Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y.
More than 40 millionaires, including members of the Rockefeller and Disney families, are asking to have their taxes raised to help address poverty and rebuild failing infrastructure.
The millionaires wrote a letter to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top New York lawmakers proposing new, higher tax rates for the top 1 percent of earners in the state. The letter, a copy of which was given to The Associated Press, says additional revenue is needed to address child poverty, homelessness and aging bridges, tunnels, water pipes and roads.
“As New Yorkers who have contributed to and benefited from the economic vibrancy of our state, we have both the ability and the responsibility to pay our fair share,” the letter states. “We can well afford to pay our current taxes, and we can afford to pay even more.”
Those signing the letter include Abigail Disney, Leo Hindery and Steven C. Rockefeller. The tax plan, known as the one-percent tax plan, was worked out in conjunction with the Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning economic think tank.
“As a businessman and philanthropist and as a citizen of New York state, I believe we need to invest in our people and our infrastructure,” Hindery, the managing partner of InterMedia Partners, a media-industry private-equity fund, said in a statement accompanying the letter. “The one-percent tax plan makes it possible to make these investments, and simply asks people like me to continue to pay a higher tax rate, as we should.”
The one-percent plan would create new, higher tax rates for those making $665,000 or more.