State Sen. Marty Golden (R) last week called his Democratic opponent in the upcoming general election smart for supporting his “Transit Funding Lockbox Act” that will ensure all transit fares collected will be spent on transit related items including repairs and upgrades.
Golden’s measure passed both the assembly and the senate in the recent legislative session and is now awaiting Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s signature. If Cuomo fails to sign the bill by the end of the year, it becomes a “pocket veto” meaning the bill must then be reintroduced.
Golden’s Democratic opponent in the 22nd State Senate District race, Andrew Gounardes, recently distributed campaign literature noting that he favored the lockbox legislation.
When asked if he’s happy that Gounardes seemingly supports his bill, Golden responded, “He’s a smart man in that case. That he sees that Sen. Golden is doing what’s right for the people of this great city and for the people of our great community. And many more see the value of this bill and hopefully the governor sees the value of this bill and he signs it.”
Golden noted that he wrote a previous bill taking the collected transit fare money out of the state’s general revenue pot and putting it in a special account, but Cuomo found a way around it, creating a special fund and found other uses for the money.
But under Golden’s current bill, he tightened the loopholes in his previous bill and now the governor can’t touch the money unless there is a special emergency such as a natural disaster. Golden said the bill would allow an allocation of more than $500 million a year to go to transit work.
Looking ahead to the general election, Golden said he will do fine.
“We’re going to be on the street like we normally are. We do our constituent work. We’re out in the public eye on a regular basis. We here will do well on the senate seat. I do think the city is moving more closely to the left and our communities are not. These are hard-working, tax paying, tax fearing and God-fearing people who work extremely hard to put food on their table and a roof over their heads, and being able to afford to live the American dream. Our role as the New York State Senator is to make sure they will be able to continue doing that,” said Golden.
Golden said while the Democrats in the city keep moving far left looking to tax and spend, he remains a centrist Republican who believes the state has to look at ways to save money for the taxpayer.
“We got to be able to create the jobs we need for the people here in this great city, and at the same time we have to make sure we have and continue to have the best schools that we do here is districts 20, 21 and 22,” said Golden.
“And we want to make sure we keep our community safe here, and the 6-8, 6-2, 6-1 and 6-3 precincts are some of the safest precincts in the city of New York. That’s why people want to live and raise their families here, he added.
The general election is Nov. 6. The district includes the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend and parts of Sheepshead Bay, Borough Park and Midwood.
