Tax the rich, invest in New York

The one-house state budgets from the state Senate and the Assembly have been released, and it’s now the period between their release and the finalization of these budgets.

So I wanted to write a few words about the Invest In Our New York Act, a coalition campaign with numerous participating organizations, including the New York Working Families Party, the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, New York Communities for Change, Vocal New York, Housing Justice for All, and others.

I participated in this year’s campaign. There are five bills with ways to “tax the rich,” and even more ways to allocate that money for the public good. The five bills are:

• The corporate tax bill (S.1980/A.3690), with Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz as co-sponsor

• The capital gains tax bill (S.2162/A.2576), with state Sen. Gustavo Rivera as lead sponsor

• The heirs tax bill (S.2782/A.3193)

• The progressive income taxes bill (S.2059/A.3115), with state Sen. Robert Jackson as lead sponsor

• The mark-to-market billionaires’ tax bill (S.1570/A.3252).

If all five bills passed, more than $40 billion would be raised. The associated allocations include $10.5 billion for public education and child care, as well as $10.4 billion for housing, and $10.5 billion for addressing the climate crisis in New York state.

I’ve personally knocked door-to-door this year — and in 2021 — to support “taxing the rich,” as some refer to these bills. The corporate tax bill passed back then, but it expires this year.

Although taxing the rich is supported by a majority of U.S., state and city residents, it’s a constant struggle to tax millionaires and billionaires and get them to pay what they owe our society.

New York is one of the richest economies in the world, yet New York millionaires and billionaires don’t pay taxes on a majority of their wealth. Most New Yorkers understand this. They know that, quite, often a school teacher making, say, $70,000, pays more taxes than a millionaire.

And many of us are angry about that, particularly when we’ve heard for the last several decades that our government can’t afford to do better for us. “We” can’t afford better schools. “We” can’t afford to significantly fight climate change. “We” can’t afford big infrastructure projects unless it’s a stadium or a casino. “We” can’t provide more food, housing or health care for our most vulnerable or for ourselves.

The majority of taxpayers have figured out that trickle-down was a giant lie for us to give money and benefits to the rich. But now we need to pass the bills that get the rich to pay some taxes!

“Taxing the rich” is a wildly popular concept. When I’ve talked to people in Wakefield, Woodlawn, Kingsbridge and Riverdale, most are enthusiastic. (Though some in Riverdale want to know where that taxation starts, and I’ll respond with “at the millionaire and multi-millionaire income bracket.”)

Democrats, Republican, Independents — this is a bi-partisan issue.

But somehow the change never happens. Assemblyman Dinowitz has made it a topic in his last two constituent emails, and has attended constituent meetings on the topic this year, and in 2021. It’s good that he’s supporting the corporate tax bill, but one bill isn’t enough.

In a letter Dinowitz sent to those who expressed support for the five bills, he wrote that he “generally supports the concept of increasing tax rates as income goes up, but I have some concerns about the specific income brackets included in the bill” in regards to the progressive income tax bill.

Emily Eisner — who holds a Ph.D. in economics, policy and research, and who serves on the Tax the Rich Campaign — responded by email to Dinowitz’s concerns by stating the proposal “is estimated to raise $21.5 billion in new revenue annually, and would raise approximately 60 percent of that new revenue from tax filers reporting over $10 million in annual income. The remainder would only impact those making over $450,000 in annual income.”

Assemblyman Dinowitz has also expressed concern that the capital gains tax might impact the Environmental Bond Act, to which Eisner’s reply was: “In particular, we do not think that the capital gains taxation we are proposing will decrease the amount of funds available in the market for the Environmental Bond Act. The proposed capital gains tax would raise an estimated $12.5 billion annually in new revenue to the state, and will only impact the top 1.3 percent of earners in New York by a very small fraction of their overall income.”

As a Democrat involved in several organizations in the Bronx — including DSA and the Working Families Party — I will say that each organization has a little bit of a different take on it. The Democratic Socialists of America says, “We make our state wealthy,” “the rich rig the rules,” and “we can have more” on its “Tax the Rich: Seize Our Future” web site at TaxTheRichNY.com.

Invest In Our New York says on its home page at InvestInOurNY.org, “Our state budget needs an agenda that places the needs of middle and working class, low-income and impoverished New Yorkers first.”

Please read up on these five bills — there are links and lots of information on both web sites — and consider pressuring our electeds to vote “yes” on them.

“Tax the Rich” is not a general cry against the wealthy. It’s a move toward fairness and taxation equity, and making New York state a great place to live and work.