(Albany, NY) Senator James Sanders Jr. (D-Rochdale Village) has released his analysis of the New York State budget passed yesterday by the New York State Senate.
The Good
Senator Sanders is pleased that, beginning in September 2014, children across New York State will be able to attend full-day universal pre-K. This was a fundamental theme of the past year as more and more people have come to realize that not providing universal pre-K was shortchanging our children. Universal pre-K will allow our children to begin learning at an earlier age and compete in the global economy of the 21st Century. The budget will also provide for much needed high-quality afterschool programs in New York State schools.
There is also some good news for New York City residents who rent their homes. New York City residents who rent will now receive a tax credit. The credit applies to New York City households with annual incomes up to $200,000. The maximum credit is $500 per year. The program is for calendar years 2014 and 2015. This is welcome relief for hard working New York City families who struggle with the high cost of living in New York.
The Bad
On the negative side, the budget will expand the educational apartheid system that is growing in the New York public schools. The budget expands the growth and state funding of charter schools that create a two-class system of education in our public schools. The funding and co-locations of charter schools come at the expense of our public schools. The budget also chips away at the local control of our New York City schools. With respect to charter school funding and locations, this budget takes local control out of the hands of the Mayor and the Department of Education and gives it the Governor and to legislators who may reside up to 400 miles away from New York City.
The budget includes an increase in the exemptions from New York’s estate tax. The exemption will rise from $1 million to $2.06 million immediately. The exemption will further increase to $5.25 million in 2017. Senator Sanders believes that instead of cutting the taxes of millionaires, we should be investing in our state’s infrastructure or making investments that foster job creation for the people who make up our state’s working and middle class.
The budget also mostly failed to address ethics reform and campaign finance reform. At a time when the citizens of New York State are demanding Albany address the ethical failures that seem to plague the Capital, the budget fails to address the very high contribution levels and the numerous loop holes in New York’s campaign finance laws. For example, Governor Cuomo and other candidates for statewide office can still accept as much as $60,800 from a single contributor while a candidate for President of the United States can only accept a $5,400 contribution. The budget also disbands the Moreland Commission specifically created to root out corruption in Albany. On the public finance front, the budget creates a very inadequate one-time pilot program that will provide for a public matching funds program in the upcoming Comptroller race. For the time being, big money politics will continue to drive Albany.
The Governor and the legislature also could have addressed the Dream Act in the budget but didn’t. The Dream Act would have made New York the fifth state in the nation to provide state financial aid to college students who are undocumented immigrants. This was just another failure of the government in Albany to allow all people a chance to succeed and better themselves through hard work and perseverance.
The Ugly
The ugly part of the New York State budget is that, at a time when we struggle with income inequality, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, this budget enriches the 1%, the banks and Wall Street while doing practically nothing for those who struggle to get by every week. Since the Great Recession, the 1% has gained tremendous wealth while the 99% have fallen deeper into a hole. Eliminating the state’s tax on banks, cutting the tax rate of corporations, cutting taxes for Wall Street and for millionaire families, while doing virtually nothing for the working and middle class and not allowing undocumented high school graduates financial aid to go to college, will only deepen the divide of income and wealth inequality in our state. Not addressing this inequality is truly the ugly part of this budget.
The 1oth Senatorial District includes: Far Rockaway, Jamaica, Rosedale, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village, South Ozone Park, Ozone Park, South Jamaica and Springfield Gardens.
