Governor Paterson in Rochester, Fair Share Rally March 11, 2009

Governor Paterson is coming to Rochester
The Governor is holding Town Meetings around the state to discuss the budget (among other things).

We want to make sure when he gets to Rochester he hears loudly and clearly from the overwhelming majority of us who want to protect our community from massive budget cuts to our schools, health care system and services in our neighborhoods.

Sign up to speak
You can sign up to have your question submitted to the Governor. If you do submit a question, please include "Fair Share Tax Reform" in your question. Bring ID to the Town Hall Meeting in case security is tight.

Shared Sacrifice?
As Governor Paterson has talked about his proposed cuts he has said that we need to share the sacrifice. But shared sacrifice requires Fair Share Tax Reform, which asks the wealthiest New Yorkers to pitch in a shoulder a reasonable share of the budget burden. Working families shouldn't bear the burden alone.

By taxing personal income over $250,00 at slightly higher rates, New York can ensure that we all contribute to solving the budget crisis.

This extra revenue will help mitigate the cuts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question - Isn't state spending "out of control." Don't we need to reign in spending?
Answer 1 - In recent years NYers have fought hard to get our children what they need to succeed in school, expand healthcare coverage for our families, and secure relief for out-of-control property taxes. But the legislature failed to provide the revenues to finance the new initiatives. Aside from these new commitments, government spending has actually gone up slower than inflation.
Answer 2 - We're in the middle of a recession. President Obama realizes that government should be stimulating the economy by keeping people working and spending. Budget cuts will mean more unemployed people and more people left without help to keep their heads above water. That might mean that the economic recovery bypasses New York. Economists agree that in this situation it is better to raise taxes on the wealthy than cut funding for programs.

Question - Don't the wealthy already pay most of the taxes?
Answer - The wealthiest 5% of NYers earn 42% of all income earned in NY. That means that if there were 100 random NYers in a room, 5 of them would earn almost as much as the other 95 people all together. But the wealthiest NYers pay less of their income in taxes than the rest of us (when you combine income taxes with sales and property and other state and local taxes).

Effective New York State and Local Tax Burdens
by Income Class

Question - Don't the rich create jobs? Don't we need to give them tax breaks?
Answer - That's called the "trickle down theory." How's that working so far?

Question - But won't this tax small business owners? Won't they fire workers if they have to pay more taxes?
Answer - Fair Share Tax Reform is a tax on income, not a business tax. This tax would not touch gross profits.

Question - If we raise taxes on millionaires, won't they leave the state.
Answer - No. In 2003 the legislature enacted a temporary income tax surcharge on wealthy New Yorkers and the amount of wealthy NYers actually increased. The same thing happened in New Jersey after that state increased taxes on its wealthiest residents. That doesn't mean that tax increases make more millionaires. But it does mean that if you have a cool state people will stick around.

Question - But doesn't NY have the highest taxes?
Answer - New York is in the top 5 states for PROPERTY taxes. But our income tax rate is in the middle of the pack. However, the reason our property taxes are so high is that Albany has been cutting taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers for the past 30 years. In fact the wealthiest NYers have seen their tax rate CUT IN HALF. The result is a loss of $20 billion in tax revenue every year. This has meant that Albany contributes less to local school districts and cities and towns and counties. The result is local cities, towns and counties have had to raise our property taxes.

Question - But New Yorkers will never support new taxes.
Answer - Poll after poll shows that New Yorkers overwhelmingly support Fair Share Tax Reform while the Governor's popularity is steadily sinking.

Question - Won't the federal stimulus package solve New York's budget crisis?
Answer - No. New York can expect to receive several billion dollars in FMAP Medicaid and education dollars but there will be battles in Albany about how the FMAP money is spent. Yet even if we win all those battles we still need Fair Share Tax Reform to address this year's deficit. But, perhaps more importantly, we still need Fair Share Tax Reform to address the ongoing structural problems of state revenue and spending. As of right now, the Governor is proposing that the federal stimulus dollars be used to buy back his proposed increases in taxes like the soda tax. He is still proposing massive cuts to healthcare, education and services.

We'll see you on Thursday, March 5th, 5-6pm, at the Liberty Pole,

-Jon Greenbaum, Metro Justice Organizer