Over the last week, federal lawmakers from New York floated two proposals having to do with transit stimulus funds. One would put transit riders in danger of further cuts, while the other might be the best hope for the MTA’s near-term stability.

Five U.S. Representatives from the Hudson Valley have asked Gov. Paterson to support a truly irresponsible plan. Reps. Hall, Hinchey, Murphy, Lowey, and Engel would cut, by $110 million, the payroll tax passed over the summer to fund the MTA. They would replace it with $110 million in stimulus funds which the agency is allowed to use for day-to-day operations (but currently plans to use for construction projects). This would blow a hole in future MTA budgets, since it would replace yearly tax revenues with one-year stimulus funds. It would also eliminate the MTA’s ability to use this money to reduce planned service cuts, which Tri-State and the Straphangers Campaign have said the MTA should do. The cuts would save $129 million annually.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has a wiser idea: devoting $15 billion to transit in the federal “jobs bill” being discussed in Washington, of which 10% could be used towards operating expenses. Assuming this was distributed to agencies according to the formulas used for the stimulus, the MTA could receive $2.1 billion, of which $210 million would be available for operating expenses. This would go a long way towards closing an MTA budget gap that now appears to be in the $500 million range.