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Democrats in the state Legislature support new, higher taxes on New York’s richest residents as part of the new state budget. They say a newly released study that shows that the state’s 120 billionaires increased their wealth by $88 billion dollars during the pandemic bolsters that claim. But Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to resist raising their taxes.
The study, by the left leaning groups Americans for Tax Fairness and Health Care for America Now, calculates that the state’s billionaires, who include Michael Bloomberg the Lauder family, David Koch and Rupert Murdoch, saw their earnings and investments rise by 16.8% during the first 10 months of the pandemic.
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WBFO Albany Correspondent Karen Dewitt reports
Cuomo said in his budget proposal that he needs $15 billion in federal aid to ease a two-year budget deficit largely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. If he doesn’t get that, one option that he presented is a proposal to create five graduated higher income tax brackets for New Yorkers earning more than $5 million a year. The brackets end with a top tax rate of 10.82% for those who bring in over $1 billion annually.
But the governor said he fears the implementation of that plan could cause the wealthy to leave the state, defeating the purpose of the tax. He said it would raise only a tenth of what’s needed $1.5 billion and when New York City’s income tax is factored in, it would lead taxes to skyrocket for some of the wealthiest taxpayers.
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A new pick for state Senate Finance Committee secretary, a top Democratic staff position in state budget negotiations, has raised eyebrows among progressives concerned that the conference has poached David Friedfel, the top state policy analyst of the Citizens Budget Commission, an independent research organization that advocates conservative fiscal policy.
Friedfel will play a lead role in negotiations between the Senate, Assembly and governor’s Division of Budget, as well as in internal discussions among senators, according to longtime Albany observers. Friedfel’s appointment comes as progressives push for a spate of tax-the-rich proposals to meet a projected $63-billion four-year deficit, while centrists, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, argue that the wealthy might flee the state if their already-large tax burden increases.
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