Assemblyman Tom O’Mara (R,I,C-Big Flats) today called on the governor to include funding for all Department of Transportation projects in this week’s emergency spending bill.   Assemblyman O’Mara’s call comes in conjunction with a protest by construction workers at the state Capitol.  The workers are demanding that the funding be restored for the projects so that they can get paid for past and future work.

As of today, next week’s proposed emergency spending bill contains no funding for state transportation projects that receive any percentage of state funding.  The bill does provide $80 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding and $40 million in other federal funding.  Assemblyman O’Mara noted that even if a project receives 90 percent federal funding and ten percent state funding, the state won’t fund the project.                

“What the governor and members in the Senate and Assembly majorities seemingly fail to understand is that upstate New York’s construction season is not year round.  The failure to enact a budget and the negligence to withhold funding for needed construction jobs not only puts jobs at risk, it threatens vital transportation projects that are needed to improve the New York’s infrastructure and keep the state’s roads and bridges safe,” said O’Mara.      

-30-