NEW YORKERS RALLY STATEWIDE AGAINST CONGRESS’S BILLIONAIRE TAX CUTS & DEFUNDING OF HEALTHCARE, HEAD START, AND MORE

New York Billionaires Are Worth $321 Billion More Since Enactment of 2017 Trump Tax Law GOP Now Wants to Extend

View videos and photos from Albany, Syracuse, Peekskill, Corning, and Staten Island

New York –– Another Tax Day, another year where New Yorkers urge lawmakers to put working class people over the 1 percent. From Corning to Patchogue, Staten Island to Albany, working-class New Yorkers and state elected officials rallied against federal lawmakers’ attempts to gut crucial social safety net programs in order to pay for more billionaire tax breaks.

Last week, the GOP-led Senate and House voted on identical budget reconciliation resolutions. The resolution, supported by New York’s Congressional Republicans, will make the top 1% wealthiest households in New York even richer by extending the 2017 Trump tax law that has already lavished huge tax breaks on the super-wealthy. The $5.5 trillion cost of extending the Trump tax law would be paid for in part by slashing Medicaid, gutting rental subsidies, Head Start childcare programs, and food assistance under SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), and making other cuts in vital public services.

“While everyday New Yorkers are hustling to make ends meet, billionaires are raking in obscene wealth and demanding even more giveaways from Congress,” said Carolyn Martinez-Class, Interim Co-Executive Director at Citizen Action of New York and Campaign Manager of Invest in Our New York. “Extending the Trump tax law is a full-on assault on working people as it means gutting Medicaid, slashing food assistance, and hiking healthcare costs so the ultra-rich can get even richer. This is economic violence, plain and simple. We need leaders with the courage to stand up to corporate greed and put people first — not politicians doing the bidding of billionaires.”

New York State Senators and Assembly members stood alongside advocates at the Albany Capitol this afternoon to demand their Congressional counterparts vote no on a federal budget that slashes funding. Some lawmakers also committed to stepping up and mitigating the worst of the cuts if federal lawmakers fail to protect their constituents. 

Since the Trump-GOP tax law was enacted in 2017, the collective fortune of New York’s 126 billionaires has grown by $321 billion, or 72%, according to a new report released today by Invest in Our New York and Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF). The report also finds that households with incomes of a million dollars or more—the highest-income residents in the state—have seen their annual income grow by $48 billion, or 24%, from $220 billion to $268 billion, since the enactment of the Trump-GOP tax law. 

	Net Worth Mar 27, 2025 ($ Millions)	Net Worth Dec 30, 2017 ($ Millions)	7-Year Wealth Growth ($ Millions)	7-Year Wealth Growth (Percent)
All New York Billionaires	$769,829	$448,500	$321,329	71.6%
Michael Bloomberg	$104,660	$47,800	$56,860	119.0%
Julia (David) Koch	$74,204	$47,700	$26,504	55.6%
Stephen Schwarzman	$44,726	$13,100	$31,626	241.4%
Marilyn (Jim) Simons	$30,989	$18,500	$12,489	67.5%
Rupert Murdoch	$22,653	$11,800	$10,853	92.0%
Stephen Ross	$18,412	$7,600	$10,812	142.3%
Leon Black	$15,686	$6,500	$9,186	141.3%
Israel Englander	$14,168	$5,200	$8,968	172.5%
Donald Newhouse	$14,117	$11,800	$2,317	19.6%
Henry Kravis	$13,603	$5,300	$8,303	156.7%
Top 10 NY Billionaires	$353,218	$175,300	$177,918	101.5%

Source: Americans for Tax Fairness

"This Tax Day, Trump and Musk are doing everything in their power to make our tax system worse for average people while giving tax cuts to billionaires like themselves. Their all-out attacks on the IRS will result in delayed refunds, denied taxpayer service, and a free pass for wealthy tax evaders," said David Kass, ATF's executive director. "The billionaire-backed GOP is determined to slash vital public services like Medicaid and food assistance to fund trillions in tax cuts for economic elites. The astronomical growth in billionaire wealth and million-dollar incomes since the 2017 Trump-GOP tax law reveals its true intent: make millions of Americans suffer so a handful of wealthy elites can further enrich themselves. We will fight Republican efforts to cut health care and food assistance for workers and families to pay for tax cuts for billionaires."

To help pay for this top-heavy tax cut, Congressional Republicans are planning to cut public services like healthcare, nutritional assistance, and education aid by trillions of dollars. The GOP-controlled Senate and House of Representatives passed identical budget resolutions last week, a key step in the reconciliation process. House of Representative Republicans want to cut $2 trillion in services, including $880 billion from Medicaid, endangering the healthcare of 6.6 million New Yorkers.

Long Islanders made their opposition to the GOP’s billionaire-centered plan known today during a car caravan rally from Rep. Garabrino’s district office in Patchogue to Rep. LaLota’s office in Hauppauge. 

“From Brookhaven to Buffalo every working class New Yorker pays into a system that is set up to serve our needs. Our taxes are meant to keep the roads paved, schools and hospitals open, our most vulnerable from going hungry, and so much more,” said Joe Sackman, Executive Director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition. “Taxes are investments that ensure that when we fall on hard times there's something there to catch us and support us when we need it. And when we retire we can live a life of dignity. Trump and the GOP's tax cuts for billionaires are an attack on all of us, they call us parasites. They are looking to destroy all of our most necessary services like Medicaid and SNAP. And falsely claim social security is a ponzi scheme. Trump and his fellow oligarchs are damaging and endangering our country and our future with their cash grabs for Billionaires. As the GOP tries to push through these tax cuts for billionaires like Elon Musk, it's all of us that end up paying in more ways than one. No Tax Cuts for Billionaires today, tomorrow, or ever.”  

“As New Yorkers file their taxes this week, Republicans in Congress are fighting to give massive tax breaks to billionaires and corporations,” said Zachary Tirgan, Multi-Regional Organizing Director for Empire State Voices. “As families across New York struggle under the weight of a cost-of-living crisis and watch their retirement savings put at risk because of Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs, New York Representatives Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, and Nicole Malliotakis have been voting to gut the very programs their constituents rely on, like Medicaid, SNAP, and veterans’ services, to give even more to the outrageously wealthy. It’s time to stop this insanity and put working New York families first. It’s time to make billionaires pay their fair share.”

Staten Islanders marched in opposition to Rep. Malliotakis’s support for the GOP’s reconciliation plan to slash trillions of dollars from social safety net programs to pay for billionaire tax breaks. 

“Congress is moving to take away health care from millions of New Yorkers in order to give even more huge tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations who already don’t pay what they owe and pay their fair share of taxes. That has got to stop now!” said Mark Hannay, Director of Metro New York Health Care for All, and coordinator for Health Care for America Now’s New York State Network. “Today’s report from Americans for Tax fairness shows how everyday New Yorkers literally pay the price for others’ greed straight out of our own paychecks. New York’s seven members of the House Republican Majority must do everything in their power to say a loud ‘NO!' to this plan.” Hannay helped organize and lead the Staten Island march.

“Last week, Representatives LaLota, Garbarino, Malliotakis, and Lawler voted to slash lifesaving Medicaid funding to pay for more tax breaks for billionaires and wealthy corporations. It’s wildly irresponsible, it will hurt millions of New Yorkers, and they’re hiding behind a smokescreen of lies to escape the blame. But it’s what they did is clear, and it’s shameful,” said Mike Kink, Executive Director of Strong Economy for All.

Taking healthcare coverage and food from millions of people and hiking healthcare costs for millions more will have dire consequences not only for families, but for local economies and communities as well. Medicaid is the leading source of federal funding for states. While the program is jointly funded by states and the federal government, over two-thirds of the funding comes from the federal government. In the case of SNAP, all the funding is federal. In addition to the direct loss of services, states would lose the economic benefits from the federal infusion of funding that includes multiplier effects like increased employment.

Hundreds of New Yorkers voiced their concern in Peekskill, a town represented by Rep. Lawler.

"As a senior living in the Hudson Valley who depends on Medicare and Social Security, I'm deeply concerned about these cuts," said CVH Power Board Member Linda Bartee. "For decades, I've worked hard and paid into these systems, and now Congressman Mike Lawler wants to pull the rug out from under Hudson Valley residents. It's shameful that he's voting to slash programs that his own constituents rely on daily, all to give more tax breaks to billionaires who don't need them. These aren't just numbers on a page—these cuts would mean real suffering for real people in our community. The members of Community Voices Heard Power are watching, and we're demanding he start putting the Hudson Valley's working families and seniors first."

The proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP would reach $1.1 trillion over a decade, including a $95 billion loss of federal funding in 2026 alone. In addition to receiving $6.68 billion less in federal funding, New York could lose 72,000 jobs as well as $850 million in state revenue and suffer a $14 billion loss in state economic output.

New York would need to make up for this loss of essential revenue. Governor Hochul has already signaled the possibility of cutting other services, but state Senators and Assembly members are committed to mitigating cuts by making the super-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.

State Senator Julia Salazar said, "New York's modern-day robber barons continue shoveling our wealth into their own coffers—and that's making us sicker and sicker. Our health, safety, and prosperity require taxing the obscenely rich and mega-corporations so they pay their fair share. That will allow us to invest in our New York, from heath care and nutrition to education and childcare. Tax reform is essential to protecting our families, communities, and entire state."

"On Tax Day, working-class families in the South Bronx—where over 40% live below the poverty line and more than 36,000 rely on public assistance—are doing their part, filing taxes and making sacrifices,” said Assembly Member Amanda Septimo. “Meanwhile, billionaires and mega-corporations continue to exploit loopholes and avoid paying their fair share. Our neighbors depend on programs like Medicaid and SNAP to survive, yet these essential lifelines are under threat to finance tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. Congress must reject any budget that deepens inequality and defunds the future of working families. We must stop balancing budgets on the backs of struggling families and start supporting our communities in the ways they deserve."

"The president is trying to gut essential programs to hand out massive tax breaks to his billionaire pals. What is New York going to do about it? New York’s billionaire wealth has increased over 70% since 2017. Meanwhile millions of New Yorkers are left to wonder if they’ll be able to put food on the table if SNAP benefits are cut. It’s a fiscal necessity that our state leaders act responsibly and agree to tax the rich,” said Assembly Member Claire Valdez.

Assembly Member Emily Gallagher said, "Tax Day is a reminder of how regressive our tax system is — working New Yorkers contribute a disproportionate chunk of their income, while the wealthiest individuals and companies evade their responsibility. Under the Trump administration, these dynamics are stretched to the breaking point, and we know more cuts are coming. The only way to protect and expand the services people depend on is to raise new revenue. We must tax the rich and deliver more services to working New Yorkers if we expect them to continue to reward us with their trust and votes."

"For most of us, tax day is our cue to file our returns and do our due diligence as taxpayers, but it's a different story for big-money corporations," said Assembly Member Gabriella A. Romero. "The Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made billionaires richer at the expense of everyday people. Now, Trump and Congressional Republicans want to expand those cuts and make them permanent, slashing funding for Medicaid, SNAP, and early childhood Head Start programs to bankroll their plan. New Yorkers depend on these critical programs, and our most vulnerable communities shouldn't be footing the bill for billionaire tax breaks. I won't let this stand, and I will never stop fighting to protect New Yorkers in my district and across the state."

“Today, on Tax Day, we’re once again reminded that New York’s billionaire class continues to profit while working families struggle just to get by. Trump's tax breaks are padding the pockets of the ultra-wealthy while breaking the backs of everyday New Yorkers. Meanwhile, families are staring down cuts to child care, SNAP, and Medicaid — all because the richest among us aren’t paying their fair share. Billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to dodge their responsibilities while our communities are asked to sacrifice. It’s time to do what’s right. It’s time to tax the rich,”  said Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas.

“While working-class New Yorkers scramble to file their taxes, Trump’s administration is protecting billionaire tax cuts—paid for by slashing Medicaid, SNAP, and more. New York Democrats have the opportunity to ensure these cuts don’t harm our most vulnerable by making sure the super-wealthy pay what they owe in taxes. The time to act is now,” said Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes

“Recent reports show that 74 percent of New Yorkers support increasing taxes on the ultra-wealthy and large corporations to improve funding for public programs,” said Assembly Member Harvey Epstein. “This will allow us to reinvest in our communities, shrink the racial wealth gap, and improve affordability for all New Yorkers. It's time for the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share”. 

“In the last 8 years, 32 new billionaires have joined the ranks of New Yorkers who altogether hoard $770 billion in wealth. This is not by accident, it is by design. A design to keep the working class overworked, and divided so that oligarchy can reign. So that the richest people can plot to build ‘freedom cities’ where they’re not bound by law or taxes,” said Assembly Member Sarahana Shrestha. In the meantime, when public goods are privatized and social programs are underfunded, that’s an unjust tax on the working class. When public transit and childcare systems are non-existent or crumbling, that’s an unjust tax on the working class. When housing is unaffordable and energy bills are too high, that’s an unjust tax on the working class. New York can’t pretend for too long—if we’re against oligarchy and fascism, we must tax the rich.”   

“This Tax Day is a moment to consider the level of inequity that exists in our national tax code,” said Assemblymember Tony Simone. “Corporations and the ultra-wealthy continue to pay less than their fair share of taxes while they accumulate more wealth. Since Trump’s 2017 ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,’ (TCJA) New York’s billionaires have gained $321 billion - 72% more wealth - thanks to the act’s tax breaks. Now, as Trump and his oligarchs look to continue to put billionaires first by making the TCJA’s tax cuts permanent, they will do so by slashing programs that working class Americans rely on such as SNAP and Medicaid. I am firmly on the side of cutting taxes for lower and working class New Yorkers, not the ultra rich!”

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