FALCONER, NY -- The Rebuild New York Now coalition is calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state leaders to properly fund infrastructure improvements both upstate and downstate.

Local workers and leaders from Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties rallied behind the initiative to get equal funding for both the Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Funding for the two departments had been equal until 2010 when $5 billion was diverted downstate.  The governor's current five-year budget plan calls for more inequity with $26 billion slated for the MTA and only $20 billion for the DOT.

"We are standing up today to say that we need that parity, we need that equality, we need that investment, we need those jobs, we need to put people back to work, we need to make our communities as strong as they possibly can be and we all know that infrastructure is such a key part of our economic future," said state Sen. Cathy Young, R-Jamestown.

State leaders say they will continue to push for equal funding before the budget is finally approved.