#Tax(ing)TheRich in NY

Hello from my couch in New York City. A couple of weeks ago I had an op-ed published in City and State NY arguing that Governor Hochul has been wielding the possibility of a looming recession as a (fallacious) reason to reject raising taxes on wealthy New York.

It’s just not correct. I don’t know whether or not we’ll see a recession; by some measures like the Sahm Rule, we don’t see any of the common recession indicators yet. But even if you’re someone who believes strongly that a recession is on the horizon, Kathy Hochul’s logic is misplaced and dangerous.

Hochul equates all income taxes when the current proposals being pushed by the Invest in Our NY coalition and the DSA #TaxTheRich campaigns are proposals that would heighten taxes on the very top earners without touching low income and middle class workers. These are proposals that would raise billions in new annual revenue and only skim off a tiny fraction of millionaire and bilionaire incomes.

By refusing to raise taxes, Hochul is actually putting the state of New York and the majority of New Yorkers at heightened risk of economic hardship. After three years of pandemic followed by inflation, record numbers of New Yorkers are having trouble paying their monthly energy bills, food costs, and rent. For young parents, the cost of childcare is astronomical, making many parents (mostly mothers) unable to continue full-time market work.

There is no excuse. Bills in the New York state legislature such as S2162/A2576 could raise between $2 billion and $12.5 billion annually for New York and would only impact that top 1% of earners in NY by a tiny proportion of their overall annual income. The average New Yorker could see their lives, livelihoods, safety and opportunities dramatically improve without baring any of the cost.

If legislators in New York fail to pass some of these proposals, it will not only be an embarassment, it will signal the deep flaws of the political system that caters to the most wealthy at the expense of the commons.