Silver: If It Passes the Senate, Sure

ALBANY—Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said that he has no problem passing Malcolm Smith's plan to bail out the M.T.A. in his chamber, if it passes the State Senate.

"The actions of the board cannot stand, and we will do whatever we can with the Senate to make sure that the outrageous fare increases are rescinded," he said. "If the Senate's plan is the only plan that they can pass that accomplishes that goal in the Senate, then we will look at it very seriously."

Silver was asked if he would pass his own plan, containing $2 bridge tolls, if the Senate plan failed.

"Sure," he said. "Nobody likes taxing people, nobody likes raising money. But nobody likes fare increases or service cuts. So we have to go with the lesser of two evils."

"I think my members are willing to accept things that reverse the actions of the M.T.A. board, if they're real, if they're funded, and obviously if they can even pass it."

He added: "We want a result. We want a result that eliminate a drastic fare increase and that eliminates the service cuts. We want a plan that does it."

Silver also said he didn't know of a plan pushed by Assemblyman Peter Rivera that would tax jet fuel to raise $2 billion for the M.T.A.

Smith's plan would raise about $1.7 billion for the authority, and the money for $1.2 billion in bonds for upstate road and bridge projects. It would be funded by a taxi drop off fee, increased fees for vehicle registration and drivers' licenses and a payroll tax.