Thruway Board Approves $256M TZB Loan

Nick Reisman

The state Thruway Authority on Wednesday approved a $256 million loan from the Environmental Facilities Corp. that is aimed at funding construction of a replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The loan is a controversial one for environmental advocates, who have weighed taking possible legal action, in part because the money for the loan is coming from a fund traditionally earmarked for clean water and sewer projects.

The Thruway Authority had initially sought a loan of twice the size approved today — $511.4 million. But the loan request was halved at the Public Authorities Control Board meeting last month by the panel’s three members: Senate Finance Chairman John DeFrancisco, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget director Bob Megna and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2014/08/thruway-board-approves-256m-tzb-loan/