Budget relies on temporary tax rates for corporations and highest earners — state's long-term fiscal stability would be better served by making tax rates permanent. Failure to address high cost of living will continue to drive working & middle-class New Yorkers out of state — and undermine statewide economic growth.
With New York State’s fiscal year 2024 budget due April 1, 2024, the Governor and Legislature are nearing the end of negotiations on key policy priorities and the scale of new investments in public services. This brief provides an overview of FPI’s recommendations on major fiscal policy areas at issue in budget negotiations.
Millionaire and Middle Class Taxes & Migration Fact Sheets
New York’s budget is largely funded through the state’s personal income tax (PIT). Between 2015 and 2020, state revenue from the personal income tax totaled between $47 billion and $55 billion annually. In 2021, the New York state legislature voted to create new PIT brackets for individuals earning over $1 million annually. This change created a more progressive state income tax system, so that those who earn more pay a larger share of their income in taxes.
FPI presented its annual briefing on the Executive Budget on Thursday, February 16.
In this brief we evaluate three options for increasing the New York State tax rate on long-term capital gains. The options assessed here include: (1) a low surtax rate of 1% and 2%, (2) moderate surtaxes of 2% and 4%, and (3) surtaxes of 7.5% and 15%, as proposed in bill S2162/A2576 sponsored by Senator Gustavo Rivera and Assembly Member Ron Kim.
Nathan Gusdorf, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, spoke with Errol Louis on NY1's "Inside City Hall" about FPI's recent report on how housing and rental costs, not taxes, explain the recent trend of migration out of New York. They also discussed the Governor's Executive Budget.
The New York Times covered a panel discussion that included Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams, which focused on New York City's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the proposals found in the "Making New York Work for Everyone" report: "Nathan Gusdorf, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, said the mayor’s recent cuts to agency budgets — along with the governor’s opposition to raising taxes on the wealthy — will make the proposals in the report difficult to achieve.