Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on Republicans to restore a national tax break for mass transit riders that expired Dec. 31.
Workers who travel on subways, buses and trains had been able to claim $230 a month as tax-exempt income until the beginning of this year, when the monthly benefit was capped at $125.
Schumer announced Sunday that he’s inserted a measure into a federal highway bill that means the mass transit sweetener could be reinstated by the Senate as early as Tuesday.
It would even be increased to $240 a month and made retroactive to Jan. 1, under Schumer’s provision.
But one key hurdle remains: the GOP-controlled House of Representatives must sign off — and both its Tea Party wing and hard-right rural caucus reflexively vote against mass transit funding.
“In a time of rising gas prices, it just doesn’t make any sense to encourage people to drive rather than take mass transit,” Schumer said at a Penn Station press conference.
He noted that employees already get a $240 tax write-off that helps pay their parking expenses. That provides an incentive for driving into the office instead of hopping on board a train, he said.
There may be room for negotiation. Last week, House Republican leaders put the kibosh on a highway-bill proposal that would have ended guaranteed federal funding for mass transit.
dfeiden@nydailynews.com
