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Politics & Government

Fuschillo: 'Positive Steps in the Right Direction'

The New York State senator reflects on the past legislative year.

I am pleased to inform you that the Legislature and the Governor recently worked together in a bipartisan fashion to address the right priorities needed to help our economy grow; cutting taxes, creating jobs, and upgrading our infrastructure. In stark contrast to Washington, which is plagued by partisan gridlock, New York State is addressing the critical issues we face and delivering the results that residents expect and deserve.

Working together, we delivered $690 million in personal income tax relief for over 4.4 million taxpayers, allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money. Middle-class taxpayers will see the lowest tax rates in 50 years and no New York State resident will see an increase in the income tax rate they are currently paying.

We also cut taxes and reduced business costs, which is critically important for economic development.  The MTA payroll tax will be eliminated for nearly 80 percent of the businesses currently paying it. This tax, which I strongly opposed, has been a burden on small businesses which raised costs and discouraged job creation.  Eliminating this tax will help businesses save money which can be reinvested into creating jobs and growing their business.

Additionally, we took a great first step towards addressing our state’s infrastructure crisis with an infrastructure fund that will raise $1 billion in private capital dedicated to infrastructure improvement projects.  In addition, we gave the state’s principal transportation agencies the flexibility to utilize design-build procurement methods to expedite critical infrastructure projects. Both of these measures will help create jobs and get our economy moving forward.  The state should also build on these steps by continuing to explore public-private partnerships as a way to finance and deliver infrastructure projects and put people back to work.

These are all positive steps in the right direction for New York State which build upon the successes of this past year; eliminating a $10 billion budget deficit, reducing spending, and new tax relief. I look forward to continuing that work in the coming year.              

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