| The Assembly passed A.11838 today, which would create a circuit breaker and implement a millionaires tax in New York to address the issue of high property taxes.
The vote was 118-24. The 24 votes weren't all Republicans though.
From Liz:
The no votes were:
Amedore, Bacalles, Barclay, Boyle, Burling, Cole, Conte, Crouch, Errigo, Finch, Fitzpatrick, Giglio, Hawley, Hayes, Kolb, Lopez, Morelle, Oaks, O'Mara, Quinn, Reilich, Schimminger, Tedisco, Tobacco.
Excused: Abbate, Gantt, Hikind, Wright.
Absent: Lafayette.
There are a couple prominent upstate Democrats in that list. Assemblyman Joe Morelle and Assemblyman Robin Schimminger both voted against the measure. Nearly half of the Republican side voted for the measure, which says a lot for this legislation.
The Working Families Party weighed in on the passage of this measure:
"Speaker Silver and members of the Assembly have offered a roadmap to solving the very real problem of property taxes that bear no relation to what working and middle class families can afford. They should be congratulated today for the triumph of common sense. The Assembly bill would provide real cuts in property taxes for working and retired families - paid for in a fiscally responsible way - while preserving our state's commitment to quality public education.
"It's time to let democracy work. It's time the State Senate notices that more than 15,000 New Yorkers reached out to their legislators and the Governor to say that the so-called property tax cap is nothing more than an arbitrary restriction on local investment in public education that does nothing to address the property tax mess."
The Alliance for Quality Education also responded to the measure being passed in the Assembly:
"The State Assembly has taken seriously the charge of providing New Yorkers with real property tax relief by adopting a circuit breaker tax cap and reduction plan. While the State Senate Majority is chasing the sound bites and gimmickry of a so called tax cap that reduces nobody's taxes and threatens the quality of our schools, the Assembly Majority has adopted the only plan in Albany that actually caps and reduces the property taxes of individual homeowners. The Assembly has clearly drawn a line at the doorstep of our schools and said that we must provide real property tax relief to homeowners, but that we cannot sacrifice the education of our children. The State Assembly's circuit breaker tax cap and reduction plan is tied to the actual funding needed to reduce property taxes by enacting a small increase in the income taxes paid by millionaires and multi-millionaires and it protects the quality of education.
For years, middle and lower income homeowners have been subsidizing tax cuts given to the wealthiest New Yorkers by way of the spiraling property taxes that resulted from the State of New York paying too small a share of the costs of educating our school kids. Now the Assembly is insisting that the needs of homeowners and the education of school kids take precedence over putting more money in the pockets of millionaires. AQE is thankful for the leadership of Speaker Silver in saying no to the tax cap gimmick and yes to bona fide property tax relief and quality education."
Now where does this go from here? That is uncertain. I don't see, unless something changes, the Senate passing a circuit breaker.
Hopefully, if we can't get a circuit breaker through, we could find a way to pass a "best of both worlds" piece of legislation that would appeal to all sides. |
