Gov Hochul under fire for ‘conveniently’ resurrecting ‘congestion’ fee plan before Trump can stop it

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s move to restart a “congestion pricing” program in the Big Apple set off a fresh wave of backlash and prompted an appeal to the incoming 47th president.

The Democrat governor pressed pause on the proposed $15 per day entry fee for drivers coming into Midtown and Lower Manhattan after opposition from Democrats and Republicans alike. But Hochul announced a revisit of the program with a $9 charge in hopes of getting it in place before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

(Video Credit: Fox5)

“Congestion pricing has only moved forward due to the MTA [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] and Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) manipulation of the FHWA’s Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP), a pilot program initially authorized by Congress over three decades ago in 1991,” reads a letter to Trump from a group of New York Republicans.

“The Biden Administration even conspired to allow an abbreviated environmental review in order for the program to skip the normal process.,” added the lawmakers, Rep. Michael Lawler of Rockland County, Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island, and Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota and Anthony D’Esposito of Long Island.

“Congestion pricing, the latest in a long string of tyrannical taxes, has been pressed forward through consistent opposition about the burden on New York families and workers, the timing of the effort, areas lacking adequate transit, the fiscal responsibility of the move, the negative impact that congestion pricing will have on residents of some of the lowest-income neighborhoods in New York City and more,” they wrote.

“Governor Hochul recently announced that she would pursue an almost immediate implementation of the congestion pricing cash grab, despite cynically ‘pausing’ it earlier this year in an effort to win back the House,” the Republicans contended.

Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) called out Hochul’s “blatantly” political move in waiting until after the election.

“Just before it was scheduled to begin this summer, and prior to the election, the governor acted unilaterally to ‘indefinitely pause’ the congestion pricing proposal because of its unpopularity. Now it’s conveniently being resurrected barely a week after the polls closed,” Graves, chair of the House Transportation Committee, said, adding that the “rush to institute it before [Trump] can take office is a blatantly political move.”

However, Democrat State Sen. Andrew Gounardes told the Albany Times-Union that the plan has to start “immediately — before Trump can block it.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who has previously spoken against the plan, said Thursday that he is “firmly opposed to any attempt to force through a congestion pricing proposal in the final months of the Biden Administration.”

“All of us need to listen to the message that voters across America sent last Tuesday, which is that the vast majority of Americans are experiencing severe economic strains and still feeling the effects of inflation. There could not be a worse time to impose a new $9 toll on individuals who are traveling into downtown Manhattan for work, school, or leisure,” the Democrat governor said.

Frieda Powers

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