N.Y. MTA Chief Says $3.9 Billion More of U.S. Aid Needed in 2020
U.S.’s largest public transportation system by Friday had exhausted the money Congress allocated in the first round of stimulus.
(Bloomberg) -- The head of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the agency is facing a “fiscal tsunami” as the coronavirus pandemic decimates its revenue, leaving it in need of an additional $3.9 billion in federal aid to make it through the rest of the year.
“On the desperation index we are facing a fiscal tsunami -- a once in 100 year fiscal tsunami,” Patrick Foye, the agency’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in an interview on the Bloomberg Surveillance television program Monday.
Foye said the country’s largest public transportation system by Friday had exhausted the money Congress allocated as a part of the first round of stimulus in March. The MTA, which had $45.4 billion of debt as of July 8, is facing a $16.2 billion deficit through 2024 and is seeking a combined $10.4 billion of federal funds through 2021. It is considering nearly $1.4 billion of combined spending cuts through 2024 to help cover lost revenue and an increase in cleaning and disinfecting costs.
If the system doesn’t get federal money, the authority may need to cut its workforce, reduce service and postpone capital improvements, Foye said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to release a draft of stimulus legislation later Monday. Foye said he is “cautiously optimistic” the MTA will get the funding it requires.
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