New York State leaders are back to the bad old days of approving budgets that are two months late. This is more of the same: the inability of our leaders to have even the slightest attempt to curb spending. Here is a rundown on the good and bad of the budget, starting with the bad.
The Bad
Record-Level Spending
This $268 billion budget blows the roof off any spending restraints.
Remarkably, New York’s elected officials have increased spending by unconscionable levels over a short six-year period since COVID. The budget then was a mere $170 billion. It’s time for a spending cap in New York.
Sweetheart Deals for the Unions
The needed reforms to our ballooning pension crisis made in 2012 were reversed in large part via a political gift to the municipal unions. Instead of clamping down on overtime being factored into pensions, the governor and the legislature allowed for more overtime to inflate the ultimate pension levels. It also lowers the retirement ages for some employees, as well as their pension contributions. This will cost taxpayers half a billion dollars a year and cause property taxes to soar.
The City’s Second-Home Tax
Targeting out-of-city residents who own high-priced homes in New York City will backfire. Billionaires such as Ken Griffin will simply take their dollars elsewhere. The revenues they anticipate will not materialize.
Protecting Illegal Aliens
The state has now made it illegal for a local government to agree to enter into a cooperative agreement with immigration officials. This law, which will possibly be invalidated on constitutional grounds, shields those here illegally so they can commit violent crimes against innocent New Yorkers
Free Lunches for the Wealthy
We all heard there is no such thing as a free lunch, but it will be now that ALL of our schools throughout the state will give out free lunches to everyone. But there are thousands of wealthy families who don’t need a free lunch. Save that money for those who really do.
The Good
Changes to SEQRA
Overburdensome regulations are a chief culprit in preventing more housing from being built for our next generation. State environmental laws known as SEQRA contain some logical environmental safeguards, but also impose incredible unnecessary delays and allow for not-in-my-backyard types to exercise a judicial veto over the many innocuous projects.
Restrictions on Social Media Algorithms
It’s unclear how state legislation will be able to impact social networks, but the idea of clamping down on algorithms to hook children into a dangerous area is a worthy concept.
No Tax on Tips up to $25,000
There are many residents in the service industry in New York who will benefit by the exclusion of taxation on tips. This is why, in an election year, the governor was not going to tell them she wouldn’t match President Trump‘s waiver already enacted on the federal level.
Scholastic Scholarships
Another positive tax deduction enacted is the ability to get a tax credit for donations made to private school scholarship funds. This has been a growing trend nationwide, especially in red states. It’s commendable that New York is one of the first blue states to opt in. This private school fund can be tapped by students who wish to escape failing and violent schools.