Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today spoke out against Gov. Cuomo’s proposal to raise state revenues by taxing New York’s drivers 50 percent more to obtain a certificate of title and 100 percent more to obtain a duplicate certificate of title on motor vehicles. The governor has proposed this as part of his executive budget, with the additional revenues going to the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund.

“This is another perfect example of the governor’s misguided and oppressive policies toward Upstate New York,” Hawley said. “These hefty tax increases might be tolerable if the money was put back into repairing the local roads, bridges and highways from which it was collected. But, we run the risk of much of the money being funneled down to Gov. Cuomo’s voter and donor base in New York City, which already spends tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money on its infrastructure. Our citizens and businesses up here need their own vehicles to work and travel, and I will fight this tyrannical tax during budget negotiations this year.”