New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference on September 8, 2020 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
A group of 250 CEOs and business leaders sent a letter to the New York governor and lawmakers expressing “alarm” over what they say could become the biggest spending and tax increase in state history.
The letter, delivered to Governor Andrew Cuomo and Democratic members of the Assembly and the state Senate, urged politicians to postpone any tax increases until after the state and New York City have fully recovered from the pandemic and the return of workers . As employers of more than 1.5 million people, executives said many of their workers had moved out of the city and if taxes rise “they will vote with their feet”.
“Only about 10% of our colleagues are in the office and the prospects for the future of a dense urban workplace are uncertain,” said the letter. “Many members of our workforce have resettled their families elsewhere, often with much lower taxes than New York, and the proposed tax increases will make it more difficult to get them back.”
Signatories to the letters include JPMorgan CEO Chase Jamie Dimon, BlackRock Inc. President and CEO Larry Fink, Pfizer President and CEO Albert Bourla, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes. The group said that “significant increases in corporate and individual taxes will make it much more difficult to restart the economic engine and replenish the deep and diverse talent pool that makes New York the largest city in the world.”
“It is not about companies threatening to leave the state; it is simply our people voting with their feet,” said the letter. “Ultimately, these new taxes can trigger a huge loss of economic activity and revenue, as companies are under pressure to relocate operations where the talent wants to live and work. It happened in New York during the 1970s, when we lost half of our fortune 500 companies and it took thirty years to recover. “
Governor Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democratic members of the state Assembly and Senate have proposed a series of tax increases for businesses and high-income people that could reach $ 6 billion a year. They argue that the pandemic has increased inequality in New York and that higher taxes for companies and people who earn money are needed to finance social programs and close the wealth gap.
However, New York’s budgetary framework has improved recently. The state is expected to receive $ 12.5 billion in unrestricted funds from the federal stimulus bill and New York state director Robert Mujica said that higher-than-expected stimulus funds and tax revenues would allow the state to avoid planned budget cuts.
The group said it understands the “urgent human needs” and injustices exposed by the pandemic, but that the proposed tax increases or policy changes are likely to occur after the New York recovery.
“Once we are on the path to restoring more than a million jobs and thousands of small businesses that New York has lost in the past twelve months, it may be necessary to raise new revenue to fill the gaps in our education, health and social welfare systems” says the letter.
Rebecca Bailin, campaign manager for Invest in Our New York, an effort to fund social programs by taxing the wealthy, said the letter was “250 wealthy people in their homes begging for the status quo”.