A new lobbying organization is pushing back against the idea of raising taxes on the wealthy to close budget holes caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

It’s called the Campaign for New York’s Future, an organization made up of civic and business groups. Officials connected to the group will not disclose their donors, but say they plan to in the future.

For now, the group says state leaders cannot tax their way out of the current shortfall. The group is chaired by former Democratic Governor David Paterson.


What You Need To Know

  • Both the city and state face massive budgetary shortfalls due to the pandemic, with unemployment in the city at 20%

  • Progressives groups say millionaires and billionaires need to pay more in taxes to make up the shortfall

  • A new lobbying organization of business interests say new taxes are not the solution, since they won’t raise enough revenue. Only shared sacrifice can solve problem

“We don’t have as many people working,” said Paterson. “Our retail operators can’t make the money. We can’t generate the revenue right now. We are having a revenue crisis. And when that occurs, it would appear to me that everyone is going to have to make a sacrifice.”

Governor Cuomo has said that the economic forecast, which includes billions of dollars in lost revenue, may lead to higher tolls and fares. But progressive groups say all the state needs to do is tax the wealthy instead.

“Studies after studies and multiple economists, over 146 organizations, have shared evidence and research that raising taxes on the wealthy — passing a stock transfer tax, passing a mark to market tax on the unrealized capital gains for billionaires in this pandemic — will raise billions in revenue for our state,” said Angeles Solis, the lead organizer on the workplace justice team for Make the Road.

When Paterson was governor during an economic crisis in 2008, he ended up raising taxes on the wealthy by $4 billion over three years. But he says times have changed. And this time around, hundreds of thousands of those high-income earners have already fled the city due to the pandemic. 

“There aren’t that many people left in the state who have the kind of wealth that we thought,” Paterson said. “Maybe 7,000 of them. They are paying 60 - 70% of the taxes now. I think they should stay here as New Yorkers and help us fight this crisis, but they have leverage. They can go other places if they want to.”

“What about the thousands who are still here? What about the thousands of families that have already been pushed out of their homes by abusive landlords?” said Solis. “What about the thousands of working mothers who have to choose between paying for diapers and paying for rent. One hundred and twenty billionaires in New York. We have the highest concentration of billionaires anywhere on the world.”

Part of the issue here is that New York is so dependent on high income earners for its state budget. Those making over $500,000 per year pay more than 50 percent of the income taxes.