But, he gets it right with small-business tax cuts and school-aid increase . . . Governor Andrew Cuomo recently delivered his State of the State Address, which contrary to protocol, he combined with his 2016-17 budget address. The speech lasted nearly two hours and set forth the governor’s priorities for the 2016 legislative session. Here are […]
But, he gets it right with small-business tax cuts and school-aid increase . . .
Governor Andrew Cuomo recently delivered his State of the State Address, which contrary to protocol, he combined with his 2016-17 budget address. The speech lasted nearly two hours and set forth the governor’s priorities for the 2016 legislative session. Here are some highlights of his speech.
Ethics reform
With the arrest and conviction of Sheldon Silver, the former Speaker of the Assembly, and Dean Skelos, the former majority leader in the State Senate, it is evident that real ethics reform is needed in Albany. Gov. Cuomo in his State of the State Address set forth proposals that he claims will help clean up the ethics mess that we have in Albany. Unfortunately, his two major proposals — public financing of campaigns and limiting outside income for legislators — would worsen the ethics problems we have in Albany, not lessen them. For example, New York City (NYC) has public financing of campaigns for city counsel and citywide races. But an examination of NYC’s campaign system shows that public financing of campaigns has just cost taxpayers money, it has not prevented corruption, increased voter turn out, or made elections more competitive — all things that were promised when the NYC system of public financing of campaigns was instituted.
The governor mentioned in his speech that by limiting outside income for legislators, New York will be copying what’s done in Congress. Is that the system that New York really wants to emulate — a place that is made up of professional politicians. Make no mistake, limiting outside income for legislators is the first step toward a full-time legislature. This, in turn, will only discourage people from various backgrounds from running for office and bring to the New York Legislature the concept of professional politicians.
Instead of the governor’s proposals, the legislature should focus on reforms that will change how business in done in Albany. We should institute term limits for leaders and have ethics complaints vetted by an ethics committee that is truly independent from legislative leaders. Moreover, to encourage a more representative government, the Assembly should allow rank-and-file members to get legislation to the floor of the Assembly for a vote if a majority of members support the legislation.
Small-business tax relief
On a positive note, the governor in his speech recognized the challenges that small businesses, the backbone of our state’s economy, face. To help small businesses, he is proposing what amounts to a $300 million tax cut. Under his proposal, the corporate franchise tax rate would be decreased from 6.5 percent to 4 percent for small businesses with income below $290,000. He would also provide a 15 percent tax exemption for qualifying small businesses. These are policies that I have supported in the past, and I look forward to working with the governor on getting them passed this year.
School aid
The governor also proposes to finally close the GEA (gap elimination adjustment). This was a funding cut that public schools took several years ago when the state was facing severe budgetary constraints. Very often, however, this cut disproportionately hurt low-wealth school districts that are more reliant on state aid than higher-wealth districts. Over the last few years, the state has decreased the GEA, but we have yet to totally close this gap. I applaud the governor for proposing to get rid of it completely. But instead of getting rid of it over two years as he is proposing, I would advocate getting rid of it this year.
These are just a few major policies that the governor is proposing. There are several more that I will write about in future columns.
William (Will) A. Barclay is the Republican representative of the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact him at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us, or (315) 598-5185.