Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, says he’s skeptical that proposed legislation that would levy a 50-cent fee on all ride-sharing trips outside of New York City is fair to upstaters.

Griffo represents the 47th Senate District, which includes a swath running through the middle of St. Lawrence County, from Massena to Fine, including Potsdam.

“I have serious concerns that the Governor is reportedly proposing to impose a fee on all users of ride-sharing services throughout Upstate New York in order to fund public transit systems,” Griffo said in a prepared statement.

“I understand that this approach is used in other states, but I believe it is wrong and unfair to impose essentially a new tax on upstate New Yorkers without doing the same for anyone in New York City,” he said.

The proposed legislation is supposed to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority downstate and public transit systems throughout Upstate New York, a press release from Griffo’s office said.

“Instead of trying to squeeze every penny out of hard-working upstate residents, the Governor should be reprioritizing budget issues so that we can fund public transit systems through more appropriate budgetary means, starting with the legislation he vetoed that would have helped identify more long-term funding sources for upstate transit systems,” Griffo said.

“There are many public transit agencies like Centro that serve upstate and are in need of financial support, but they shouldn’t be funded by yet another tax on our citizens,” he said.