In case you missed it, Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt had an op-ed in the New York Post this weekend:

Kathy Hochul once fought to PROTECT drivers — now she’s looking to squeeze them dry

 

By Rob Ortt
The New York Post

The year is 2006.

The New York State Thruway Authority is charging a stifling commuter tax on drivers on I-190.

For tens of thousands of hardworking Southtowners, this toll is a daily burden, hitting their wallets hard as they commute to their jobs in Buffalo.

Gas prices are skyrocketing, families are struggling to make ends meet.

The toll is deeply unpopular, unfair — and unaffordable.

But there’s hope.

A coalition of voices — business leaders, local officials and residents — is loudly demanding change.

Among them: Hamburg Town Board member Kathy Hochul and business leader Carl Paladino.

Together, they successfully sue the state of New York to abolish this unjust tax.

Hochul then, deservedly, positions herself as a champion for working-class families and commuters.

Fast forward to today: Kathy Hochul has undergone a political transformation.

Now governor, she is the driving force behind one of the most regressive and unfair taxes in state history: the so-called congestion-pricing tax.

Under her “leadership,” the state is rushing to charge drivers an added $9 toll, starting Jan. 5, for the privilege of driving into Midtown Manhattan.

This comes at a time when necessities from gasoline to groceries are crushing working families, and the city itself is still struggling to get back on its feet after the pandemic.

No longer is Kathy Hochul the champion of the working families, fighting to protect financially struggling commuters who merely seek to get to their jobs — and still make ends meet.

Continue reading at NYPost.com