New York politicians are especially concerned about a proposal that was tucked into the spending package that was approved by the Senate several weeks ago. It would eventually require that all states receive a larger percentage of what they pay in in gas taxes, which are in turn used to finance the nation’s transportation needs. Under the existing formula, New York and other states with heavily used mass transit systems draw a larger share of these funds. But the provision would ensure that all states got a greater percentage of the total amount they pay in gas taxes.

Many New Yorkers complain that the proposal, if adopted, would reward gas-guzzling states, where people commute largely by car, at the expense of states like New York.

The reaction from City Hall bordered on indignation. “New Yorkers shouldn’t be penalized for using mass transit,” said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a Republican.

Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York City Democrat, went further, taking a poke at relatively heavy gas-consuming states.

“New York has invested huge sums in mass transit,” he said Thursday on the floor. “Therefore, we are more energy efficient. And apparently, because we are more energy efficient, because we save on sending money to the Middle East, we must be punished by getting less.”

[NYT]