Rushed Budget Avoids Big Tax Hikes But Still Grabs Money to Fund Pork & Waste, With No Transparency Measures
Reclaim New York Initiative Executive Director Brandon Muir provided the following statement on the passage of the FY2018-2019 New York State budget:
“Did this budget make New York more affordable and less corrupt – the answer is a definitive, no. The Governor’s proposal started in a bad place and only through the Senate’s efforts did the final product improve.
“Thanks to the Senate defeating a slew of new taxes and fees, New Yorkers won’t have to pay more to shop online. They won’t have taxes on health insurers passed down.
“Still, even when taxpayers win, they lose.
“It doesn’t get much lower than a revenue scheme aimed at pain medication that will increase costs for patients, and drive up health insurance bills. The budget makes ridesharing, and taxis more expensive so the mismanaged MTA can burn another pile of cash without any new accountability measures.
“The so-called workarounds for federal tax changes are based on lies. They will do nothing for the vast majority of taxpayers. They ignore needed mandate reform, the straightforward way to relieve sky-high property tax burdens at the heart of local tax burdens.
“It’s all to fund a bloated budget stuffed with pork, and slush funds.
“This unaffordable, unsustainable spending package incredibly throws more money into economic development waste without any new transparency, oversight, or anti pay-to-play measures.
“The final insult: lawmakers rewarded themselves by pushing to increase their salaries.
“Instead of a good budget, we got an on-time budget, rushed through in the dark of night, again. Albany is getting away with protecting insiders at the expense of the most overburdened taxpayers in America. This budget could have been worse, but will continue the trend of families and businesses heading to the exits.”
“Did this budget make New York more affordable and less corrupt – the answer is a definitive, no. The Governor’s proposal started in a bad place and only through the Senate’s efforts did the final product improve.
“Thanks to the Senate defeating a slew of new taxes and fees, New Yorkers won’t have to pay more to shop online. They won’t have taxes on health insurers passed down.
“Still, even when taxpayers win, they lose.
“It doesn’t get much lower than a revenue scheme aimed at pain medication that will increase costs for patients, and drive up health insurance bills. The budget makes ridesharing, and taxis more expensive so the mismanaged MTA can burn another pile of cash without any new accountability measures.
“The so-called workarounds for federal tax changes are based on lies. They will do nothing for the vast majority of taxpayers. They ignore needed mandate reform, the straightforward way to relieve sky-high property tax burdens at the heart of local tax burdens.
“It’s all to fund a bloated budget stuffed with pork, and slush funds.
“This unaffordable, unsustainable spending package incredibly throws more money into economic development waste without any new transparency, oversight, or anti pay-to-play measures.
“The final insult: lawmakers rewarded themselves by pushing to increase their salaries.
“Instead of a good budget, we got an on-time budget, rushed through in the dark of night, again. Albany is getting away with protecting insiders at the expense of the most overburdened taxpayers in America. This budget could have been worse, but will continue the trend of families and businesses heading to the exits.”