The New York State Senate is expected to vote next week on a proposal to prevent subway and bus fare hikes, but the plan is being met with resistance by many New Yorkers, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The State Senate released a draft bill Wednesday that would impose a one-dollar taxi surcharge, a payroll tax, and various other charges.

Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith says he's confident the measure would get the 32 votes needed to pass, which would require some Republican support.

But the mayor said he is against the idea.

"While I haven't read the bill, I'm a little bit bothered by a proposal that would put a taxi fare surcharge here in the city to build roads upstate," Bloomberg said. "New York City does already send an enormous amount more money to Albany than we get back."

Over in the State Assembly, lawmakers are working on their own version of a bill to bail the MTA out of its $1.2 billion and growing debt.

That proposal calls for a $2 toll on East and Harlem River crossings.

If the state doesn't act, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fare hikes and service cuts will go into effect May 31st.

As Albany lawmakers debates a bailout, the MTA is moving forward with some cost-cutting measures.

In addition to the planned service cuts and fare hikes, the cash-strapped agency is imposing a freeze on hiring and all non-essential spending.

On Monday, the agency will forecast its budget. It's predicted the deficit could balloon to $2 billion by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty over the MTA's financial future brought hundreds of transit workers out for a protest Thursday afternoon in Midtown.

Up until now, members of the Transport Workers Union Local 100 have remained relatively quiet over the back and forth proposals between Albany lawmakers and city officials.

The MTA's planned budget cuts would eliminate around 3,000 union jobs. Most of them would simply go unfilled as workers retire, but not all since 1,100 would also be laid off.

"I came out to say, please don't fire me, I need my job," said one transit worker.

"We're trying to send a message that we don't need any job cuts, and that we need for the state or whoever to come through to fund MTA," said another transit worker.

Some of the deepest job cuts would be the most visible, as the MTA plans to eliminate 800 station agents, and close down or reduce hours at 42 token booths -- a move some workers say would also impact rider safety.

"What's gonna happen when something bad happens down in the subway, and there's no station agents, there's nobody there to assist these people to get off the train. You know, it's ok, there's no money. But this is one of the busiest cities in the world. We've been struck once. These people totally forget about safety," said one transit worker.

As for the possibility of union concessions, the union contract that expired in January is currently in binding arbitration. Workers at the rally said if there are any givebacks, they should come from the top.

"However they're going to find the money, they've got to go find the money. We need Albany to come through, and if the MTA needs to do some cuts, they should start lining up the managers and fire them," said TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint.

The MTA says it has already made administrative cuts, and with plummeting tax revenue, there could be a second round of fare hikes, service cuts and even more job losses later this year if there's no help from Albany.