New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to introduce a tax for motorists who enter Lower Manhattan on weekdays didn’t even make it to the vote.

After the Assembly's Democratic conference deliberated in secret over the bill several days last week, the State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced on Monday that the house won’t put Bloomberg’s measure to a vote.

"The congestion-pricing bill did not have anywhere near a majority of the Democratic conference and will not be on the floor of the Assembly," said Silver, who wouldn’t give details about the precise count of votes. He only said fewer than 25 Democratic members were in favor of the bill.

Mayor Bloomberg expressed his anger with the Assembly after the announcement was made.

"It takes a special type of cowardice for elected officials to refuse to stand up and vote their conscience. Every New Yorker has a right to know if the person they send to Albany was for or against better transit and cleaner air," he said.

Bloomberg and his team of experts made considerable efforts to solve some of the city’s biggest problems such as the horrible traffic, choking smog and overcrowded mass transit. The process took months and included the development of plans based on solid reasoning and hard evidence, 14 public hearings, gathering a coalition of civic groups and making several changes to the measure proposal.

However, Mayor Bloomberg was a bit to optimistic when he thought that the Albany lawmakers would be reasonable on this issue and act with a sense of responsibly.

According to Bloomberg’s congestion pricing, cars would have to pay $8, and trucks $21, to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. The concept was successfully implemented in numerous metropolitan areas all over the world, but hasn’t been yet tried in a big United States city.

During his Earth Day 2007 speech, Bloomberg said the congestion pricing is something New York must try and will "fight like heck" to get it done. Nevertheless, as he once anticipated, the state Legislature lived down to its reputation and didn’t even vote on it.