Hakeem Jeffries is taking the blame

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Aug 05, 2024 View in browser   By Jason Beeferman House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stands next to MTA CEO Janno Lieber at the groundbreaking for an accessibility upgrade at a Brooklyn subway station. | Marc A. Hermann/MTA THE SPEAKER’S SHIELD: Gov. Kathy Hochul caught major heat for her abrupt halting of congestion pricing — even though the program was largely unpopular among voters. Now it appears House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — who POLITICO reported played a major role in Hochul’s decision to cancel the program — is willing to absorb some of the blame and even hint at throwing her a lifeline. Jeffries was in Central Brooklyn at an MTA event this morning celebrating a planned accessibility upgrade for a Clinton Hill subway station. For Jeffries, it doubled as an opportunity to praise Hochul amid the MTA’s financial troubles that congestion pricing was meant to alleviate. “She's doing a great job on our behalf,” he said. The upgrade to the G-Line stop was planned and paid for long before Hochul’s pause, but Jeffries was happy to highlight the investment within the context of Hochul’s congestion pricing pause. His point: federal dollars can be crucial to helping the MTA. “I supported a temporary pause of a limited duration, while at the same period of time redoubling our efforts at the federal level to make sure that we're securing the resources to undergo the type of transformational projects such as the one that's taking place here,” Jeffries said. If Democrats win in November and Jeffries is made speaker of the House, he will wield influence over how billions of dollars of federal money is spent on infrastructure. Since Hochul’s decision to halt congestion pricing in June, she has largely stood alone as she withstands bipartisan criticism for the move. GOP members of congress said the pause was a politically-motivated “stunt.” The strongly-Democratic Assembly and state Senate didn’t want to bail the governor out after a replacement for toll revenue was suddenly needed. Instead lawmakers went home with only harsh words — and no solutions — for funding critical MTA improvements. And a majority of voters from both parties did not support Hochul’s pause, though a plurality of all voters, at 45 percent, approved of it. Hochul’s team continues to be stalked by the specter of an MTA with a $16.5 billion-and-growing revenue hole. (Remember, the MTA faces serious financial deficits even if the congestion pricing revenue is fully restored). “I’ve stayed neutral throughout the entire process, but I've supported the pause as a reasonable thing to do at this moment,” Jeffries said today. He made the statements beside MTA CEO Janno Lieber, who was once one of congestion pricing’s greatest champions. Five days ago, Lieber had gone to great lengths to show the public just how royally screwed the MTA will be if the governor there’s no funding solution for congestion pricing. On Wednesday Lieber illustrated that up to $1.5 billion could be lost from the MTA’s operational budget over the next three years — in addition to the nearly $16.5 billion in state and federal money that is missing. — Jason Beeferman   Millions of retiring Americans rely on Social Security benefits, but the program is running at a deficit and Congress has struggled to find a solution for years. Join POLITICO on August 7 to explore what can be done to save the program. What other steps can Congress take to ensure its future? And how could Social Security impact the affordability and housing crisis facing aging New Yorkers? REGISTER HERE.     From the Capitol Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Sen. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins discussed banning cell phones in schools at an event in Yonkers today. | Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul NO EXECUTIVE ACTION: New York students will be able hold on to their cell phones during the school day for a little while longer as Hochul and the Legislature iron out the details of how to implement a potential statewide ban on mobile devices in classrooms, POLITICO Pro reports. During the fifth leg of her statewide “listening tour” Monday, Hochul said rather than issue an executive order, she will work with lawmakers to pass a bill during the legislative session that begins in January. At the roundtable event, at Yonkers Public Schools headquarters, Hochul was joined by Senate Majority-Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and several other lawmakers who support continuing efforts to address the youth mental health crisis. But discussions between lawmakers, youth mental health advocates and school administrators were closed to the public. Senate Education Chair Shelley Mayer, who attended the event, said she supports the concept Hochul is proposing but wants more details about what the ban would look like. — Katelyn Cordero SIMOTAS TO REBNY: Former Assemblymember Aravella Simotas is heading to New York’s most prominent real estate lobbying entity. The former lawmaker is now the senior vice president of government relations at the Real Estate Board of New York, the group announced today. Simotas’ hiring was announced that of Kay Sarlin Wright, a former official at Audible, who will become senior vice president for communications. REBNY is shaking up its team after Hochul and state lawmakers this year agreed to a sweeping housing deal in the state budget that left real estate interests in New York dissatisfied and called into question the industry’s clout in Albany. Reggie Thomas, the trade organization’s former government affairs senior vice president, departed in July, following the exit of Ryan Monell, vice president of government affairs. Simotas represented Queens in the Assembly from 2011 until 2020, when she lost a Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani. She has remained a popular figure in the state Capitol and most recently led state and local government affairs at the financial services firm BNY. — Nick Reisman  AG AND AI: New York Attorney General Tish James’ office is taking on a bigger role in assessing the potential benefits and pitfalls of artificial intelligence. James’ office today released a report reviewing the impact of AI tools on health care, data usage and automated decision making. The report comes after the attorney general’s office hosted a meeting on the issue in April in a bid to tackle what, in part, is an issue that could have wide-ranging impact on consumers — an area that James’ purview as the state’s top legal officer covers. New York officials have been trying to get a better handle on the emerging AI sector, especially when it comes to the potential for job displacement and misinformation. State lawmakers this year pushed legislation that would survey how executive branch officials are currently using artificial intelligence tools in order to get an understanding of how the technology is being deployed in government. — Nick Reisman IN OTHER NEWS... — IN DA CLUB: Political clubs in New York still wield outsized powers. Here are the most important ones. (City & State) — RFK JR. WORMS HIS WAY UP TO ALBANY: The independent presidential candidate was in the state’s capital to advocate that he should appear on the ballot in November. (Times Union) — DECORUM, PLEASE!: LIRR passengers are putting their feet on the seats, talking loudly on the phone and even clipping their toenails while en route. The commuter railroad seems to have lost its prized sense of civility. (Newsday) YOU’RE INVITED! — Join us for a special POLITICO Live event in NYC on Wednesday. What is the future for Social Security? New York Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan will discuss the challenges and solutions lawmakers are considering for the aging benefit on which millions of retiring Americans and New Yorkers rely. We’ll also talk with Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, Julietta Lopez of the Hispanic Federation and Stephen Miran of the Manhattan Institute, about Social Security’s impact on New York, including the housing crisis. RSVP to attend here. Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? Read it here.   Follow us on Twitter Jason Beeferman @JasonBeeferman   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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