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 Policy Institute think tank, said he wants Cuomo to push for a “recapture tax” that would go after “some of the windfall that many of the corporations and wealthy will reap” from the just-passed $1.5 trillion federal tax bill. The money would be used to offset what Deutsch and others warned are coming cuts to social service programs and to help the state overcome a deficit.
“We’re facing about a $4 billion budget gap this year, so we know funding is going to be tight,” Deutsch said.
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