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This article was sent to me by FedupWNY. It was published in the weekly paper called the South Buffalo News. THANK YOU CK! :)

I spoke to Mark when he was on WBEN’s Hardline with Kevin Hardwick and thanked him for his call to abolish the thruway authority. Last time he and I spoke was at the Comptrollers Press Conference, that day I also spoke to Congressman Higgins, Senator Maziarz, Volker and assemblymen Hoyt, Quinn etc…. I was also told by Tom DiNapoli that there was a reason that this Press Conference was held here in Buffalo and not in Albany. He also Thanked me for the call to audit the TA and the fight we at noGItolls have been leading. Western NY is the center of the battle against the tolls and the intrusive thruway authority.

Until 2 years ago we had to pay tolls on 2 other portions of the 190 but through the valiant efforts of Carl Paladino and Mike Powers finding the Niagara Toll Law, we had them removed. This year we are determined to #1 remove the thruway authority from the 190 thereby eliminating the tolls at the Grand Island Bridges. This will be the first time in the history of the Grand Island Bridges that you didn’t have to pay to cross the island. 73 years and millions upon millions have been taken in tolls from these bridges, it is past time to remove them as promised 73 years ago.

The New York State Thruway was supposed to be toll free when all then bonds were paid off in 1996, why is it then that we still have tolls? It was in the latter years of the Cuomo administration that the former governor and the legislature chose to sell the TA to itself and get an influx of desperately needed cash to once again bail out the bloated government. It is now 12 years past the expiration date of the thruway authority, thereby time to say goodbye and good riddance to them.

No where off the thruway system from Erie PA to Albany NY is there a toll road off the mainline 90, why are we the only one? There are really many reasons but won’t get into all that as I have covered it all after the TA audit. #1 step is turning over the 190 to the NYSDOT and eliminate the tolls here. To the naysayers, the 190 runs parallel to Lake Erie and the Niagara River, they are both considered Federally Navigable waterways. That opens up the door for Federal funding for the roads and more in Homeland Security funding.

A missing voice in ALL this has been our Congressman Louise Slaughter. Hello Ms.Slaughter! Where are you? Where do you stand on this issue? Why are you NEVER here in this end of your district? Why do we lack Federal funding for projects here? IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY! You are our ONLY Federal Rep on Grand Island and this section of roadway that borders Canada.

Thank you to Brian Higgins for holding up his end, I just wish he was here and covered this end of the district at least we would have a voice.

Schroeder introduces bill to abolish New York State Thruway Authority

New York State Assemblyman Mark Schroeder introduced a bill last week that would abolish the New York State Thruway Authority which voted on Friday to raise tolls once again. “The New York State Thruway Authority is a rogue agency that has no accountability whatsoever to the people of New York State. This latest round of toll increases was approved over the objections of the Governor, the Comptroller, many elected official, and all of the citizens across the state who spoke out at the public hearings that were held on the matter,” said Schroeder. “Of course, the Thruway Authority ignored everyone and did what it wanted to do anyway.”

“The Thruway Authority’s brazen disregard for the very people that it is supposed to serve has only one appropriate response. It is no longer sufficient to fight toll increases or try to eliminate the tolls. The time has come to eliminate the New York State Thruway Authority altogether, once and for all.”

Schroeder’s legislation, Assembly Bill # 10584, would create a temporary commission, consisting of 15 members appointed by the governor and the legislature, that would be responsible for disbanding the Thruway and transferring its duties and responsibilities to the appropriate state agencies. “We elect leaders to administer these vital functions of government,” said Schroeder. “They shouldn’t be in the hands of some pseudo-governmental board of political appointees who answer to no one.”

“The timing of the toll increase couldn’t be worse,” Schroeder added. “Gas prices are through the roof and are expected to go up even more. The cost of food is increasing dramatically, the economy is faltering, and wages are not keeping up with inflation,” he said. “Another toll increase is just another punch in the stomach for the middle class.”

Schroeder said that the toll increases aren’t the only reason that the Thruway Authority has to go. He pointed to the authority’s skyrocketing debt, reckless spending, and overall mismanagement.

The amount of debt has racked up is staggering. Currently, the authority has $2.4 billion in outstanding bonds, more than twice their annual budget,” Schroeder said. “Debt payments are expected to reach $163 million this year. New debt that is planned will raise the annual debt payment to about $223 million by 2010. This out of control borrowing is egregious and irresponsible.”

Schroeder pointed to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s audit, which found that toll increases were not justified. The audit found that the Thruway Authority has “no comprehensive plan in place to reduce or limit the growth of operating costs,” and “insufficient cost controls over capital spending.”

Another questionable practice the audit exposed was estimating federal highway aid at $4.9 million per year for the future, even though the annual amount of federal aid has averaged more than $33 million since 1988. The audit also identified potential untapped revenue streams, such as using collection agencies to pursue uncollected EZ Pass charges and pursuing promotion or sponsorship revenue.

“But instead of gaining revenue from potential advertisers, the Thruway Authority did the exact opposite and spent $1.8 million to promote itself,” said Schroeder. “It is clear that there are several alternatives to raising tolls, but the authority chooses to ignore them.” Schroeder said that his legislation would also solve the Thruway Authority’s problem of being burdened by the cost of operating and maintaining the Canal Corporation. “The Canal Corporation cannot be a burden to something that doesn’t exist,” he said.

While his bill would disband the Thruway Authority, Schroeder was quick to point out that it won’t close the Thruway or layoff all of its workers. “All of the hard-working employees that keep the Thruway running are not to blame, and their expertise will still he needed. The Thruway will remain, but instead of being run by an unaccountable board that does whatever it pleases, it will be put under the control of the people of New York