At the same time labor, faith, education and community advocates were gathering in a church a block away from the Capitol, a conservative leaning group and the Farm Bureau were working reporters at the Legislative Office Building.
Dueling news conferences on opposite sides of the estate tax issue.
New York is one of 14 states that still taxes estates or inheritances.
The Governor wants to give 90 per cent of those currently taxed a break, so that only those above five million would pay and even they would pay less upon death.
“That’s about a one and a half million tax cut for millionaires and billionaires,” said Ron Deutsch of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness.
Two local Assembly members, Pat Fahy and Phil Steck, joined the call to attack income inequality in New York.
“Particularly the one I have to say I’m troubled by is the estate tax because it’s only going to benefit so, so few people,” said Fahy (D – Albany).
But the President of the Empire Center argues a whole lot of New Yorkers have estates of at least a million dollars, the current floor above which the state takes a cut.
They support the Governor’s plan that would bring state tax policy in line with the federal level, which only taxes estates above five million dollars.
So does the farm bureau.
“If a farm has value, estate value over two million dollars it’s probably, there’s very likely a chance they’ll have to sell that land in that farm to pay the estate tax,” said Jeff Williams of the Farm Bureau.
© 2014, WNYT
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