Veto of M.T.A. Capital Plan Stalls Repairs and Construction
By SEWELL CHAN
Published: July 2, 2005
Leaders of the State Legislature rejected the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's proposed five-year capital plan yesterday. Their decision blocks the authority from moving forward with billions of dollars worth of construction and repair projects.
The authority's capital program and a similar plan for the State Department of Transportation are among the major unfinished items from the legislative session that ended on June 24.
"I am very disappointed that the M.T.A.'s capital plan has been vetoed," the authority's chairman, Peter S. Kalikow, said in a statement. "This action further delays the important rebuilding projects and rolling-stock purchases that affect the daily lives of millions of our customers."
The authority's plan needs unanimous approval from the Capital Program Review Board, which includes representatives of Gov. George E. Pataki; Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Speaker Sheldon Silver of the Assembly; and the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno.
The plan, first submitted last October, called for $27.7 billion in spending on projects from 2005 to 2009. The review board rejected the plan on Dec. 21, while the Legislature and Mr. Pataki continued to discuss how to finance it.
In April, after the state budget was passed, the authority submitted a revised proposal calling for $21.1 billion in spending, the figure agreed upon by the Legislature. On June 1, the authority withdrew the plan and then resubmitted it, a technical move intended to give the review board more time to deliberate.
Under state law, the latest proposal would have expired at the end of the day yesterday. When it was clear that no agreement had been reached, State Senator Dean G. Skelos, who represents Mr. Bruno on the review board, and Assemblywoman Catherine T. Nolan, who represents Mr. Silver, notified the authority that they would reject the plan, which the authority will now have to resubmit.
No one would say publicly why the plan was rejected. In his veto letter to the authority, Mr. Skelos, a Nassau County Republican, said "it appears that issues relating to the proposed program will not be resolved by today's deadline." An Assembly spokesman said only that Mr. Silver hoped to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
A spokesman for the state's budget division, Michael E. Marr, said, "Discussions are constructive and ongoing, and we are optimistic about the prospect of finalizing a sound and balanced transportation and transit plan in the near future." He would not say when.
One person who was briefed on the stalled talks said the disagreement had nothing to do with the authority, but instead centered on whether to pay union-rate wages to nonunion workers on upstate rail and airport projects, and on projects like DestiNY USA, a mall and office development for which state subsidies have been proposed. By tradition, Albany has approved the two capital plans simultaneously; a problem with one plan hinders the other.
The authority's spokesman, Tom Kelly, said that several projects would have begun by now if the plan had been approved.
According to Mr. Kelly, they include rehabilitations of the Wall Street and Columbus Circle subway stations, at a cost of $153 million; the replacement of Metro-North Railroad's Croton-Harmon maintenance yard and shop, a $194 million project; and $29 million worth of signal work on the Long Island Rail Road.
