE (R-Ky.) calling for an additional $3.9 billion in funding for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in the next round of stimulus.

Although the CARES Act provided about $4 billion to the public transit system, the Thursday letter states, the sum is not enough to cover its needs.

"New York has been the epicenter of this crisis in the United States," the letter states. "The essential workers on the frontlines who have rightly received so much praise and appreciation depend on mass transit to get to their critical jobs. Healthcare providers, pharmacists, first responders and grocery store workers cannot be left stranded at the time when theyre needed most."

Other signers of the letter include Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) and New York City Councilman Joe Borelli (R) an honorary state chair for the presidents 2020 campaign, as well as John J. Flanagan and Will Barclay, the Republican leaders in the state Senate and Assembly.

The MTAs financial future is at risk without federal relief. COVID-19 has blown a massive hole in its budget. The global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimates the full 2020 impact to be between $7 billion and $8.5 billion due to massive revenue losses caused by disappearing ridership and the evaporation of state and local taxes that support the MTA, the letter states. The agency has run out of avenues for support. Without assistance from Washington, the only option left for repayment of the MTAs debt is fare and toll hikes. We can't put this burden on our constituents when so many have lost their jobs.

In addition to its financial shortfalls, the pandemic has forced the MTA to make unprecedented procedural changes, including temporarily ending 24-hour subway services to disinfect trains between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Gov. Andrew CuomoAndrew CuomoNY Republicans call on McConnell to provide .9B in additional MTA funding Cuomo threatens to reverse localities' reopening, singling out Manhattan and Hamptons Protesters turn out in DC for third consecutive weekend MORE (D) said in April that during the pandemic, ridership on the subway, a major vector of virus transmission in the city, was down 92 percent.

Go here to read the rest:
NY Republicans call on McConnell to provide $3.9B in additional MTA funding | TheHill - The Hill

Related Posts

Comments are closed.