Today, Tri-State, the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council, and Vision Long Island call on [pdf] the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee to release legislation that would fully restore the transit commuter tax benefit for New York State’s income taxes (an identical version of the bill has already passed the Senate). With the hours dwindling in this year’s legislative session, the committee must release the legislation for action on the Assembly floor, otherwise transit commuters across New York State will face an undue financial burden this year, all while the tax benefit for commuter parking is almost double that of its transit counterpart.

The groups believe that supporting commuters who make the responsible choice of using transit to commute to work is extremely important, and this bill strongly underscores our state’s policy of promoting and encouraging transit use. The legislation is critical to ensure that transit commuters receive New York State tax benefits that are on par with the tax code’s treatment of commuter parking benefits. Efforts to restore this higher maximum benefit at the federal level face an uncertain future as they are tied to the passage of a long-term transportation bill, heightening the importance of enacting this provision on the state level.

Advocacy groups aren’t the only ones that can speak up, though. Call Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman Farrell, Jr. and tell them to give New York transit riders the break they deserve! Click here to get their phone numbers and some guidance on what to say when you’ve got Albany on the line.