Local Electeds Call On Albany Leadership to Immediately Address Federal Attacks, Fully Fund Universal Childcare and Alleviate the Affordability Crisis — or New Yorkers Will Suffer

Following Tin Cup Day rally, nearly 100 local elected officials submit letter to Governor Hochul and legislative leadership urging them to raise public funds by making the wealthiest New Yorkers pay their fair share in taxes

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Albany, NY –– Local elected officials joined their state legislature colleagues and nearly 300 Invest in Our New York coalition members Wednesday for a Tin Cup Day rally and press conference to demand that Governor Kathy Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins protect New Yorkers from federal attacks and make lasting public investments to combat the devastating affordability crisis. 

President Donald Trump and Washington Republicans have stolen billions of dollars in federal funding from our state through their federal budget scam, meaning nearly 1 million New Yorkers could lose their healthcare coverage and 350,000 New Yorkers could go hungry due to tighter SNAP restrictions. Working-class people can’t afford childcare and are forced to leave our state. Lawless ICE agents are terrorizing and kidnapping our neighbors. The super-rich, on the other hand, are doing just fine: While counties stare down $1.3 billion in projected new costs, New York’s millionaires will get a $12 billion federal tax break this year, and giant corporations doing business in New York will continue to benefit from hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts.

“As local elected officials, we experience this crisis firsthand in our communities and understand that it's not just a policy debate; the lives of the people we represent are at stake,” reads a letter to the Governor, Speaker and Majority Leader signed by nearly 100 local elected leaders across the state. “Localities will be forced to cut or scale back services, delay or cancel infrastructure projects, or raise local property taxes to address gaps. The cuts to federal and state programs will increase strain on local hospitals and other county-level social services.”

The Invest in Our New York campaign, joined at the State Capitol by local leaders from Albany, Poughkeepsie, Syracuse, and Oneonta, and members of the New York State Senate and Assembly, called on leadership in Albany to deliver a budget that includes popular, common-sense policies to make the wealthiest New Yorkers and most profitable corporations pay their fair share in taxes. In her executive budget proposal, Governor Hochul failed to include the revenue needed to fund a scalable universal childcare program — including living wages for an egregiously underpaid workforce — or resources for additional social programs, like social housing or healthcare expansion, that would reduce inequality and alleviate New York’s affordability crisis. State lawmakers must step up and pass the Invest in Our New York package, which would generate more than $40 billion annually in new public funds through the Progressive Income Tax, the Corporate Tax, the Capital Gains Tax and the Heirs Tax.

“As the federal budget scam turbocharges our state’s vicious affordability crisis, New York has become a playground for millionaires and billionaires to do as they please while working-class and low-income New Yorkers strain to afford childcare, healthcare, rent and groceries,” said Invest in Our New York Campaign Manager Brahvan Ranga. “The time to act is now: If Governor Hochul, Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins don’t immediately raise public funds by making the ultra-wealthy and extremely profitable corporations pay what they owe, New Yorkers will suffer.”

“If working class New Yorkers can pay taxes on the money we earn at our jobs, millionaire heirs and heiresses can certainly be expected to pay taxes on the fortunes they inherit by being born into the right family; I’m proud to sponsor the Heirs Tax and support the entire IONY package,” said Senator Jabari Brisport.

“A state as wealthy as New York should never accept scarcity for working families as inevitable. While corporate profits and Wall Street bonuses soar, too many New Yorkers are being priced out of stability, care, and dignity. Invest in Our New York — including my Progressive Income Tax bill — offers a clear choice: fairness over austerity, recurring revenue over short-term fixes, and shared prosperity over deepening inequality,” Senator Robert Jackson. “By asking the wealthiest New Yorkers and most profitable corporations to contribute their fair share, we can protect our safety nets, fund universal childcare, strengthen healthcare and housing, and build an economy that works for the many — not just the few. This is how we secure New York’s future.”

“We must return to a truly progressive tax system so that the middle class and working poor are not paying the same tax rates as millionaires and billionaires," said Assemblymember Anna Kelles. “My bill (A.1971-A) addresses this by imposing an annual tax on billionaires with $1 billion or more in year-over-year net assets. While the ultra-rich grow richer and corporations make record profits, average New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet. We need to put our communities over corporations and Invest in Our New York.”

“New Yorkers are working harder than ever just to stay afloat, while the wealthiest continue to benefit from a system that isn’t built for working families. As federal cuts threaten healthcare, food access, and local services, we have a responsibility to step up and invest in our people, not place more burdens on those already struggling. By asking millionaires and the most profitable corporations to finally pay their fair share, we can fund quality education, affordable housing, strong infrastructure, and the critical services our communities rely on. Investing in New York means investing in working families, and that’s exactly what this legislation is about,” said Assemblymember Demond Meeks.

“Federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP have devastated our communities and fallen hardest on the most vulnerable among us,” said Assemblymember Diana Moreno. “Instead of allowing this anti-worker, pro-billionaire federal administration to steal billions of dollars from New Yorkers, Governor Hochul must enact the Invest in Our New York package to make the wealthiest in our state pay what they owe. Working-class families need a champion in Albany, not a governor who fights for millionaires and billionaires.”

"At a time when our federal government is decimating access to affordable housing, withholding food assistance from families and stripping people of their healthcare benefits, the least we can do is ask the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing. "As working class New Yorkers have been forced to leave our state in recent years, corporate profits have continued to rise and the rich have gotten richer. New York State has a responsibility to protect its residents from the harms of the Trump administration, and this package of revenue-raising bills will put our state in the best position to fight back. The vast majority of voters support policies that would require wealthy corporations and the highest earners to pay their fair share; I am proud to stand with Invest in Our New York to demand that these bills be included in our state budget."

“Wall Street bonuses, corporate profits, and the number of millionaires are on the rise in New York, whereas households earning under $75,000 a year are leaving in large numbers — the wealth inequality in our state has made it a difficult place for young parents to raise a family, essential workers to live where they work, and seniors to retire and age with dignity. This year, not only must we commit to closing the gap between the richest and the poorest, but address the crises that confound us: protecting one million New Yorkers from losing their health insurance, investing in childcare workforce without whom we won’t have anything resembling universal childcare, supporting our localities with their infrastructure needs, and more. The majority of New Yorkers support making the 5% earners and large corporations pay a fairer share of taxes, and it is our responsibility to make this happen,” said Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha.

“It is obscene that in a state with wealth unparalleled to any civilization in human history, we have local governments come here to beg for essential funding with a Tin Cup,” said Assemblymember Tony Simone. “Local governments are being asked to do more with less while billionaires and massive corporations continue to make more. The answer is not cutting childcare, housing, or core services — it is making the extremely wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share so working families are not left holding the bag. Tin Cup Day is about demanding a budget that reflects our values and puts people over ultra-concentrated wealth.”

"If New York is going to work for working people, then our tax system has to stop rewarding hoarding and start investing in our future. That means raising corporate taxes on the most profitable companies in New York, implementing a real capital gains tax, and creating a heirs tax so we can raise enough revenue to invest in our state. It means enacting the Fair Share Act and allowing New York City to enact a modest 2% tax on income over $1 million, raising $3 billion annually, and ensuring the wealthiest New Yorkers pay their fair share toward critical public services and infrastructure. We can fund universal childcare, affordable housing, and healthcare and make sure everyday New Yorkers can afford to thrive by taxing extreme wealth. It’s time to tax the rich!” said Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest.

Senator Toby Ann Stavisky said, “New York can afford to invest in its people. What we cannot afford is continuing to ask working families to carry the load while the ultra-wealthy pay less than their fair share back into the system. This agenda is about restoring balance; asking those at the very top to pay what they owe so we can invest in strong public schools, accessible health care, safe communities, and a future where every New Yorker has a real chance to thrive.”

“For decades, wealth concentration in the hands of the 1% has eroded our democracy,” said Assemblymember Claire Valdez. “The status quo serves Donald Trump and his fascist oligarch friends, not working people. Governor Hochul, Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins must stand up to corporate and billionaire interests by passing the Invest in Our New York legislative package.”

"What happens in this year’s state budget will shape the conditions our children grow up in, and so New York must choose to raise revenue from its millionaires and billionaires to invest in universal childcare, public education, and the programs and services working families need to thrive in New York state. The executive budget is the floor. Now let’s make sure that it doesn’t become the ceiling,” said Marina Marcou-O'Malley and Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, Co-Executive Directors of Alliance for Quality Education.

“One million voters said we deserve universal childcare, a rent freeze and affordable housing, and robust public transportation, and they said we need to tax the rich to pay for it,” said NYC-DSA Tax the Rich Campaign Manager Erick Stoll. “New Yorkers are sick and tired of millionaires and billionaires hoarding wealth while the working class is struggling to afford basic needs. New York is one of the richest states in the country, and has more wealth than most countries around the world — we can fund a state that works for all of us.”

“Governor Hochul needs to tax the rich for a New York we can afford,” said Divya Sundaram, Deputy Director of Our Time. “The ultra-rich are raking in record profits, while everyday people are stretched to the breaking point. To make matters worse, Trump is cutting billionaires’ taxes and working New Yorkers’ healthcare and food assistance. It’s up to Governor Hochul whether she wants to stand up to that agenda, or cooperate with it.”

“Every dollar invested in the City University of New York generates eight dollars in tax revenue by preparing New Yorkers for high-demand jobs, like teachers and nurses. Money in the pockets of workers circulates in our communities and stimulates the economy. Instead it's being hoarded by the ultra-rich. We need a people’s economy, not one that funnels cash to those at the top. People who earn $50,000 shouldn’t pay the same income tax rate as those earning $5 million. PSC/CUNY, the union representing 30,000 academic workers at the City University of New York, demands tax fairness and for lawmakers to fill funding gaps for public goods — like transit and education. Governor Hochul must stand up to President Trump and fight for an economy that serves New Yorkers,” said Jen Gaboury, First Vice President of PSC/CUNY.

“The federal administration has enacted cruel and devastating cuts to critical funding, limiting access to healthcare, childcare, and basic essentials for working families across New York state,” said Senator Samra Brouk. “When so many residents are struggling to make ends meet, it’s time for large corporations to pay their fair share in taxes so we can invest in housing, food assistance, education, and more to uplift our most underserved communities.”

“I am proud to support Invest in Our New York’s package of revenue legislation. New York needs to put in place sustainable and progressive tax policies that will enable the state to invest in human needs and offset harmful federal funding cuts,” Assemblymember Robert Carroll said. “For too long in this country, public policy has favored the very wealthy. In New York, we can show a different path is possible.”

Assemblymember Emily Gallagher said, "New York is the most unequal state in the country. We are rapidly becoming a state where you must be a millionaire to afford childcare, healthcare, and rent. It is up to us — in this moment, when the wealthy are continuing to make record returns and are receiving huge federal tax cuts — to raise revenue to support working New Yorkers and ensure they have the services they need. We must tax the rich and ensure that not only are we preventing people from falling through the cracks left by Trump’s cuts, but are actively investing in their ability to live with dignity." 

“New Yorkers are under direct attack from Washington, and Albany cannot afford hesitation or half-measures. Federal budget cuts are ripping healthcare away from families, pushing children and seniors toward hunger, and destabilizing our communities — while billionaires and corporations walk away with massive tax breaks,” said Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas. “Governor Hochul must act now to protect New Yorkers by rejecting austerity and making lasting public investments. That means fully funding universal childcare, healthcare, and housing by finally asking the ultra-wealthy and the most profitable corporations to pay their fair share. The stakes could not be clearer: If we fail to act, working-class and low-income New Yorkers will pay the price.”

"New York's top earners and corporations did not make it to the top alone. They rely daily on the contributions of working and middle class people who are finding it increasingly difficult to stay here because of the high cost of living and, crucially, childcare,” said Assemblymember Dana Levenberg. “Being able to count on care would enable more people to plan to stay in New York. We need stable, recurring revenue to expand needed programs like universal pre-K and childcare to districts like mine as soon as possible. Fairness demands that we ask more from those who have benefited the most from the labor of parents who are straining to afford the cost of showing up to work every day."

“New York is home to the highest concentration of wealth in the country yet our tax system was built to protect the ultra-wealthy. I’m so proud to sponsor bill S1439 to impose a fair tax on income from long-term capital gains for the top 1%,” said Senator Gustavo Rivera. “We need to make New York a great place to live for all New Yorkers — not just billionaires. I urge Governor Hochul to include this bill in the state’s budget and hold the ultra-wealthy accountable.”

“Billionaires and corporations in our state will never willingly contribute their fair share; it is long overdue that we require them to,” said Senator Julia Salazar. “These people and these companies became this wealthy because of the labor they exploited from working-class New Yorkers, and it’s time they finally give back. Let’s tax the rich, fund our social programs, and finally ensure our communities have what they need and deserve.” 

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