And…they’re off. Memorial Day’s now behind us, summer beckons and Andrew Cuomo and Rob Astorino — the official nominees of their parties — are set to go mano-a-mano in their bids for governor.
Today marks the first real day of their campaigns, and nothing will do New York more good than a robust square-off on the state’s key challenges. In particular: taxes, spending and jobs.
Let’s take them one at a time.
Taxes. New Yorkers have long borne the heaviest tax burden in America. In the city, top earners pay more of their income (53.2 percent) in federal, state and local taxes than they keep. Beyond the city, local taxes in some New York counties lead the nation.
Cuomo’s property-tax cap has helped. But he also hiked top income-tax rates after vowing not to. And though he got Albany to OK some trims this year, they’re complex and barely make a dent in the burden.
As county executive, meanwhile, Astorino held down Westchester’s levies, where property taxes consistently are among the nation’s steepest. As governor, he says, he would take on the state’s high-tax regime.
Spending. Underlying our high taxes is Albany’s addiction to spending. New York’s $137 billion budget is bigger than that of Israel and the Philippines combined. Yes, Cuomo’s shown restraint compared to his predecessors. He’s kept yearly growth of state-funded outlays to less than 2 percent. Alas, that’s not enough for meaningful tax relief. Astorino boasts he’s made actual cuts in county spending of 5.2 percent. Statewide, that could be a game-changer.
Jobs. While spending has driven up taxes, taxes have driven jobs over state lines. So has Albany’s mind-numbing rules and mandates for businesses. Most notably, Cuomo refuses to make a decision on fracking, an industry that could bring thousands of jobs (the average upstream oil and natural gas job pays seven times the minimum wage) to economically desperate parts of upstate. Astorino says he’ll give fracking a quick OK.
These aren’t the only issues, but they are a good start. Let the debate begin.