XPost: misc.taxes, ny.politics, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: democrat.voters.are.stupid@hillaryclinton.com   
      
   Taxing the Rich, School Funding, Housing: N.Y. Budget Battle Begins   
      
   What do free bus rides, new taxes on the wealthy and a stiff drink in a   
   movie theater have in common? All three have the support of lawmakers in   
   the New York State Legislature.   
      
   These ideas and thousands of others were tucked into the Senate and   
   Assembly budget proposals released this week, offering a glimpse of   
   legislators’ positions as Albany’s annual budget battle royale kicks off.   
   Gov. Kathy Hochul must come to a consensus with leaders in the State   
   Senate and Assembly on how to spend more than $230 billion by the state’s   
   April 1 budget deadline.   
      
   The fact that all three leaders are Democrats does not mean there is any   
   less to haggle over: Taxing the rich, tenant protections and school   
   funding are all up for debate once more as Ms. Hochul, a centrist from   
   Buffalo, will be forced to find common ground with an increasingly left-   
   leaning Legislature.   
      
   And while those debates have sometimes become intractable — last year’s   
   budget was a full month late, after Ms. Hochul insisted on tightening the   
   state’s bail laws — Democrats in both houses are eager to avoid a   
   prolonged ordeal with a consequential general election on the horizon.   
      
   In January, Ms. Hochul unveiled her $233 billion spending plan, which   
   called for significant investments in mental health care, public safety   
   and artificial intelligence research, as well as $2.4 billion to address   
   the migrant crisis in New York City. But she also proposed cuts to   
   education funding and health care that have drawn criticism.   
      
   In their proposals, Democrats in the Senate and Assembly pushed back   
   against Ms. Hochul’s desired changes to education funding while offering   
   their own proposals on how to solve the state’s housing crisis, make   
   transportation more effective and accessible, and more.   
      
   Here’s what to know as budget talks commence.   
      
   A fight over education funding   
   Both the Senate and Assembly rejected key changes to school aid that Ms.   
   Hochul proposed in an effort to reduce education spending, and instead   
   kept in place the formula that the state uses to determine how much aid is   
   distributed to individual districts. They allocated $1 million for a study   
   on the issue.   
      
   Ms. Hochul’s proposals have been a point of contention on both sides of   
   the aisle. Though the governor’s budget would increase overall education   
   aid by about 2.4 percent compared with last year, about half of the   
   state’s school districts would receive less state aid, and no districts   
   would receive as much as they had anticipated under the current formula.   
      
   Ms. Hochul’s budget would base funding in part on the average cost of   
   living over the past 10 years, as opposed to the previous year. It would   
   also end a decades-old practice that guarantees districts never receive   
   less state funding in a school year than they did the year before, even if   
   enrollment declines.   
      
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   The governor argues that these changes are necessary to respond to falling   
   enrollment and would help distribute aid in a way that more accurately   
   reflects districts’ level of need. But district leaders and lawmakers have   
   said the changes would negatively affect many schools across the state,   
   including in many low-income, rural areas.   
      
   The Assembly and Senate also rejected the governor’s proposal to offer   
   Eric Adams four more years of control of New York City schools. The New   
   York City mayor has had control of city schools since 2002, subject to   
   renewal by the Legislature — an arrangement that has frustrated some   
   lawmakers and parents who would like to see a new model.   
      
   Raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers   
   Both the Senate and Assembly proposed raising personal income taxes by   
   half a percent for people earning over $5 million until 2027. Such an   
   increase could add nearly a billion in new revenue each year, they   
   estimated.   
      
   Asked on Tuesday about the proposal, Ms. Hochul was clear: “Raising income   
   taxes is a nonstarter for me,” she said.   
      
   The governor has been staunchly opposed to raising taxes, seeing the move   
   as counterproductive to her goal of stemming New York’s nation-leading   
   population loss.   
      
   There has been much debate, however, on whether tax increases on the   
   wealthy actually drive New Yorkers out of state: An analysis from the   
   Fiscal Policy Institute found that it was in fact the working and middle   
   classes who were leading the exodus, trends they tied to affordability   
   issues more broadly.   
      
   Both houses also proposed an increase to the corporate tax and new tax   
   credits for working families. The Assembly would expand two existing   
   credits, the earned-income tax credit and the Child Tax Credit. The Senate   
   proposed a new credit, known as the Working Families Tax Credit, that   
   would offer $550 to married couples earning under $130,000.   
      
   Could this be the year for housing?   
   Last year, Ms. Hochul proposed an ambitious plan to spur housing   
   construction across the state. But that proposal and all others collapsed   
   last year as all sides failed to agree.   
      
   Democrats in the State Senate advanced a package that aims to keep people   
   in their homes while building new affordable housing. The proposal   
   includes initiatives to speed commercial to residential conversions,   
   encourage granny flats and other conversions and free up funds to help   
   upstate renters avoid eviction.   
      
   Parts of the package — including proposals to replace an expired tax break   
   for developers, and raise the cap on what landlords who own rent-   
   stabilized buildings can charge after improving a unit — are sure to be   
   celebrated by landlords and developers.   
      
   But the package comes with one major condition: Senate Democrats say they   
   will not make any deal that does not include protections similar to those   
   in the Good Cause Eviction legislation — a controversial bill that would   
   limit landlords’ ability to evict tenants or raise their rent above 3   
   percent in times of low inflation.   
      
   The Assembly’s proposal also includes incentives for office conversions   
   and for building new housing on state-owned land. And while it makes   
   reference to protecting tenants from “capricious rent increases and   
   unreasonable evictions,” it makes no mention of the tenant protection   
   legislation the Senate prioritized, in a blow to progressives.   
      
   Addressing climate change   
   Both chambers proposed allocating millions for climate projects, including   
   electric vehicle infrastructure, heat pumps and solar panels.   
      
   But the Senate went further, removing a raft of tax breaks for the fossil   
   fuel industry and throwing its weight behind a piece of legislation prized   
   by environmental advocates under which companies that have released a   
   significant amount of fossil fuels into the atmosphere must also   
   contribute to a fund to help the state adapt to climate change.   
      
      
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