Albany stunned with Governor's reversal on congestion pricing.

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday morning. What is going on with Albany with us this morning is Zach Williams with Bloomberg and he usually knows what the heck is going on.

0:12 Speaker 2 Zach, give us a report, Well, John, thanks for having me. Yes, indeed, that the session entered the final days this week, and you know, there was quite a few bills that you know, we’re living and dying on what the Assembly and the Senate would do. But there was no bigger news than the Governor Kathy Hochol announcing on on Wednesday that she

0:36 was going to block the implementation of congestion pricing at that was set to go into place, you know at the end of June. You might recall that was the planned years in the making to require that driver’s entry Manhattan below sixtieth Street pay a toll, which would be which would raise money about a billion dollars per year

0:55 that would go back into public transit buses and subways. So that leaves a big gap in the MTA’s capital program. And the question is whether legislators might do something in the waning days of the session to fill that gap.

1:09 Didn’t appear likely on Thursday. It’s on the final scheduled day, and that really leads a lot unresolved. But beyond that, there’s environmental bills, tech bills and more that wilemakers were seeking to get done in the final days of the session.

1:27 Speaker 1 Understood, Now, do you think this was done for political reasons or do you really think she felt that Manhattan. You know, what I’ve been saying to people is wait for Manhattan to make a real comeback before we add another nail in a coffin. Give me your gut feeling.

1:48 You know, you’ve been around Albany for a long time, you know.

1:52 Speaker 2 Well, the political upside of canceling congestion, price scen or, as the governor put it, indefinitely suspending it are pretty obvious. It’s been. There’s been lots of criticism from people in the outer boroughs and the New York suburbs where a bunch of competitive congressional elections might determine control of the US House. Now, the governor claimed that she did it

2:12 out of concern for price, you know, cost of living, and that you know, midtown Manhattan hadn’t recovered yet from the COVID nineteen pandemic. But she wasn’t talking about that. Two weeks ago when she was bragging in Ireland about congestion pricing and all the Greek benefits that would bring to New York, or months ago when she told the

2:31 News Day editorial board that she was the strong leader who would pull back the tide of criticism against congestion prices. So yes, it really does look like politics were a big factor here. And you know, reporting by Politico in particular really drew the connection with House Minority Leader to King Jeffries of Brooklyn, who seemed very eager to shore

2:53 up candidates in some of these swing districts on Long Island and up through the Hudson Valley.

3:00 Speaker 1 Mean that when the election is over, congestion pricing could go in back at November sixth, the day after the election. I mean, I’m joking a little bit.

3:12 Speaker 2 Well, it’s you know, as a governor said, and definitely suspend could mean forever. It could also mean, you know, the implementments, you know, January first, twenty twenty five, after the election has happened. But you know, once one election ends and other election cycle begins and the governor who’ll be who may or may not be running for reelection

3:30 in twenty twenty six, you know, might have her own political considerations to make to further delay congestion pricing. You know something that is interesting here and where there is definitely a political upside for the governors. You might recall a lot of people, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, blamed Kathy Hochel for costing Democrats control of the US House.

3:51 Because if you’re arguably underwhelming campaign for governor, which you just want to be Republican LESE. Eldon by a few points. Now, if there is a world after the twenty in November twenty twenty four where Democrats do not gain control of the US House or maybe even loose seats here at New York, I’m sure there would have been a lot

4:11 of criticism coming Hocal’s way saying this happened because he didn’t suspend congestion pricing. She’s now insulated from that criticism. So whether you know, Democrats in the suburbs succeed or fail, it’s not going to be because she didn’t do anything about congestion pricing. They could say, oh, it waited too late, but she’ll at least had already made defense. Hey, I

4:32 saw the criticism, I acted on it. For the political cost, and it is mighty. But you know, maybe the upside of this for her is that, you know, whatever happens with congestion pricing, she at least will be able to, you know, have an excuse to shake any criticism about how it played out and congressional races if indeed Democrats

4:52 come up short.

4:54 Speaker 1 Zach. Any other particular items that people the little in packed consumers or impact businesses that you have noticed.

5:05 Speaker 2 Well, you know, a big issue here in the Capital is outstanding legislation that appeers likely to pass and maybe even be you know, at least as of as of Thursday, that would require companies reduce their plastics packaging. You know a lot of industry groups like the American Chemistry Council, you know, which represent plastics manufacturers like Dow and upon

5:29 all them, you know, have have said this, would you know, increased prices that it would make it hard to be profitable. You know, we’re talking about the plastics perhaps or single you know, string of keys and stuff like that, you know, stuff that’s not easily recyclable, and under that legislation, they would be required to reduce it by somewhere around like

5:47 forty percent over twelve years, and you know, that will definitely impact businesses. Whether it leads to actual increasing consummer prices, we’ll just have to see. Other than that, another big one has been see my reporting spaces Bloomberg. Are some technology bills. You know, a lot of folks have been blaming social media for hurting people’s mental health, particularly teenagers,

6:09 and a big bill that the governor claimed was her top priority at the end of session, although it seems like condition prices was a bigger one too. Will will make social platforms have to get parents permission before they can use algorithms to curate content for teams. Those are those, you know, computer functions that basically decide, you know, what

6:29 to present people when they’re what content to present to people when they’re on you know, platforms like Instagram and TikTok that could have nationwide effects, you know, But that law is also not going to be you know, enforceable for you know, roughly two years, so there’s still plenty of time for big tech to rally, maybe get the

6:47 FED back and up and kind of preempt the state law or otherwise influencing Attorney General, who has huge influence on how this law is going to work in practice through the rulemaking process.

7:00 Speaker 1 Anything else you want to tell all listeners this Sunday morning.

7:04 Speaker 2 Well, I just say, always keep an eye in state government. You know, we got elections coming up. You know, it’s easy to get lost in presidential and congressional politics because they’re important too, But when it comes to the issues that really affect New Yorkers, you know, in their daily lives, transit, taxes, you know, social services. You know, those big decisions are

7:23 often made right up here in Albany, and you know, more often than not, a lot of people aren’t paying attention.

7:30 Speaker 1 Zach Williams from Bloomberg Years, thank you so much for coming on this Sunday morning, and we’ll catch up with you again.

7:37 Speaker 2 Wilson, thanks so much for having me anytime.