According to a 2007 report by the National Conferenceof State Legislatures, thirty states have put in place statutory or constitutional tax or spending limits. New York continues to rank at or near the top in combined state and local tax burden, further illustrating the need to enact a spending cap. All across this state struggling New Yorkers are tightening their financial belts just to get by. Isn’t it time their elected representatives learn to do the same?Now more than ever, we need more accountability in Albany -- and we need to start by putting a common-sense cap on spending now. The past two State budgets have increased State spending dramatically, and last year the Executive Budget contained one of the largest increases in State spending in history. My colleagues and I in the Senate Majority recently proposed enactment of a constitutional spending cap that would prevent the Executive from submitting a Budget that increases spending by more than four percent over the previous year’s Budget and force both houses of the Legislature to live within reasonable spending limits.Under the Senate proposal, year-to-year State spending increases would be limited to 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 4 percent, whichever is less. In any given year, fifty percent of tax revenue that exceeded the cap would be placed in a reserve fund and fifty percent would be returned to taxpayers in the form of direct tax rebates. The proposal would give the Executive the authority to exceed the cap in the event of a fiscal emergency or other extraordinary circumstances, however, the Comptroller would be required to independently certify the financial crisis. In addition, the amendment would force the Executive to resubmit a balanced Budget to address any shortfalls in revenue that occur after the submission of the Executive Budget, and make any necessary spending revisions to reflect the declining revenue.This cap would slam the door on massive increases in State spending and hold a Governor accountable for maintaining a balanced budget. The family budget is more important than the State Budget, and we have to stand up to protect taxpayers from being taxed out of their homes. With all of the talk about forcing school districts to implement a tax cap, we must lead by example and do more at the State level to control spending and taxes.A constitutional amendment is the only guarantee against excessive and wasteful spending and higher taxes to pay for that spending. If a constitutional amendment had been in place the last five years, State taxpayers would have saved more than $10 billion, half of which would have been returned to taxpayers and the other half placed in a rainy day reserve fund. It’s time for the people who run the state to practice the same responsibility and discipline that is expected of hardworking taxpayers. There is absolutely no defensible reason why our state government cannot find three or five cents of waste and mismanagement in every department, and channeling those savings to where they can do the most good -- back in the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers where they belong.The best way to cut taxes is to cut wasteful government spending. A cap on state spending will require the people in charge to prioritize what they do – and hold them accountable for what they spend.
According to a 2007 report by the National Conferenceof State Legislatures, thirty states have put in place statutory or constitutional tax or spending limits. New York continues to rank at or near the top in combined state and local tax burden, further illustrating the need to enact a spending cap.
All across this state struggling New Yorkers are tightening their financial belts just to get by. Isn’t it time their elected representatives learn to do the same?Now more than ever, we need more accountability in Albany -- and we need to start by putting a common-sense cap on spending now. The past two State budgets have increased State spending dramatically, and last year the Executive Budget contained one of the largest increases in State spending in history.
My colleagues and I in the Senate Majority recently proposed enactment of a constitutional spending cap that would prevent the Executive from submitting a Budget that increases spending by more than four percent over the previous year’s Budget and force both houses of the Legislature to live within reasonable spending limits.Under the Senate proposal, year-to-year State spending increases would be limited to 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 4 percent, whichever is less. In any given year, fifty percent of tax revenue that exceeded the cap would be placed in a reserve fund and fifty percent would be returned to taxpayers in the form of direct tax rebates. The proposal would give the Executive the authority to exceed the cap in the event of a fiscal emergency or other extraordinary circumstances, however, the Comptroller would be required to independently certify the financial crisis. In addition, the amendment would force the Executive to resubmit a balanced Budget to address any shortfalls in revenue that occur after the submission of the Executive Budget, and make any necessary spending revisions to reflect the declining revenue.This cap would slam the door on massive increases in State spending and hold a Governor accountable for maintaining a balanced budget. The family budget is more important than the State Budget, and we have to stand up to protect taxpayers from being taxed out of their homes. With all of the talk about forcing school districts to implement a tax cap, we must lead by example and do more at the State level to control spending and taxes.A constitutional amendment is the only guarantee against excessive and wasteful spending and higher taxes to pay for that spending. If a constitutional amendment had been in place the last five years, State taxpayers would have saved more than $10 billion, half of which would have been returned to taxpayers and the other half placed in a rainy day reserve fund. It’s time for the people who run the state to practice the same responsibility and discipline that is expected of hardworking taxpayers. There is absolutely no defensible reason why our state government cannot find three or five cents of waste and mismanagement in every department, and channeling those savings to where they can do the most good -- back in the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers where they belong.The best way to cut taxes is to cut wasteful government spending. A cap on state spending will require the people in charge to prioritize what they do – and hold them accountable for what they spend.
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