Albany - Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera, a senior member of the New York State Legislature, today publicly unveiled a sensible and practical plan that if implemented by Albany would generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and upstate communities with airports.

The plan which is an expanded version of a proposal he made to his legislative colleagues last month relies on raising the state levy on jet fuel by 2 dollars per gallon. Jet fuel consumption in New York State is over 20 million barrels per year or 854,322,000 gallons per year. A $2 levy per gallon would yield $1.7 billion annually for the MTA and Upstate communities with airports.

According to Rivera, "There are over 86 million boardings of airliners in New York State airports yearly. The heavy passenger traffic at New York airports requires the maintenance of road, bridge and rail infrastructure to transport all those passengers. It is only fair to ask for a modest increase in the cost of jet fuel which will have negligible impact on the prices of airline tickets and on the operations of airlines."

In letters submitted to the leadership of the Assembly and the Senate since last month, Rivera has continued to push for his idea to tax airline travel in order to spare businesses from an additional payroll tax, stop the tolling of the Harlem River and East River bridges, and prevent fair increases. "This is a real plan that spares the vast majority of New Yorkers and businesses from the harsh fees that have been recommended by the Ravitch Commission," declared Rivera.

Rivera's added, "This plan is does not have to be permanent and can sunset when our economy recovers and mass transit consumers are more able to absorb a modest fair hike to cover the costs of operating the MTA. But until we see such an economic recovery we can not realistically expect consumers and businesses to pay another tax from already strained finances."

According to Rivera's March letter to legislative leaders, "The varied proposals such as an employer-paid payroll tax, fare hikes, and bridge tolls could be reworked, reevaluated and discarded if we take this huge and potential revenue source into account. If all jet fuel sold in New York undergoes a state tax increase, even more revenue can be generated for transportation infrastructure for all the communities involved."

Rivera noted that, based on jet fuel consumption, substantial transportation infrastructure financing could be raised temporarily, even for the construction of high speed rail in various parts of the State. He released the following suggested tax levy per gallon of jet fuel consumed in New York.