Press Release
A State Budget That Reflects the Scale of the Crisis
With this year’s budget, our lawmakers took a step forward in establishing a more equitable tax system and, with it, a more equitable New York. The state’s high-earners and corporations – who have benefitted greatly over the years from preferential tax treatment -- will now be required to pay a little more to ensure that the state stays on a path to recovery after the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Tax increases are never popular. But this is not the time for austerity budgets and spending cuts, particularly as the state continues to deal with the widespread effects of COVID-19 and its economic consequences. The tax reform measures in the $212 billion state budget are estimated to generate an additional $4 billion in annual revenue – a smart strategy for growth that draws on New York’s sizeable revenue base. As for all the talk of tax increases spurring millionaire flight from the state, the studies on this say otherwise, indicating that high-earners base residency decisions on numerous factors other than tax rates.
Notably, the budget features critical investments in housing, healthcare and education, as well as more than $2 billion for an “Excluded Workers Fund” to assist New Yorkers who were not eligible for stimulus checks and unemployment benefits yet were among those hardest hit by pandemic-related job losses. And the recently-passed Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act will restore a measure of equity to communities devastated by over-policing and over-prosecution of marijuana possession, including automatic expungement of past convictions for marijuana charges that are no longer criminal, affording many a new opportunity for employment, housing and full community participation.
The Community Service Society (CSS) is especially grateful that state lawmakers included funding in the budget for the following:
- Hotel-to-housing conversions to support increasing affordable and supportive housing;
- Rental Relief for those who missed back rent due to the pandemic;
- Community Health Advocates (CHA);
- H + H (Health & Hospitals) and NYC Public Health Program;
- Elimination of the premium (medical/vision/dental) for the Essential Plan;
- Support for Essential Worker Fund;
- Record Repair Services (for the Next Door Project);
- Student Loan Debt Consumer Assistance (EDCAP);
However, there are several missed opportunities in this year’s budget that we cannot ignore. For instance, the budget excluded many pregnant immigrant women from post-partum coverage expansion and failed to offer any coverage at all for COVID-19-infected undocumented immigrants.
On the housing side, the budget shortchanges public housing residents by scaling back funding for capital improvements. Under the budget, the city’s public housing authority (NYCHA) will receive $200 million for capital needs – $500 million less than what the Senate and Assembly agreed to fund in their respective one-house budgets. NYCHA is struggling with a $40 billion capital backlog; putting off repairs to this critical source of affordable housing is unconscionable. The proposed Housing Access Voucher Program, which would help homeless New Yorkers secure housing and prevent displacement, was also a casualty of the budget.
The coronavirus dealt a devastating blow to New York, destabilizing families, creating permanent job loss for countless numbers of people, and causing an economic recession that has exposed deep inequities in our state. We are still climbing out of the wreckage. The Governor and State Legislature responded to the moment with a budget that acknowledges the need to jumpstart the economy and provide critical relief to New Yorkers who are struggling to survive as we recover as a state.