MTA Bailout May Mean Giving Senate GOP Highway Aid

With the Democrat-controlled State Senate holding up any hope of an MTA bailout, it may come down to the Republicans in the Senate to help out. Naturally, though, the NY Times reports that Republicans senators want highway and bridge projects financing. Sen. Thomas Libous (R-Binghamton) told the paper, "To just ignore the highway, road and bridge plan and go to trying to negotiate a schedule for a new M.T.A. capital plan was just not the right thing to do." While Republicans have been letting their Democratic counterparts fight out the bailout proposal, some would be affected if the MTA is stranded without some form of support—for instance, contracting jobs would be lost upstate. Still, they are happy to blame the dysfunction on the whole Paterson administration; Sen. Better Little (R-Queensbury) tells Newsday, "It's interesting that they're reaching out to us now, not when they were constructing a plan" (she also suggested the administration was "New York City-oriented").