ALBANY, NY (WSKG) - With New York state facing a $6 billion budget deficit, the speaker of the State Assembly said it might be time to impose new taxes on the rich.
A multibillion-dollar gap in the Medicaid budget is contributing to the state’s deficit, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he knows it’s going to be a “tough budget year.”
“For us in the Assembly, we would always rather raise revenue than cut,” Heastie said. “We think that New York has some very generous people, and I’m saying that facetiously, that we would always like to call on them to do more, in that regard.”
The speaker said it’s a better choice than “cutting health care or denying health care” to New Yorkers.
Opponents of imposing new taxes on the wealthy, including at times Gov. Andrew Cuomo, say it could cause rich people to leave the state.
Heastie did not provide any details, and he said he has not yet talked about potential new taxes with the governor, or with Democrats who lead the Senate, but he says those discussions will take place over the next few weeks.