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De Blasio Urges Albany To Tax Billionaires And Avoid Budget Cuts
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 11, 2021
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Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 11, 2021
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Mayor Bill de Blasio spent the better part of three hours on Thursday morning asking state lawmakers to empower localities to fight the pandemic and distribute vaccines, and raise taxes on ultra-wealthy New Yorkers to avoid cuts to health care and education.
“The power has to go back to localities. We’ve seen delay upon delay, red tape, confusion, emanating from too many strict or incoherent rules coming from above," de Blasio said during his video testimony to the fiscal committees of the State Assembly and the State Senate. The mayor was referring to a raft of emergency powers the state legislature granted to Governor Andrew Cuomo last spring as the pandemic raged across New York. Many Republicans and some state Democrats have called for Cuomo's authority to be curtailed in recent weeks.
Yet when asked for specifics on his own plans for vaccine distribution—how to make it more equitable, to increase trust in communities of color—the mayor responded that he was either still working on a solution, or that one would be forthcoming "in the weeks ahead," which was his response to a question about how homebound seniors would be receiving the vaccine.
A spokesperson for Governor Cuomo responded to the mayor's comments in real time on Twitter:
The mayor was using one of Governor Cuomo's budget scenarios that assumes $6 billion in federal aid from Congress, far below the $15 billion Cuomo has said repeatedly that the state needs. De Blasio said that as written, this version of the budget would force the city to cut or shift more than $600 million over the next two years, and supplant $800 million in education funding the city is supposed to receive. The health care cuts would include shutting down 19 Health+Hospitals clinics that serve 140,000 New Yorkers.
"One hundred and twenty New York State billionaires have increased their income by $77 billion," de Blasio said. "We need taxes on the wealthy so we can protect working people, everyday people...I strongly urge that that is the way to go forward."
The mayor has been calling on Albany to raise taxes on the rich since he took office in 2014. Long Island State Senator Jim Gaughran asked the mayor if he would approve of Albany giving New York City the power to raise its own taxes to target high-income earners.
"I think that's a fine alternative," de Blasio said, pointing out that this was his plan to pay for universal pre-K, until Governor Cuomo stepped in with the funding to quash the prospects of any new tax.
De Blasio said that he generally favored a specific tax on billionaires over a state tax on stock trades, like the "Wall Street Tax" being proposed in the state legislature. "I think it should be done federally. I agree there is a problem if one state acts and other states don't, it could have a counterproductive outcome," de Blasio said of a stock transfer tax.
Republican Senator Thomas O'Mara asked, wouldn't billionaires leave if they were taxed more?
"I've literally had this conversation with a number of business leaders," the mayor replied, saying that working remotely is "a different matter than whether they want to live someplace else."
"A lot of people want what's here in New York City...That's not going to change."
The governor has said he is only in favor of raising income taxes on wealthy New Yorkers if the state does not receive enough relief money from Congress.
Freeman Klopott, a spokesperson for the governor's Budget Division, disputed the mayor's reading of Cuomo's proposed budget.
Let’s be clear: In the midst of a global pandemic and the worst economic downturn in generations, funding in the Executive Budget for New York City goes up $1.3 billion, including a 13% increase for schools—significantly higher than the statewide average," Klopott wrote in a statement.
"Washington right now is debating a $350 billion package for state and local governments and it must include $15 billion for New York State to close our deficit that was caused entirely by the global pandemic the federal government failed to stop. Raising taxes is best done at the federal level so as not to pit one state against another and right now we all need to keep our focus on Washington to ensure the critical resources it is poised to deliver to the state and the City are fair.”
At times, the mayor shied away from the bleak picture he had painted this past fall, when he threatened the layoffs of 22,000 city workers. Those layoffs would only be necessary if the city got no federal relief, de Blasio said, and he also backed away from his request for billions in borrowing authority.
But he also refused to commit to enacting a $75 million plan, endorsed by City Comptroller Scott Stringer, to help struggling taxi cab drivers. "I'm gonna look at this plan but the first thing I need to know is, what is going to be our overall situation in this city," the mayor said.
Many Democratic lawmakers congratulated de Blasio on his two terms in office, and marveled that it was his eighth and final appearance before the joint committee.
"Let's face it, we're old," Queens State Senator John Liu told the mayor. The two men were colleagues in the City Council two decades ago, years before they both ran for mayor. "All of your hair is white."
This story has been updated with a statement from the governor's budget office.
Tagged
Albany
bill de blasio
city budget
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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