Tax & Budget

January 3, 2018. From the Capital Tonight Staff, state and local advocates rallied outside the Capitol on Monday for the annual "People's State of the State." This is its 29th year. Groups gather to discuss what they want lawmakers to consider for the upcoming session. It happens the day before the governor presents his state of the state address. Susan Zimet from the Hunger Action Network and Ron Deutsch from the Fiscal Policy Institute join us to talk more about it.   Access to Video [...]

January 3, 2018. Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivers his State of the State address on Wednesday, kicking off a challenging year of budget deficits and re-election races. This article states that the governor fought unsuccessfully to reverse the elimination of the deduction for state and local taxes, which harms some middle-class and wealthy taxpayers in the state. Cuomo, speaking on CNN over the holidays, said he’ll announce in his State of the State a plan to re-engineer the state’s tax code to try to mitigate the [...]

January 3, 2018. On Tuesday, activists held the “People’s State of the State” to outline their priorities on the state and federal levels. The Capitol Pressroom previewed the event with Susan Zimet, Executive Director of the Hunger Action Network of New York State, and Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. Access to Podcast HERE.

January 3, 2018. The two sides of what will likely be an overarching debate during the 2018 legislative session were on display Tuesday with progressives calling for an increased millionaires' tax and conservatives saying that existing taxes should be phased out as scheduled to prevent a further exodus of Empire State residents. We should be looking at a new top rate for the billionaires or those making $100 million, According to Ron Deutsch, executive director of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute. He was among the [...]

January 3, 2018. In Albany on Tuesday,  a slew of progressive groups stood on the steps of the Capitol to hold a prebuttal to Wednesday's State of the State address and called for an increase in taxes to fund more social service programs. About two dozen people attended the People’s State of the State Address, holding signs that called for taxes on the rich and giving speeches about mass incarceration and the increasing lines at food pantries. Ron Deutsch, executive director of the labor-backed Fiscal [...]

November 30, 2017. According to this article, a mounting state deficit and expected changes to the federal tax code are handing lawmakers their toughest choices in the seven years that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been New York's leader. The state's most recent financial plan projects a budget deficit at $4.1 billion, but that gap could grow if tax receipts continue to lag behind the expected pace, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office. Cuomo himself acknowledged the scope of the challenge during a stop Tuesday [...]

November 29, 2017. According to this article, a mounting state deficit and expected changes to the federal tax code are handing lawmakers their toughest choices in the seven years that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been New York's leader. The state's most recent financial plan projects a budget deficit at $4.1 billion, but that gap could grow if tax receipts continue to lag behind the expected pace, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office. Cuomo himself acknowledged the scope of the challenge during a stop Tuesday [...]

October 16, 2017. Last week, a group of advocates and community organizers spoke out against the passage of the Republican House Budget Resolution in front of Congresswomen Claudia Tenney's office in New Harford. Congresswoman Tenney voted in support of the Republican House Budget Resolution, which aims to slash government safety-net programs like Medicaid and SNAP. With cuts to entitlements in excess of over $1 trillion over a ten year period, it is likely that New York will face large holes in the state budget. Ron Deutsch, [...]