Apr 24, 2009 7:54 pm US/Eastern
With N.Y. In Turmoil, Senators Hit Beach, World
With All The New Taxes, MTA On Verge Of Huge Fare Hikes, Many Lawmakers Set To Go On Vacation
Governor Canceled Trip To Switzerland Over Just Such A Furor
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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New York Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith is one of the many senators ready to get out of Dodge.
CBS
With an MTA fare hike on the horizon, many New Yorkers are worried about paying for their trips back and forth to work.
So they might be surprised to know that some state senators are getting ready for a globe-trotting trip that starts in Puerto Rico.
You've just sent New Yorkers a bill for $7 billion in new taxes and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is poised to enact its doomsday budget.
What are you going to do?
Head for the beach, then travel the world.
"I'm having no second thoughts. I' m taking the trip with my Spanish colleagues, my Jewish colleagues," Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said.
Smith has no problem defending his decision to hightail it out of Dodge, taking globe-spanning trips to Puerto Rico and Israel, and China and India.
To critics, Smith said: "I don't have critics. I think they probably want to go on the trips themselves."
The Senate's globe-trotting is such a political hot potato that Gov. David Paterson, himself in lots of political hot water, ducked questions about it Friday.
CBS 2 HD: "What kind of message does it send to the state that you could do this at a time when you have such dire fiscal problems?"
Paterson: "I think that's a good question that you might want to ask someone else because I'm not doing any place other than my office right now."
We want to know what you think about the senators' travel plans. Do you think it's appropriate?
One of those applauding the governor's comments was State Sen. Eric Schneiderman.
CBS 2 HD: "They're talking about going to China, to Israel; to all these places. All I'm asking is if it is a good thing to do?"
Schneiderman: "It very well may be. I don't know. I don't know."
Long Island Sen. Owen Johnson, a Republican, said the Democrats shouldn't globe trot.
"I've had offers in the past to go places during session and I wouldn't do it," Johnson said.
CBS 2 HD: "What kind of a message does it send that they're going to be going all these places at a time when the state has such fiscal problems and the MTA has problems?"
Johnson: "I guess they want to get out of the spotlight."
And although there is still no MTA bailout the Senate's first trip to Puerto Rico is Thursday.
And just for the record, Gov. Paterson was set to go to Davos, Switzerland this winter. He suddenly cancelled it when critics called him on it.
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