'No tax breaks for millionaires'

Miller PhotographyUFT President Michael Mulgrew joins labor leaders and representatives from community and education advocacy groups to demand that the state millionaire’s tax be extended. With schools and other public services threatened with more budget cuts this year, UFT President Michael Mulgrew joined fellow labor leaders and representatives from community and education advocacy groups at a “99 New York” rally on Oct. 17 on the City Hall steps demanding that the state millionaire’s tax be extended.

The tax, which is set to sunset on Dec. 31, would bring in an estimated $5 billion in state revenue next year if it is renewed.

Amid chants of the Occupy Wall Street slogan, “We are the 99 percent,” Mulgrew said, “It’s unconscionable that we are even considering letting the millionaire's tax expire, particularly when public services are being decimated across the state.”

Mulgrew noted that 1 percent of New York City taxpayers make 44 percent of all the income in the city yet pay only 32 percent of state and local taxes.

Those gathered said that failure to renew the tax was a $5 billion tax break for the wealthiest New Yorkers at the expense of the 99 percent of Americans whose standard of living has steadily declined since the economic meltdown of 2008.

Addressing the group, 1199/SEIU President George Gresham put it plainly: “All we are saying is pay your fair share. Working people are willing to stand up, but all we see is the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.”

Added John Samuelson, the president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, “Working families struggle day to day. It’s working families who need protection. We need government to keep the tax, support public services and protect working families.”

Speaking of the suffering at the bottom end of the economic spectrum, Mary Brosnahan, the executive director for the Coalition for the Homeless, noted that more than 40,000 New Yorkers, including more than 16,000 children, don’t have a home.

“For many kids, it means they don’t know if they will make it to school tomorrow morning,” Brosnahan said. “The lack of stability means your children will likely fall behind in their education because they aren’t getting enough sleep, decent food and a stable place to concentrate and do their homework.”

Sunshine Ludder, the senior economic policy strategist for the Center for Working Families, challenged what she called “the unfounded fear” propagated by politicians and business leaders that rich New Yorkers would leave for neighboring states if the millionaire’s tax were retained.

“There’s plenty of evidence that taxes help and that no one leaves,” Ludder said. “It’s the quality of life, the amenities, the access to people with education and job skills that keep the wealth in state.”

That same day, a new poll released by Siena College found that 72 percent of New York voters support extending the tax to avoid further budget cuts. Just 26 percent oppose it.

The current tax, established in 2009, hit households earning $200,000 or more. The new version would be a genuine millionaire’s tax, which would be levied only on households earning $1 million or more.