NEW YORK PUBLIC ADVOCATE: TAX WALL STREET AND WEALTHY TO STOP MEDICAID CUTS

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams Friday called for the implementation of a plan to protect Medicaid in New York City and across the state by putting in place several measures to collect fairness fees on multi-millionaires, billionaires and Wall Street.

The calls come as New York State faces a $6 billion budget deficit for 2020, two-thirds of which is due to Medicaid costs. It serves as a response to Governor Cuomo's proposal to shift costs to localities across New York State, with the largest burden falling to New York City.

In a memo addressed to Assembly Members and State Senators-- and at a press conference in Zuccotti Park-- the Public Advocate identified six revenue-raising measures which together could net $20 Billion in new revenue statewide and protect healthcare funding at a crucial time when the state faces the threat of coronavirus.

These actions include:

Enforcing a Stock Transfer Fee

• For decades, New York imposed a small fairness fee on Wall Street trades, but since the Reagan era has been rebating it back 100%. Ending that rebate and enforcing the fee would bring back more than $10 Billion for the state.

Implementing a Stock Buyback Fee

• A 0.5% fee on corporations buying back stock in the wake of the Trump tax law could create an additional $3.2 Billion in revenue.

Implementing a Pied á Terre Tax

• This tax, which was considered during last year's legislative session in Albany, would implement a surcharge on the assessment of mostly-empty extra luxury homes of the wealth and generate over $600 million annually.

Adding a Luxury Yacht/Private Plane Sales

• Tax This measure would place a sales tax on these private, non-commercial luxury goods.

Putting in Place a Ultra-Millionaires Tax

Increasing the income tax rate for the ultra-wealthy would amount to $2-4 billion annually, with new tax brackets for those making $5, $10, and $100 million dollars each year.

Closing the Carried Interest Loophole

• Closing this loophole, as everyone from Governor Cuomo to President Trump has expressed support for, could generate up to $3.5 Billion in new revenue for the state.

Public Advocate Williams has long supported increased fees on the wealthiest people in New York as a means to fund critical programs for lower income New Yorkers, including through his early support of the Occupy Wall Street Movement in 2011. He returned to the protest site in Zuccotti Park Friday for a rally in support of the plan and against Medicaid cuts, and will travel to Albany Friday afternoon to highlight the plan with state and local legislators. More details on the event in Albany can be found here.