News from Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb
Assembly Office:
933 Legislative Office Building • Albany, NY 12248 • (518) 455-3751
District Offices:
607 West Washington Street • Suite 2 • Geneva, NY 14456 • (315) 781-2030
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For Release: IMMEDIATELY, February 8, 2013
Contact: Doug Finch, (315) 781-2030
New York State Thruway Authority Is Taking A Toll On The Upstate Economy
Legislative Column from Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,C,I-Canandaigua)

Recently, the Thruway Authority announced it will be laying off 234 people and reports indicate that the lost jobs do not include officials with the highest salaries and costliest benefits. Once again, the Thruway Authority administration has proven that they just don't get it. In this week's column, I will share my plan to put the Thruway Authority back on the right track and use it as an essential part of the effort to improve economic development in upstate New York.

THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY - A VITAL PART OF LOCAL ECONOMIES ACROSS UPSTATE NEW YORK

The New York State Thruway is essential to many families and businesses throughout upstate New York. Locally grown fruits, vegetables and dairy products are packed into trucks and delivered to our grocery stores. Trucks traveling on the Thruway keep our local manufacturers stocked with the raw materials they need to make the items we use every day. Even the bouquet of flowers destined for a loved one on Valentine's Day travels on this road, a lifeline for many businesses and working families in the Finger Lakes.

State government needs to work for the people. The importance of the Thruway in the daily lives of Finger Lakes families as well as families across the state is why I am so focused on making this unaccountable authority into an efficient, effective catalyst to support and promote local economic development.

THE THRUWAY JUST ISN'T WORKING FOR LOCAL FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES

The Thruway Authority is not working for motorists, taxpayers or small businesses. It hasn't been for a long time now - as evidenced by four toll hikes since 2005 and chronic mismanagement and overspending by the administration.

Last May, the Thruway Authority proposed a 45 percent toll hike on commercial trucks with three or more axles to close a budget gap. I was the first legislative leader to speak out publicly against the budget-breaking toll hike proposal, calling it "a road to fewer jobs and a less competitive economy." After months of protest from my Assembly Minority colleagues, farmers, small businesspeople, taxpayers, business groups and folks just like you from around the state, the Thruway Authority hit the brakes and decided to not to raise tolls after all.

This overwhelming response did not just solidify my belief that if New Yorkers band together and raise our voices we can get things done, it also made it clear that the New York State Thruway is an integral part of doing business for many of our mom-and-pop shops, manufacturers and family farms. If tolls go up, local economies will suffer.

REFORMING THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY AUTHORITY: AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

In 2011, the Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission appointed by Gov. Cuomo hit the nail on the head by recommending a merger involving shared services between the State Department of Transportation (DOT) and a new Thruway/Bridge Authority. Quite frankly, the authority and the DOT serve the same function. Unfortunately, this cost-saving merger proposed by SAGE failed to make it into its final 2012 recommendations. The legislation I introduced would correct that mistake.

MY LEGISLATION TO REMAKE THE THRUWAY INTO AN EFFECTIVE ECONOMIC PARTNER FOR FINGER LAKES SMALL BUSINESSES AND FAMILY FARMS

Whether you balance the books at a million-dollar company or balance your checkbook at your kitchen table, you know - if something does not add up, it needs to be fixed. By enacting long-term, common sense solutions, my 'Thruway Authority Accountability Act' will make state government more efficient, fix a long-struggling state authority and provide much-needed oversight of the Thruway's costs to businesses and motorists.

My proposal merges day-to-day operations of the Thruway Authority with the State Department of Transportation (DOT); creates a new Thruway Authority Board whose members must have either transportation or financial expertise (or both); makes the DOT commissioner chair of the Thruway Authority Board; sets a forensic audit of Thruway Authority finances every three years; requires any proposed Thruway toll hikes to be clearly identified in the DOT's budget; and streamlines the authority through attrition. These measures are smart solutions that would provide expert management of this crucial link between upstate New York farms, small businesses, manufacturers and families.

We must act now to make sure that this lifeline for so many of our local businesses stops being part of the problem and becomes part of the solution, paving the way for a better economic future for the Finger Lakes and all of upstate New York.

What do you think? I want to hear from you. Send me your feedback, suggestions and ideas regarding this or any other issue facing New York State. You can always contact my district office at (315) 781-2030 or e-mail me at kolbb@assembly.state.ny.us.