Cuomo Urges New York Democrats to Restore Tax Break and Tunnel Funds

(Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the two top priorities for the state’s increased Democratic congressional majority are rolling back the limit on state and local tax deductions and seeking funds for a new Hudson River rail tunnel.

President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress reduced federal deductions for local levies as “political retaliation” against high-tax states, Cuomo said in a letter to the state’s Democratic delegation. He said it will cost New Yorkers more than $14 billion a year. U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are also Democrats.

The $13 billion Gateway Tunnel project across the Hudson River, for which former President Barack Obama’s administration agreed to provide half the funds, has been in financial limbo for two years after Trump balked at fulfilling the promise. The current tunnel, which carries 820,000 daily commuters and East Coast passengers between Washington and Boston, is endangered by age and corrosion from Hurricane Sandy and its replacement and repair “should not be a partisan issue,” Cuomo wrote.

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, William Selway, Michael B. Marois

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