Katko criticizes House bill to cut funding for Centro

U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) spoke out Wednesday afternoon about a House bill amendment that would cut funding for the Centro public transit company by 20 percent.

Katko, who represents the 24th congressional district of New York state and is a member of both the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Surface Transportation Conference Committee, criticized the amendment at a public meeting.

The amendment would reduce funding for the 5340 High Density States bus program, according to a release from the representative’s office.

New York is one of the seven states that provide half of all public transit use in the U.S., and the High Density States program funds bus companies, such as Centro, in these seven states, according to the release.

Centro — which Katko said faces “dire” financial problems to begin with — would get 20 percent of its funding cut if the amendment is approved.

“The same devastating cuts would be inflicted on agencies throughout the northeast, where this funding is needed the most, unless we act,” Katko said in the release. “We should act and restore this program, because this is how our federal system is supposed to work.”

The amendment would redirect funding for the bus program to a separate program controlled by the Department of Transportation, which Katko said would “wreak havoc” on the country’s most used transit agencies without providing increased funding certainty to agencies in other states.

States that have more transit demand should get increased transit funding, Katko added, and cutting funding to transit could worsen the economies of these states, which are highly dependent on transit. The U.S. economy would suffer as a result Katko said.

“We should act because it’s the prudent thing to do, and the right thing to do,” he said in the release.

In addition to speaking about the amendment, Katko worked at the meeting to maintain the “High Priority Corridor” status of Interstate-81, according to the release. He also spoke at the meeting about maintaining provisions that protect the safety of highway workers and bus operators, as well as maintaining “Safe Streets” language, which, according to the release, aims to ensure that new infrastructure is designed in a manner that helps protect pedestrians.