New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is seeking to solve the state’s budget shortfall by raising taxes on the wealthy, lowering taxes for the middle class and supporting efforts to legalize resort-style casino gambling. According to the New York Times, Cuomo’s Sunday speech also called for a new stimulus package for work on infrastructure.
Although he did not go into specifics, the governor outlined his tax reform plan as a restructuring of tax brackets. Currently, New York has a “millionaire’s tax”—a charge on all individual incomes over $200,000. It is set to expire December 31, and Cuomo wants to replace it with new tax brackets for high-income earners that would see wealthy people pay taxes at a higher rate. The restructuring would also lower tax rates for middle income earners, and include tax incentives for businesses.
Cuomo is currently working with the state legislature to ensure the reform’s passage. The new rates would come into effect and stay for several years, the New York Times said.
Also on the governor’s wish list is the legalization of gambling. Doing so would help create jobs, he said.
Cuomo announced his intentions in an essay his office sent to reporters.
“Our goal in New York should be twofold,” he wrote. “To fashion a job-creating economic plan, and to defy political gridlock like we see in Washington and make government work to actually implement the plan.”
New York is facing a deficit of as much as $3.5 billion during the next fiscal year, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
