Senate and Assembly outline competing transportation budget increases for roads, transit, airports and a rail study

At a meeting of the Transportation Joint Budget Conference Subcommittee, co‑chairs Senator Jeremy Cooney (Senator, Co‑Chair) and Assemblyman William Magnarelli (Assemblyman, Co‑Chair) outlined competing Senate and Assembly one‑house transportation budget proposals that would add hundreds of millions of dollars for highways, local roads and bridges, transit, airports and passenger rail studies.

The proposals matter because they set priorities that will guide negotiations on the state transportation budget and determine which regions and systems receive additional capital and operating support in the coming year.

Senator Jeremy Cooney summarized the Senate one‑house plan and identified several headline investments. "The Senate has proposed providing an additional 131,300,000 in additional core highway funding through the NYS DOT spending program," he said, and the Senate has added "405,000,000 in additional local road and bridge funding to address county municipal road needs, including an additional 125,000,000 for the CHIPS program." Cooney said the Senate would also increase Statewide Transportation Operating Assistance (STOA) by $82,000,000, which he said would result in a 15% increase for non‑MTA transit systems, and would create a new $10,000,000 transit workforce economic access fund aimed at connecting job sites to workers in areas lacking transit service.

Cooney said the Senate would invest in passenger rail planning and airport competitiveness: "we are going to look towards an additional 500,000 to further study proper rights of way that will examine ways to bring true high speed rail on land separate from the CSX and other freight rail tracks," and the Senate proposes "250,000,000 for the third round of the airport competition funds for airports outside of New York City." He also noted measures to expand fare programs in the MTA region, including an expansion of the city ticket program and providing an additional 15 fare‑free buses across the five boroughs.

Assemblyman William Magnarelli listed parallel increases proposed in the Assembly one‑house budget for the Department of Transportation capital plan and transit operating assistance. The Assembly would add $50,000,000 to PAVE New York; $50,000,000 for a new competitive grant program to support ADA compliance on local road projects; $50,000,000 for the State Touring Route Program; $100,000,000 for non‑MTA transit capital; $35,500,000 for passenger rail capital; and $12,500,000 for aviation capital. On operating assistance, Magnarelli said the Assembly provides $12,100,000 for upstate non‑MTA transit to ensure a 7% year‑to‑year growth and a one‑time $1,000,000 to Centro to support incorporating Cortland County into its service area.

Assembly member Edward Braunstein, speaking after Magnarelli, raised the MTA capital plan gap and said the Assembly anticipates further discussions about closing that gap. Co‑chair Cooney reiterated the Senate’s resolution language supporting full funding of the MTA capital plan while negotiators seek solutions.

Members from across regions emphasized different priorities during the meeting. Senator Peter Oberacker (ranking member, transportation) urged attention to local road maintenance and pothole repair, saying "we rely on state investments to maintain the economic viability of those areas." Assembly members from upstate and Western New York voiced support for increased PAVE New York and extreme winter recovery funds, while representatives from the Bronx highlighted proposed investments for capping and other localized projects.

Some members also noted gaps in the one‑house proposals. Assemblyman Brian Miller, representing the Assembly Minority Conference, said the Assembly one‑house package "fails to sufficiently invest in our local roads and highway infrastructures," and called for additional CHIPS funding. Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano highlighted items he said were absent from the budget, including measures to better protect transportation workers and the issue of drugged driving.

The subcommittee did not take formal votes during the session; members presented one‑house proposals and reserved final decisions for the negotiated budget process. The co‑chairs adjourned the meeting after those opening statements.

Ending: The conference subcommittee will fold these one‑house priorities into larger multi‑party negotiations among the Legislature and the Governor’s office; no formal actions were taken at the session.