State Budget Agreement Places Unfair & Unequal Burden on State's Poor, Elderly, Sick, and Students

NEW YORK, NY (03/28/2011)(readMedia)-- The New Deal for New York campaign released the following statement regarding the budget agreement reached today between Governor Cuomo and the state's legislative leaders. Over the past few months, the New Deal campaign, as well as many of the individual member organizations that comprise it, have been working to ensure that our elected representatives would represent the full array of New Yorkers, not just the richest 3%.

The statement follows:

Today, it appears Governor Cuomo and the legislative leaders were willing to sacrifice the many at the expense of the few. The budget agreement they reached will lead New York to have a broader gulf between the rich and the poor, a sad distinction we already hold as the country's most unequal state.

This budget agreement does not reflect shared sacrifice. It is neither just nor moral.

In the months ahead, we will see hospitals close, students suffer, jobs destroyed, and important services decimated. New Yorkers everywhere must remember that those painful impacts will be the direct result of the priorities Governor Cuomo advanced this afternoon -- Tax breaks for the rich have been prioritized over hospitals, schools, jobs and public services.

A majority of Senators and the Assembly support keeping the millionaire's tax, which does not expire for over eight months. Legislators should continue building support for keeping this tax already on the books through a jobs initiative or any budget modifications that occur later this year. It is premature to consider it dead when December 31st is quite far off, especially by Albany's standards.

Only by addressing New York's jobs crisis will the deep roots of our state's revenue crisis be addressed. We need the Governor and the legislative leaders to offer proactive job creation proposals, and demand the revenue to make those proposals reality.

The New Deal for New York campaign is made up of grassroots, faith-based, and member-led organizations from Buffalo, New York City, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Syracuse, and Yonkers, fighting for a new economy that meets the needs of all New Yorkers. More info on the New Deal for New York campaign is available at: www.NewDealForNewYork.org.

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