Albany, NY – A group of more than 40 millionaires in New York state has written to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top lawmakers calling on them to consider raising taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents to help address poverty and rebuild failing infrastructure.
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The letter, a copy of which was given to The Associated Press, proposes new, higher tax rates for the top 1 percent of earners.
The letter goes on to say additional revenue is needed to address child poverty, homelessness and aging bridges, tunnels, waterlines and roads.
“As New Yorkers who have contributed to and benefited from the economic vibrancy of our state, we have both the ability and the responsibility to pay our fair share,” the letter states. “We can well afford to pay our current taxes, and we can afford to pay even more.”
Those signing the letter include Abigail Disney, Leo Hindery and Steven C. Rockefeller. The tax plan, known as the one-percent tax plan, was worked out in conjunction with the Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning economic think tank.
“As a businessman and philanthropist and as a citizen of New York State, I believe we need to invest in our people and our infrastructure,” Hindery, the managing partner of InterMedia Partners, a media industry private equity fund, said in a statement accompanying the letter. “The one-percent tax plan makes it possible to make these investments, and simply asks people like me to continue to pay a higher tax rate, as we should.”
The one-percent plan would create new, higher tax rates for those making $665,000 or more.
Currently, single filers making more than $1,062,000 pay the state’s top rate of 8.82 percent. Under the one-percent plan, the 8.82 rate would apply to anyone making $1 million to $2 million, and higher rates of 9.35 percent, 9.65 percent and 9.99 percent would apply to those making $2 million to $10 million, $10 million to $100 million and more than $100 million, respectively.
Their proposal faces significant political obstacles in the state Legislature. While the Democratic majority in the Assembly has its own plan to increase taxes on millionaires, the Republican-led Senate opposes the idea. Lawmakers are now negotiating the details of the state budget and hope to have a deal in place by April 1.
An existing, lower tax on millionaires is set to expire next year.
“Whether it’s income taxes, property taxes, business taxes, user fees, or tolls, we don’t support raising taxes or asking hard-working New Yorkers to dig deeper into their pockets to pay more,” Senate Leader John Flanagan, a Long Island Republican, said last month after Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, released his millionaire tax plan.
You don’t need “legislation” all these millionaires need to do is write a check. The state will gladly take the money!!! Remember folks, NO rich guy is going to vote to have his taxes increased! It’s just a ruse to fool the rest of us!!
Well said… These buffoons are insulting our intelligence… If they want to help the homeless, etc., why not simply donate to the myriads of charitable organizations?! Certainly, everyone knows they do a much better job distributing the funds than the govt (which wastes, if not steals, most of the taxes they collect (for a specific purpose)…Simply put, they’re “full of it”!
If these uber left socialist liberal looney tunes want to have more money taken from them, they’re nuttier than we give them credit for.
If they’re soooooooo concerned, I’m sure the NYS will accept donations to pay for things. The same way we have the Katchka Bridge or the Carey Tunnel, we could have the Gowanus Disney Expressway or the Rockefeller i-86.
The thing is, these snobs will NEVER go for it because it makes too much sense.
As I understand it, the tax is on income, not on how much you have in the bank. So if these guys have already retired and sipped all their funds offshore, they aren’t getting taxed on it. Its only taxed on the new up & coming millionaires who are high earners now.
Yes the government should be investing in infrastructure, but not through raising taxes and spending the money on just fixing outdated and dilapidated designs. they should be creating new 21st century infrastructure plans that will spread across the country and support millions of (legal) Americans with new jobs. These new jobs will also be paying taxes, thereby continuing the support for all these new programs.