In public, Gov. Kathy Hochul has repeatedly said her order to pause congestion pricing was motivated by economics, not politics. But behind the scenes, her lawyers are claiming the debate over the controversial tolling program does in fact live in the “political realm.”

The governor’s attorneys made the comments as part of a filing on Friday in response to a pair of lawsuits from advocates, who claim Hochul is legally required to launch congestion pricing due to a 2019 law that first approved the tolls. Hochul’s team wrote that the courts do not have the right to force their hand — and said the issue should be decided by voters.

“The proper forum to debate congestion pricing is the political realm — including, ultimately, ‘at the voting machine’ — not the courts,” the filing said. The lawyers quoted a decision by a federal judge earlier this year that dismissed arguments by opponents of the tolls in a lawsuit that aims to stop the program.

But Danny Pearlstein, spokesperson for the advocacy group Riders Alliance, that's behind one of the lawsuits, said congestion pricing has already been debated politically for years. He noted that state lawmakers approved the tolls more than five years ago, and that MTA officials endured years of public hearings before proposing a $15 base fee for drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street.

“Riders fought for and won congestion pricing, and what we won was a law. The legislature voted for it and the governor signed it,” said Pearlstein. “When the next governor, Gov. Hochul, decided that she could pause it, she did it for political reasons.”

In the lawsuits, the advocates also argue that Hochul’s congestion pricing pause harms New Yorkers by blowing a $15 billion hole in the MTA’s construction budget that was supposed to be financed by the tolls. They also argue the decision paves the way for more gridlock and air pollution in the city.

Since she paused congestion pricing on June 5 — just 25 days before the tolls were scheduled to go live — Hochul has dismissed speculation that her order was designed to help Democrats win competitive House seats in November’s election.

“The timing of this is not related to an election months away,” Hochul told reporters in Albany in June.

A Siena College poll from August estimated 59% of likely voters in New York state felt congestion pricing “should be permanently scrapped.”

Hochul spokesperson John Lindsay declined to comment on the lawsuit, but pointed to the polling numbers as proof the tolls are widely unpopular.

“Like the majority of New Yorkers, Gov. Hochul believes this is not the right time to implement congestion pricing,” he said in a statement.

Hochul’s attorneys also argued in Friday’s filing that the 2019 law that first approved congestion pricing does not require the state to actually give final sign off for the program.

The tolls were supposed to be approved through a pilot program from the Federal Highway Administration. Hochul’s team wrote that the federal agency has not yet sent a "finalized, signature-ready version of the tolling agreement," which is necessary for the tolls to launch.

The lawsuits are scheduled to be heard in Manhattan state court on Sept. 27.

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional context about the court filing from Hochul's attorneys.