CCC Statement: State Tax Policy Agreement

Released December 8, 2011

The tax policy agreement reached by Governor Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Silver, Senate Majority Leader Skelos, and approved by members of the New York State Assembly and Senate, makes a significant step toward progressive tax reform and produces nearly half of the total revenue needed to help close the state’s budget gap. The Governor should be applauded for the skill with which he achieved common ground among elected leaders and for his use of ‘fairness and balance’ as the threshold test upon which the deal was struck.

Moving forward, this threshold test must also inform the SFY 2012-2013 Executive Budget and budget negotiations that follow with the State Legislature. Specifically, with child poverty, family homelessness, hunger, and housing insecurity increasing at dramatic rates across New York State, essential services upon which poor and working-poor children and families rely must be protected from budget cuts. Such an effort would meet the threshold test of ‘fairness and balance,’ as these New Yorkers have been hit hardest by the economic crisis and have already shouldered a disproportionate impact of State and local budget cuts made in response to the recession.

Protecting critical programs such as child care, after school, youth services, homelessness prevention, child abuse prevention, foster care, health and mental health services, and emergency food programs, among others, ensures that scarce public resources are spent on proven, cost-effective services that produce good outcomes for children and families. These investments are also good for government and New York taxpayers, as they save significant tax dollars in the long run.

CCC looks forward to working with Governor Cuomo and State Legislators as the SFY 2012-2013 budget process unfolds and we urge them to continue to use ‘fairness and balance’ as the threshold test upon which all budget agreements are reached.

CCC is a 67?year old independent child advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure every New York child is healthy, housed, educated and safe.