State Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, said the toll hikes being proposed by the New York State Thruway Authority "are a targeted tax being imposed on those of us who live and work in upstate New York."

Valesky said tolls on the Thruway are "used in part to subsidize non-toll roads such as I-84 and I-287 in downstate New York. This is blatantly unfair to the people I represent in the 49th Senate District."

In testimony submitted to a joint public hearing of the State Assembly Committee on Transportation and the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, Valesky said the toll hikes "would have a devastating effect on local businesses and on the regional economy."

He said New York's agriculture industry would be especially hard hit by the increases because farmers rely on the Thruway to deliver produce to processing plants and to urban markets and cannot easily pass costs on to consumers.

Valesky also said the toll hikes present "a very real danger to upstate commuters, because they will force commercial truck drivers, seeking to keep their expenses down, to detour off the Thruway and take local roads such as I-481, I-690 and Routes 5 and 20 to avoid tolls."

Valesky also objected to the toll hikes on the grounds that they are being forced on the public by the Thruway Authority, an agency with little oversight and with a recent history of poor management.

"The TA became the poster child for reform," Valesky said, "when it attempted to sell development rights along the Erie Canal to a politically connected businessman for a fraction of market value." The deal was later rescinded by the comptroller.

Valesky called on all state legislators and the governor to join him in requesting that the authority abandon the toll hike.