June 02, 2004
Pataki to seek finance law change for Jets
It looks like the first shot is about to be fired in the legislative war over New York's proposed $2 billion Jets stadium. Newsday reports that New York Gov. George Pataki will be introducing legislation tomorrow to change the state's public authorities law to allow the city to borrow stadium money through its Transitional Finance Authority, which isn't subject to the city's normal debt ceiling. "It's clear the Pataki administration and the Bloomberg administration do not want legislative bodies involved in this deal," said assemblymember. Richard Brodsky, who chairs the committee that will review Pataki's proposal. "They're going to be disappointed."
The New York city council, meanwhile, will hold its own hearings tomorrow into the plan, though until the city announces how it will pay for its share of the multi-billion-dollar project, it's not clear what - if anything - the council will get to vote on. We'll have a full report here later tomorrow.
