On Dec. 6, 2011, Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders announced a deal to extend New York's biggest income tax increase in 50 years, targeting earners of $1 million and more for what will be the third highest income tax rate imposed by any major state. About one quarter of the $2.6 billion tax hike will be redistributed in the form of tax cuts for middle-class filers, and the rest will be spent. This page, which will be continuously updated, features Empire Center commentary and analysis on this topic.
NY Torch Blog
A more "open and engaged process" -- Not! - Dec. 8, 2011
Cuomo pitches his tent -- Dec. 7, 2011
Debating the tax increase -- Dec. 7, 2011
The tentative tax-hike package -- Dec. 6, 2011
Cuomo's income tax canards -- Dec. 5, 2011
A tax hike masquerading as a "jobs program" -- Dec. 5, 2011
UPDATE: Cuomo's lips move -- Nov. 30, 2011
Cuomo's tax policy: moving lips, or ventriloquism? -- Nov. 30, 2011
Millionaire tax myths: the sequel -- Oct. 19, 2011
Millionaire tax myths -- Oct. 11, 2011
Op-Eds & Other Articles
Tax-hike cheers: NY biz's big bungle -- New York Post -- Dec. 12, 2011
So Gov. Cuomo hikes the state’s top marginal-income-tax rate by 29 percent for three years, and the city’s business community says it’s terrific. Huh?
Spend, spend, spend -- New York Post -- Dec. 11, 2011
Forget all the spin about "reform," "fairness" and "job creation" emanating from Albany during last week's lightning-fast special session of the New York State Legislature. The deal ultimately was all about spending.
More Revenue, More Spending -- New York Times, Room for Debate -- Dec. 9, 2011
This week's flash tax deal in Albany will hurt the state's long-term economic prospects and put the state government's finances on an even more precarious footing.
Op-Ed: Andrew's lip service -- New York Post -- Dec. 4, 2011
Few Albany policy fights in recent memory have generated more heat and less light than the dispute over whether to extend higher state income-tax rates on high-income households. Now Gov. Cuomo has blown a cloud of smoke into the mix.
Cuomo's Big Stall -- New York Post -- Nov. 10, 2011
New York state’s mid-year financial plan update was due on Oct. 31, and state agency heads were scheduled to present their budget requests at hearings last week. But Gov. Cuomo has taken the unusual step of delaying the mid-year report and postponing the agency budget hearings until further notice.
Testing Cuomo - National Review Online - Nov. 10, 2011
Governor Cuomo faces daunting challenges that will make his second year much tougher than his first, testing his oft-stated commitment to holding down taxes and taming unsustainable growth in New York’s public-sector spending.
The Many Myths of the Millionaire Tax - New York Post - Oct. 12, 2011
If there’s one thing the Occupy Wall Street crowd agrees on, it’s that New York should expand its “millionaire tax” on high-income earners. But the soak-the-rich platform is built on factual distortions and a partisan rewrite of history -- as two state lawmakers who support that agenda have just demonstrated.
NY's Stealth Tax Hike - New York Post - April 15, 2011
Another Tax Day brings with it yet another unheralded and unlegislated income-tax increase for middle-income New Yorkers.
Empire of Excess - City Journal, Winter 2010
After allowing for federal deductibility, the effective state income-tax rate is actually higher now than it was 35 years ago. And current tax trends in Washington will push New York’s net income-tax cost—the difference between earning income here and in a no-tax state such as Florida or Texas—further beyond 1970s levels, even if the higher state rate expires on schedule in two years.
Tax High, People Fly - City Journal, Special Issue, Summer 2009
In the middle of its worst economic downturn since the 1930s, New York State enacted its biggest personal income-tax hike since 1961.
Video and Audio
Debating new tax deal -- NY1 -- Dec. 6, 2011
Opinion: Cuomo's tax backslide -- WSJ Market Watch -- Dec. 1, 2011
McMahon and Kink debate millionaire's tax - Capital Tonight - Nov. 30, 2011
E.J. McMahon and Fred Dicker -- Live from the State Capital -- Dec. 5, 2011
E.J. McMahon on taxes -- Capitol Pressroom -- Dec. 5, 2011
News Links
Experts debate new tax brackets -- Legislative Gazette -- Dec. 12, 2011
Albany tax deal squeezes NYC... -- Crain's New York Business -- Dec. 11, 2011
Albany tax deal to raise rate for highest earners -- New York Times -- Dec. 7, 2011
Albany boosts taxes on wealthiest -- Wall Street Journal -- Dec. 7, 2011
Cuomo, legislative leaders agree on tax deal -- WABC -- Dec. 6, 2011
Cuomo: More income brackets -- Albany Times Union -- Dec. 6, 2011
Cuomo pivots on taxes in revenue push -- Buffalo News -- Dec. 6, 2011
Cuomo calls for fairness in tax code changes -- North Country Public Radio -- Dec. 6, 2011
Jobs plan on the table -- Albany Times Union -- Dec. 5, 2011
Cuomo won't rule out millionaire tax to close... -- Times Herald-Record -- Dec. 1, 2011
Cuomo eyes policy shift on new taxes -- Wall Street Journal -- Dec. 1, 2011
Cuomo says he's considering many fiscal options -- Associated Press -- Dec. 1, 2011
