State Senator George Borrello joins other Senate Republicans in announcing affordability plan (February 13, 2023)

Members of the State Senate Republican Conference have unveiled a proposal for “A More Affordable New York.”

This is one of several initiatives being proposed as part of the conference’s “Rescue New York Agenda.”

The Conference specifically called out several Executive Budget proposals that they say would exacerbate New York State’s lack of affordability, including:
– Eliminating enhanced Medicaid payments to local governments, which they say could lead to increased local property taxes;
– Increasing unemployment insurance taxes on small businesses and farms;
– Further increasing payroll taxes in the MTA region; and
– The use of hundreds of millions of dollars in state money in New York City for new migrants.

The Senate Republican plan includes:
– Eliminating costly unfunded mandates that drive up local property taxes;
– Protecting businesses from unemployment insurance tax hikes by creating an Unemployment Insurance Solvency Reserve Fund and repealing the interest assessment surcharge, which is the assessment on businesses to pay back the UI Trust Fund’s deficit;
– Repealing Congestion Pricing; and
– Providing relief from heating costs geared toward the middle class.

State Senator George Borrello said in a statement that the $7.8 billion unemployment insurance fund debt is hurting small business owners and that the Republican’s, “..plan would correct this injustice and spare employers, and their customers, from added costs by shifting repayment responsibility to the state and creating a reserve fund to guard against future insolvency.”