Like many Long Island-based employers, I had an angry wake-up call when I recently was required to write
out a $7,000 check, my first payment on the new MTA payroll tax improperly enacted by the governor and the
state Legislature.

This tax is another burden on my businesses, which will make me less competitive and less profitable. It’s particularly
outrageous to me because my transportation service competes with both the LIRR and Metro North, both owned by
the MTA, and I now find myself subsidizing my competition with this improper tax.

When I asked our attorney to research this, we discovered that the tax in its adoption and application violate the
state constitution and the New York Public Authorities Law. On behalf of all employers who to date have paid in an
estimated $1.35 billion, I felt a duty to challenge this bailout in state Supreme Court.

The complaint we filed alleges that the law is unconstitutional because it is a special law, meaning that it only impacts
a local portion of the state. As such, a Home Rule Message was required, or a two-thirds majority vote of the state
Legislature was required to pass the law. Neither was accomplished. Our complaint also alleges that this tax is
improperly being used to accept the debt of the MTA, which is expressly prohibited by the state constitution, and
that the tax violates the Public Authorities Law requirement that the MTA be “self sustaining.”

In addition to the wasteful spending of the MTA, this suit points out how the business owners of New York were
once again let down by their elected officials. This bill was presented by the governor and passed by the Legislature
in one day, with no debate and no concern about how it would hurt the competitive business climate. A recent study
shows that New York is last in startup businesses and first in business failures, and this tax is just another nail in the
coffin of what used to be a competitive state. The MTA is a failed business model, and no bailout can save it. Our
elected officials should have stood on the side of business on this issue, and must be held accountable for abandoning
us once again.

William Schoolman is the president of Hampton Luxury Liner and Classic Coach, a Suffolk-based employer.