Group calls for ‘moral’ state budget
Plan would raise taxes for New York’s wealthiest
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Imposing higher taxes on New York’s wealthiest residents would raise more than $2 billion to combat widespread homelessness and child poverty, religious and social justice leaders say.
Representatives of several groups Tuesday kicked off a 13stop statewide New Hope campaign, calling on lawmakers to adopt a “morally responsible” state budget that addresses an ever-widening gap between the “haves and have-nots.”
Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Latham-based Fiscal Policy Institute, said Saratoga County has the third highest income disparity in the state, evidenced by increased demand for luxury condominiums in the Spa City, and numerous mobile home parks in outlying communities.
“We have almost 90,000 New Yorkers who are homeless,” said Deutsch, a Greenfield resident. “We have child poverty rates that hover around 50 percent in cities like Buffalo, Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica and Schenectady. We should be ashamed of ourselves. If 50 percent of the kids in one of those communities all had a cold at one time we would be calling the Centers for Disease Control, declaring an epidemic and emergency.
“But when half the kids live in poverty in a given community we basically sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exist.”
Recently, South Glens Falls Superintendent of Schools Kristine Orr said nearly one-third, or approximately 1,000 of the district’s 3,100 students, have some type of economic need.
Deutsch was joined by officials from the New York State Council of Churches, Joe Seeman of Saratoga Progressive Action, and Rev. Joseph Cleveland of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga Springs.
They want the state to add to new brackets to the existing “millionaire’s tax” at $5 mil- lion, $10 million and $100 million of earnings because the top one percent of New Yorkers currently get nearly one-third (32.4 pct.) of the income.
“There is definitely an impetus to ask the wealthiest to pay a little more,” Deutsch said. “A lot of people are fed up with the current status quo, or status Cuomo, if you will in Albany. I think we have a receptive Legislature that wants to deal with poverty issues and homelessness.
“My hope is that over the course of the next four or five weeks they’ll bring the governor along as well.”
The state budget is scheduled for adoption by April 1.
In addition to taxing the wealthy, the group’s four-point plan calls for:
• Raising the 2 percent spending cap, which they say has resulted in cuts to social services.
• Reducing local property taxes that stress lowerincome wage earners. The state should budget more for education and Medicaid instead of shifting this responsibility onto local municipalities, which have to raise property taxes to pay for them, said Rev. Peter Cook, Council of Churches executive director.
Property tax, which totals $60.6 million, is the County of Saratoga County’s second largest source of income. But it’s totally eaten up by more than $63 million in unfunded state mandates such as Medicaid ($25 million), pensions ($9.8 million), Social Services programs ($8.8 million) and community college expenses ($8.5 million).
• Campaign finance reform. A publicly-financed campaign fund – similar to New York City’s – that matches individual donations up to $175, with a goal of “taking the money out of politics” by reducing the influence of so- called big money donors.
“This would increase the voice and power of small donors,” Seeman said.
Council of Churches president, the Rev. Dustin Wright of Rotterdam, cited a scripture verse (Micah 6:8) to explain his involvement with state budget matters, as a church pastor.
“Andwhat does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God,” he said.
Social and economic justice is a major shortcoming throughout America today, he said.
Cleveland said lack of affordable housing in Saratoga Springs is creating a local socio-economic divide. Many
service industry workers that hotels and restaurants depend on are forced to live in surrounding communities, but have to spend high transportation costs to reach relative low-paying jobs.
“If we want to attract and retain business it’s going to be much better for them and the people they employ if we have a more robust social safety net and we invest in infrastructure and things that make New York state a livable place to be,” Cook said.
“When people aren’t spending such high percentages of their income on housing and childcare that means there are more dollars available to purchase goods and do other things that help the economy,” he said. “So it’s really in everyone’s interest to deal with this question of wealth and equality and to think about investments that improve the quality of life that make New York state a great place to be.”