[BwayDems] Broadway Democrats August 13 Forum: NY State Budget and Budget Justice

[Gretchen Borges]

The Broadway Democrats

w District Leaders: Curtis Arluck, Paula Diamond Román w President: Amy
Porterw

*August Forum *

 *online, via Zoom*



 Ricky Silver*, **Co-Founder of Empire State Indivisible*, will discuss*:*



·    *the New York State budgeting process*

·    *what is meant by* *Budget Justice*



*and*



* GoBlue will report on latest activity*



*Thursday, August 13*

*Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. sharp!*



*Information on how to participate at*

*www.broadwaydemocrats.org <http://www.broadwaydemocrats.org>*

*or*

*www.facebook.com/groups/BroadwayDemocrats/
<http://www.facebook.com/groups/BroadwayDemocrats/>*





*Allison Downing, Steering Committee on Budget Justice*

At our next forum on August 13th, Ricky Silver, Co-Founder of Empire State
Indivisible, will discuss the New York State budgeting process, and what
advocacy and activist groups mean by Budget Justice. He’ll discuss some
history, explain some bills and policy initiatives, and offer some
suggestions about what the Broadway Dems can do to help push our state
towards a more equitable budget. Depending upon where things stand with the
budget process at that time, additional speakers may join in.

As an overview, Budget Justice means taxing the very richest New Yorkers
and investing to make our state a better, fairer, safer home for us all.

Over the past decade:

   - Our population of millionaires grew 72%. We have the world’s highest
   concentration of billionaires, with combined wealth greater than 300% our
   entire state budget.
   - Billionaires and mega-millionaires got billions in tax breaks.

And yet:

   - Our children await $4 billion in court-ordered school funding. Our
   public colleges are strapped.
   - 92,000 people are homeless, and more than 500,000 lack stable rental
   housing.
   - Our air and water are contaminated. The climate emergency deepens.
   - Thousands are suffering and dying as our health care system
   deteriorates and an opioid epidemic explodes.
   - New Yorkers who are poor, Black, and Brown are hit hardest.
   - Middle-income people are hurting too, as state-level budget cuts force
   increases in property and local taxes, while basic services decline.

We can do so much better. We could raise up to $40 billion per year by
assessing:

   - Second homes worth over $5 million
   - Vacant luxury homes and commercial properties
   - Annual income over $5 million with additional brackets, as in other
   states
   - Carried interest (so hedge fund managers could no longer duck income
   tax)
   - Stock transactions
   - Stock buybacks
   - Companies that overcompensate CEOs
   - Foreign companies benefiting from Trump tax laws

Who would pay more?

   - Big corporations and the ultra-rich: Only those who can easily afford
   it.

Fundamental tax reform is at the heart of the democratic effort to combat
extreme inequality and thus to give New Yorkers, some for the first time,
the opportunity to thrive.


An equitable and sustainable tax system should:

   - raise revenue to fund our needs,
   - distribute resources to promote healthy, thriving, and safe communities
   - regulate our economy to align it with democratic values


A number of revenue measures have been advanced and many more are in
development. For the 2020 New York State legislative session, many groups
working on the campaign are focused on fourteen reforms that together could
raise more than $35 billion with new or increased progressive taxes on:

   - Extreme Wealth
   - Ultra-high incomes
   - Big corporations and Wall Street



*Please join us on August 13th to learn more, and engage in the effort to
make New York State a more equitable place for us all.*
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