COLUMN
We’re Losing Generation,
And FY20 State Budget
Does Nothing About It
By State Sen. JIM SEWARD, R-Milford
New York is losing population, a phenomenon known as outmigration. We are one of the few states experiencing such a loss and in my mind, the best way to reverse the trend is by increasing affordability and boosting economic development.
I have emphasized those priorities since the start of the year, and highlighted them further during development of the state budget. Unfortunately, the new state budget that was just approved falls flat on those top concerns.
The budget, which I voted against, spends too much and taxes too much, plain and simple. New taxes on prescription drugs and medications, Internet purchases and grocery bags, to name a few, will hit everyone to the tune of more than $1.4 billion this fiscal year and $4.5 billion next year.
Along with the new taxes, the budget also forces new unfunded mandates on local governments – translating to higher property taxes.
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The budget also fails to take any steps to generate economic development and help increase jobs.
Earlier this year, highly publicized actions by the Senate Democrats killed off a major expansion of Amazon set to take place in New York City. Last year, when New York was the winning site for the Amazon HQ2 project, I raised questions because I was concerned with the lack of transparency involved in the deal and planned incentives. However, I was supportive because of the positive economic impact Amazon would have brought to our entire state.
The only way Amazon would have received state incentives was by creating 25,000 new jobs, estimated to generate over $27 billion in tax revenue that would have benefited the whole state. This state budget did nothing to help create new jobs or fill the revenue crater left by the destruction of the Amazon deal.
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Another top priority I vocalized throughout the budget process was the need for regional parity.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York City’s public transportation network, is in disrepair and needs help. While I am sympathetic, I also know that upstate roads and bridges are in dire need of upgrades.
The budget includes no increase for CHIPs funding that is crucial to upstate highway improvements and cuts $65 million to help with extreme winter recovery work. However, the budget does include several provisions to advance money to New York City for MTA work.
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A recent poll from Quinnipiac University revealed some disturbing results. An increasing number of people feel they cannot afford to live in New York State, and many (35 percent) say they are planning to leave in the next five years to find better economic opportunities.
Even more disturbing, the number of people on their way out of the state goes up to 45 percent when talking to people age 18-34 – our next generation of entrepreneurs, local leaders, and families.
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Since the beginning of the year, I have joined with my Senate Republican colleagues to offer a number of amendments and alternative policy ideas that were all rejected by the new Senate Majority, including:
- Balancing the budget without raising or creating new taxes and fees;
- Enshrining the state spending cap into law;
- Accelerating and protecting the historic Middle Class Income Tax Cut previously enacted by Senate Republicans, which has already saved New Yorkers $770 million, and is one of the largest and most important tax cuts in state history;
- Implementing significant business and energy tax cuts and regulatory reforms, so that there are fewer obstacles to creating new jobs in New York;
- Ending unfunded mandates and ensuring that no new laws will be approved in Albany that pass costs on to our local governments and schools, and ultimately, our taxpayers.
While there were portions of the plan that I could support, overall the negatives far outweighed the positives. The budget, increases taxes, does nothing to help struggling small businesses, ignores our upstate needs, and slaps more unfunded mandates on local governments.
James L. Seward, R-Milford, represents his home county of Otsego and eight other Central New York counties in the 51st Senatorial District.