Paterson Chides Legislature For Dismissing Property-Tax Cap
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- June
- 11
Gov. Paterson said he’s dismayed that the state Legislature has turned a cold shoulder to a proposed school property-tax cap without even debating the issue.
Lawmakers are expected to end the legislative session June 23 and are unlikely to even take up a tax cap before they head home, especially in a tough election year in November.
Paterson said he doesn’t get it, saying he is trying to negotiate the idea but no one is listening. He said maybe it’s the hot weather, and suggested that he may call lawmakers back in the fall to debate the issue.
“So this is how we are operating government now? We make a public announcement. No hearings, no deliberation, no discussion, no debate. And no alternative,” the Democratic governor told reporters as his portrait was presented to the Legislative Correspondents Association to be hung in their offices at the Capitol, shown left.
“Everybody said we don’t like the proposal but we care about the constituents. We care about people. Well if you care, what’s your proposal? No one wants to put one out there.”
Powerful teachers’ union oppose a cap, and so far legislative leaders have not went up against them to push for a cap.
Paterson said people are leaving the state because taxes are too high, saying that the number of people who moved out of the state in 2006 is about the size of Syracuse, which has about 140,000 people.
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on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 1:02 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
“So this is how we are operating government now? We make a public announcement. No hearings, no deliberation, no discussion, no debate. And no alternative.” Sad, but true.
I was born in Rockland County, lived in New York City for many years, and recently moved to Texas—where there is no state personal income tax, and where the real estate costs and taxes are also lower. It’s a disgrace what has happened to New York. The tax cap was extremely reasonable and badly needed. The cap was tied to the inflation rate—and if people wanted higher taxes, they were free to vote on that! But the taxpayers of Rockland and Westchester never were very important.
Albany is broken and the only way to fix it is with a state constitutional convention. Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, and Connecticut are all considering “con-cons.” New York has no lieutenant governor, and a governor who has had eye surgeries. For that reason alone, an emergency must be declared and a constitutional convention held. Albany now works for the special interests alone. The tax cap never stood a chance. And because taxpayers don’t even have the simple rights to initiative and referendum, they will NEVER have a chance.
Pressure Governor Paterson. Write to Tom Suozzi and Blair Horner of NYPIRG. Ask them all when New York will have a constitutional convention to help solve its many problems. This is an economic crisis and the taxpayers of Rockland and Westchester must be heard!