Crain's New York Business News
October 07, 2004
by Wendy Blake
House Republicans yesterday blocked a Senate amendment that would have funneled
$2 billion in unused federal tax credits toward a rail link connecting John F.
Kennedy International Airport and lower Manhattan.
The move was a blow to Gov. George Pataki and the Bloomberg administration,
which spearheaded the initiative to redirect the credits, created to help
downtown businesses as part of the post-Sept. 11, $20 billion federal aid
package. Insiders blast President George W. Bush, who publicly supported the
measure about a month before the GOP convention, for “not lifting a finger” to
win House support, and say the rejection is an “embarrassment” to the New York
officials. A spokeswoman for Gov. George Pataki, however, says the state is
hopeful that the amendment will make it through Congress as part of other
legislation.
In a conference committee, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, a Republican from California, objected to including the amendment as part of a big corporate tax cut bill, according to reports. His office could not be reached for comment.