NEW YORK MINUTE: Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention is underway in Chicago. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be among those addressing the New York delegation’s breakfast this morning. WHEN THE BELL TOLLS: Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to find an alternative to the congestion pricing program that she paused in June, only weeks before it was due to take effect. The new plan likely won’t be publicly unveiled until after the dust has settled from Election Day. “We will be announcing this by the end of the year because the Legislature has to act on it,” she told Playbook’s own Emily Ngo in an interview at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday. “It’s more likely it will be announced by the end of the year, early next year as we get the Legislature on board.” And the governor insisted — as she’s done before — the decision to place the controversial toll program on an indefinite pause wasn’t due to political considerations, contrary to what multiple people familiar with the private discussions have said. “It’s not related to elections,” she said. “We’re studying other options.” Hochul’s decision to pause the toll program comes as Democrats try to claw their way into the House majority and flip five Republican-held seats in New York. GOP lawmakers had signaled the toll program would be a cudgel in the elections used against Democrats – especially in the battleground suburbs. One freshman Republican, Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler, has a TV ad out this month that takes some credit for stopping the toll program after proposing a bipartisan bill to block it. Rep. Marc Molinaro, another first-term lawmaker in a competitive race, told Playbook the delay was clearly timed with politics in mind. “She’s simply trying to minimize the pain Democrats will feel on Election Day simply to kick us in the ass after Election Day,” he said. But a decision will have to be made to find a way to leverage money for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in order to pay for billions of dollars in pledged infrastructure projects for the system. Some Democrats who supported the program, like state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal of Manhattan, want to strike a compromise. Hoylman-Sigal said Monday he is eager for a deal that accomplishes the broad strokes of what congestion pricing was aimed at doing: Help pay for mass transit projects, reduce traffic and improve emissions. But it’s also a delicate balancing act elsewhere in the Legislature – especially for lawmakers who do not want their constituents to shoulder the revenue needs of the MTA. The New York Post reported Sunday that Hochul is weighing a compromise that would exempt some municipal workers and have a lower toll than the $15 plan. Many suburban workers would still be hit with a toll under the plan, which was confirmed to Playbook by two people as being under discussion. And that could make it all the harder to get through when the Legislature returns in January. “I will strongly oppose any proposal,” state Sen. James Skoufis told Playbook, “that doesn’t exempt Orange County drivers.” — Nick Reisman IT’S TUESDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| 
