Gov. Kathy Hochul has killed congestion pricing. In a video message this morning, the governor told New Yorkers that she made the “difficult decision” to “indefinitely pause the program.” The move shocked political insiders across the state, and angered the politicians and advocacy organizations that spent over a decade’s worth of political capital pushing the controversial plan. Today’s announcement, first reported by POLITICO, also speaks to Hochul’s approach to governance. At other points in her career she abruptly balked at policies inherited by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that she’s previously championed. Remember cap and invest? Hochul’s administration proposed changing the Cuomo-era climate law to make the program less costly during the late days of budget negotiations last year. But she backed down after environmental groups and lawmakers rebelled, and her administration is now evaluating a price limit on cap and invest that — absent significant other policies — will see the state fail to achieve its goals. And what about bail reform? She was hounded on those Cuomo-era policies during her reelection race against former Rep. Lee Zeldin and came uncomfortably close to losing because of it. Only in the final days of her campaign did she make a last-minute pivot to focus on crime. Today’s announcement is similar. State lawmakers and staffers are already packing their bags to leave Albany and head back to their districts for the last time this year. Dozens of congestion pricing cameras had already been installed across Manhattan, and the program was just weeks away from becoming a reality after it was first proposed in 2007. “This is all a new development that sprung on us very suddenly, so I'm not exactly sure what the governor has in mind,” Deputy Majority Leader Sen. Mike Gianaris said when asked how the state will make up for the planned congestion pricing revenue. The Legislature will now have to figure out how to account for the estimated $1 billion, budgeted in congestion pricing revenue. Lawmakers believe there are two options: to take money from the state’s “rainy day fund” or generate revenue from the MTA through a business or a payroll tax. Even as congestion pricing was set to roll out, lawsuits were being waged to tear it down. In a legal filing today obtained by POLITICO, the MTA told the court those fights won’t be necessary anymore. Hochul attributed her reversal to fiscal concerns, saying today: “A $15 charge may not mean a lot to someone who has the means, but it can break the budget of a working- or middle-class household,” she said. She also said: “To those cynics who question my motivation, I approach every decision through one lens: What is best for New Yorkers?” POLITICO already reported on a different motivation. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was among those reportedly worried that congestion pricing could hurt Democrats’ chances of winning swing seats in New York, where their party’s losses helped tip the balance of power to the GOP two years ago. (Hochul’s announcement came only 12 hours after that story published late Tuesday night.) Remember, Hochul spoke with grandiosity about congestion pricing just before this year’s legislative session was set to start: “From time to time, leaders are called upon to envision a better future, be bold in the implementation and execution,” she said at a December pro-congestion pricing rally. — Jason Beeferman | 
