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New York Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
This tax-bill fine print could send businesses fleeing from New York — or derail Trump's agenda
A bit of late-surfacing fine print might yet throw negotiations over President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill into chaos, as it poses a dire threat to a key class of businesses in New York and other high-tax states. At issue is a provision that would override state laws that gave various partnerships a break after the 2017 tax reform limited the State and Local Tax deduction to personal income taxes to just $10,000. Many business pay taxes under the personal code, not the corporate one. And where the 2017 reforms gave almost every individual filer a net tax cut, it hit some partnerships harder. As a result, about 40 states passed some complex rules that shielded such businesses from the worst impact; New York's is called the Pass-Through Entity Tax, or PTET. But if Congress kills the PTET, it'll mean these NY biz would collectively have to pay $5 billion to $6 billion more in federal taxes, calculates the Empire Center's E.J. McMahon. And partnerships in New York City might be especially hard-hit, if the new federal rule also removes the deduction for the city's 4% unincorporated business tax. The net effect would be to boost the company's tax bill by something like 50% — a hit that will send those that can leave fleeing to Florida, Tennessee or other low-tax states. And that includes many of the most profitable firms, and thus the ones that most bolster the local economy Ironically, this move may have been how the tax-writing wonks sought to replace the federal revenue lost by increasing the SALT limit from $10,000 to $30,000 to help out individual filers in high-tax states — but that doesn't do much for the business filers (nor would even a $60,000 'cap'). Of course, the root problem here is the insane tax rates imposed by Albany, Trenton, Sacramento and so on. But until those state governments see the light, it's the individual and business taxpayers who suffer. The partnerships that would get slammed are only now waking up to the peril, and giving their representatives in Congress an earful. So stay tuned for yet more high-stakes drama as Republicans work to enact the Trump agenda.
New York Post
16-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Progressive era is over, NY's leaky mega-budget and other commentary
Culture critic: Progressive Era Is Over 'The decline of woke isn't merely a 'vibe shift,'' posits Eric Kaufmann at The Wall Street Journal. 'It marks the end of the 60-year rise of left-liberalism in American culture. We are entering a post-progressive era.' The cultural left's push for 'next-level DEI policies' sparked 'an enduring antiwoke reaction.' Even 'immigration attitudes have turned restrictionist after decades of liberalization.' 'Confronted by this broad-based rejection, progressive activists have lost confidence and energy.' And making it worse is that 'culturally inflected problems elude progressive solutions.' That has cost 'cultural progressivism' considerable influence. So, yes, we're 'leaving the age of progressive confidence behind.' But what replaces it 'as our cultural lodestar will become evident only in the fullness of time.' Eye on Albany: Our Leaky Mega-Budget Advertisement 'New York's budget has sprung its first major leak just five days after being finalized,' chortles Empire Center's Bill Hammond. He notes a move by feds to close 'a loophole in the Medicaid financing system' exploited by the state. Billions in increased Medicaid spending — plus $2 billion in 'rate hikes' for providers — was predicated on revenue from the 'newly enacted MCO tax.' The scheme allowed the state to 'keep the federal matching aid as net revenue.' The amended rule allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to 'start withholding federal matching funds for those taxes as soon as the regulation takes effect,' possibly this summer. Without the MCO tax revenue, New York's Medicaid 'fiscal cliff appears to be just two or three months away.' Liberal: The Dems' Political Monopoly 'One-party political rule by Democrats in big cities,' notes The Liberal Patriot's John Halpin, is the 'the largest monopoly of them all.' Yet the 'anti-monopoly and abundance policy concepts' currently en vogue around housing, energy infrastructure, and transportation aren't applied to the political monopoly Dems enjoy. 'In America's biggest cities, this translates into enervated municipal governments that coast from election to election with little outside challenge.' So 'schools don't get fixed. New housing or other development gets stalled. Roads, transportation, and other public utility projects get screwed up and delayed with massive cost overruns. Crime goes unaddressed. Public spaces and parks go to seed.' In other words, 'concentrated, one-party political power' is just one of many 'forms of misrule that lead to poor policy outcomes.' Advertisement Conservative: A Sick ICC Coverup Freshly exposed allegations might explain why International Criminal Court top prosecutor Karim Khan issued 'an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant,' observes Commentary's Seth Mandel. 'A female employee of Khan's testified that she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted' by him and was bullied into covering it up. After learning of the allegations, Khan canceled trips to Israel and Gaza; 'two weeks later he issued the arrest warrants.' The accuser wrestled with coming forward because she didn't want to derail the warrants; Khan believed they 'would insulate him from criticism from many of the ICC member states.' According to testimony, he 'explicitly tied the rape allegations to the Israeli warrants.' 'There is obviously no defense of the arrest warrants' legitimacy now.' Advertisement Libertarian: Power AI With Nukes! Nuclear power would 'allow the U.S. to make advancements in AI with minimal greenhouse gas emissions,' reports Reason's Jeff Luse. That's badly needed: 'Goldman Sachs projects that AI will increase data center power demand by 160 percent nationwide through 2030.' Texas, 'the fastest-growing consumer of electricity in the nation,' will need to add 'the energy equivalent of 30 nuclear power plants by 2030 to meet demand.' The good news? 'Last Energy is preparing to deliver . . . 30 of its 20-megawatt reactors in Haskell County, Texas, to service data centers across the state.' Up to now, the company 'has focused on growing its business abroad because of stringent federal regulations.' New nuclear energy projects 'will only be as cost-effective and efficient as regulations allow.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
Politico
14-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
New Yorkers get that Kathy Kash
Presented by Solving Hunger YOU GET A CHECK, AND YOU GET A CHECK, AND YOU GET A CHECK: Gov. Kathy Hochul's grand idea to dole out 'inflation refund' checks to millions of New Yorkers is now a reality. Having overcome initial opposition from inside the state Senate and the Assembly, Hochul will start sending out one-time checks worth up to $400 to at least 8 million New Yorkers by the fall, as she gears up for her reelection run, she announced today. And, to borrow a phrase from the inflation refund check queen herself, that's 'more money back in your pockets.' Hochul's unprecedented move to send moolah to millions of New Yorkers comes as dramatic funding cuts from Washington looms while the GOP-led Congress continues to hash out the federal budget. 'This is basically one-time non-recurring money, so I can't use this to make up for Medicaid cuts or education cuts or anything else,' Hochul told reporters today. 'What's the number one issue on people's minds? It's affordability. … I want them to feel the impact that they have a government that listens to them and is taking care of their basic needs.' Hochul's way-early Christmas gift to middle-class New Yorkers was initially supposed to be worth up to $500. The move to lower the checks by $100 was part of a $1 billion reduction to the affordability plan she first announced in January and meant 500,000 fewer New Yorkers would receive the checks. The checks are intended to be a 'refund' to New Yorkers who paid higher sales taxes when inflation raged in 2022 and Hochul discovered about $3 billion in unanticipated tax revenues. The decision to slightly modify the checks was a rare aberration for Hochul, who has resisted calls to scale back spending when shaping the now $254 billion state budget as federal cuts loom. Fiscal watchdogs like the Citizens Budget Commission, the Fiscal Policy Institute and Empire Center all slammed Hochul for ignoring those pending cuts in her budget agreement. Her decision to celebrate the refund checks today comes as D.C.'s Grim Reaper is already knocking on Albany's door. Empire Center noted today that the federal government is planning renege on its agreement to send New York about $3.7 billion over the next two years through a convoluted federal Medicaid matching process associated with the tax on managed care organizations. If that happens, it could require lawmakers and the governor to rework the budget for this fiscal year, which plans to spend $1.47 billion out of the agreement. 'While we won't speculate about the specific impacts of policy changes that are still in draft form, Republicans in Washington have made it clear that they're hell-bent on tearing apart the social safety net that millions of New Yorkers rely on to make ends meet,' Tim Ruffinen, a spokesperson for Hochul's budget director, said in a response to the pending MCO tax change. 'They're targeting critical, life-saving programs like Medicaid and food stamps — and everyday Americans are the ones who will get hurt.' — Jason Beeferman From the Capitol MAKE ALBANY HEALTHY AGAIN: The most visible lobbying effort in the first week of Albany's post-budget session came from advocates sure to face an uphill battle in the Democratic-dominated Legislature — critics of vaccines and supporters of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. About 100 people came to the Capitol today, including Naomi Wolf and members of MAHA Action and Children's Health Defense. They were joined by a four-piece band that filled the underground complex with chants of 'Make America Healthy Again' for several hours. Michael Kane, an organizer for the Kennedy-founded Children's Health Defense, encouraged them to tell every legislator 'why you were fired from your job, why your kid got kicked out of school, or your kid got injured from a shot.' The MAHA activists support five bills, including measures to make New York City rehire any employees fired for refusing the Covid vaccine and one to end the religious exemption for school vaccine mandates. They're attempting to defeat state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal's Registry For Keeping Justified Records Act. That 'RFKJR' bill would mandate that adult vaccination records be kept in a state database. — Bill Mahoney FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL I AM INEVITABLE: Team Cuomo happily trumpeted today's Marist College poll that showed the former governor holding a sustained lead in the Democratic mayoral primary. 'Despite multiple opponents' daily attacks, polling continues to reflect that the VOTERS still want Andrew Cuomo to be Mayor,' wrote Cuomo campaign political director Shontell Smith on X. 'Oh and Happy Wednesday!' The ex-governor's campaign has eagerly stoked the view his victory is a foregone conclusion. And it's one Hochul — who distanced herself from Cuomo when she took office following his scandal-induced resignation — has also bought into. Hochul agreed when asked today if she believes her predecessor's victory in the June 24 primary is 'inevitable.' 'The polls certainly indicate that at this point in time,' she said. 'Regardless, I've said it's my responsibility as the governor to work with whomever the voters want as their leader.' The Marist poll found Cuomo winning a ranked-choice voting simulation after five rounds — reaching 53 percent to Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani's 29 percent. City Comptroller Brad Lander finished third in the polled simulation with 18 percent. The ranked-choice results don't factor in undecideds, though, and the survey of 3,383 likely Democratic voters found 17 percent haven't made up their minds yet. That's giving hope to Cuomo's opponents, including City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who placed third in round one. She got in the race late and has yet to qualify for public matching funds or air TV ads, but her campaign said the poll was an encouraging one. 'There's a clear reason why support for Adrienne has doubled without burning through millions of dollars — New Yorkers finally see a candidate in it for us,' said Missayr Booker, a senior adviser for Adrienne Adams. Where will the undecided voters go and — more importantly — can they make a difference in the race? Marist pollster Lee Miringoff told Playbook that Cuomo is on a clear trajectory to win. 'He does have a substantial enough lead that, assuming he gets a chunk of those undecideds at the end, he wins,' he said. 'If he's shut out, it does get a bit dicier.' — Nick Reisman STAND UP GUY: Public Advocate Jumaane Williams took a subtle shot at his opponent Jenifer Rajkumar's penchant for standing behind Mayor Eric Adams in his first TV ad of his reelection campaign. 'I'll always stand with the people,' Williams says in the ad, smirking as he gestures to the crowd around him. He then pledges to 'Stand up. Not just stand by.' He'll spend $250,000 on placing the ad on cable and streaming ahead of the Democratic primary, City & State first reported. Rajkumar, a Queens assemblymember, appeared with Adams more than 150 times since he took office, Playbook reported, though she's been keeping her distance lately. She missed Adams' press conference on closing illegal cannabis shops today, even though that's an issue she championed and the event was near her district. Rajkumar's campaign shot back at Williams, noting that the crowd in his ad features government staff and lobbyists, not 'real New Yorkers.' 'It's no shock that Jumaane's ad doesn't list a single thing he has actually delivered for New Yorkers. Thanks to his no-show tenure, the Public Advocate's office has reverted to an empty political stepping stone,' Rajkumar spokesperson Arvind Sooknanan added. — Jeff Coltin 'STILL EARLY' IN MAYORAL RACE: Former New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson was in the Capitol today to work on 'a couple of projects.' Thompson knows as much about New York City mayoral primaries as anybody — he won the 2009 contest and finished second to Bill de Blasio in 2013 — and said this year's race is 'still as crazy as it sounds.' 'Clearly, former Gov. Cuomo is doing well. But then again, you're going to start to see lots of movement, so we'll see,' Thompson said. 'Everybody has to start to spend money — it's still early.' Thompson, who currently chairs CUNY's Board of Trustees, isn't endorsing in the race. — Bill Mahoney From City Hall SNAP DECISION: Lander warned at a briefing today that proposed cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which more than 2 million New York City residents use to buy food, would punch a multibillion dollar hole in New York's budget. The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that SNAP cuts proposed in House Republicans' reconciliation bill would save $300 billion. That windfall would come by forcing states to cover between 5 percent to 25 percent of SNAP costs. During his presentation, Lander predicted New York would be forced to pay at the high end of the spectrum and pegged the fiscal fallout at between $366 million to $1.8 billion annually — a sum that could lead officials to tighten eligibility instead. 'This budget hurts millions of people fighting to remain in this increasingly unaffordable city,' he said in a statement. 'Draconian figures like Trump have tried to gut our social safety net before, but hardworking New Yorkers and their families will remember every time they visit a hospital or go to bed hungry.' — Joe Anuta IN OTHER NEWS — DE BLASIO MUST PAY: Former mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to pay $319,000 for bringing a taxpayer-funded police detail along with him during his short-lived 2019 presidential campaign. (THE CITY) — DOCTORS WITHOUT DISCIPLINE: The state failed to discipline dozens of doctors after months or years of misconduct. (Newsday) — CUTS, COSTS AND TARIFFS: New York food banks are bracing for a trifecta of bad news. (New York Focus) Missed this morning's New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
New York Post
13-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Don's health care transparency fix, Hochul punts on spending cuts and other commentary
Health desk: Don's Health Care Transparency Fix President Trump's 'executive order requiring 'radical' healthcare price transparency,' cheer Arthur B. Laffer & Cynthia A. Fisher at Fox News, 'will revolutionize healthcare.' It 'doubles down on his first-term hospital and health insurance price transparency rules requiring the publication of actual prices of care and coverage.' And it's needed: 'Only 21.1% of hospitals nationwide are fully complying with' Trump's first-term rules as the Biden team didn't 'meaningfully enforce' them. Health care 'is the only economic sector where consumers cannot see real prices before they buy,' and thus 'prices for the same care can range by 10 times, even at the same hospital.' 'Trump's new order increases enforcement to boost compliance' and 'requires actual prices — not estimates — so patients can shop with financial certainty.' It 'will finally make healthcare price transparency a reality.' Eye on NY: Hochul Punts on Spending Cuts New York's ''all-funds' budget, including federal aid, totals $254.4 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent or roughly double the inflation rate,' reports the Empire Center's Bill Hammond. Medicaid 'accounts for most of this year's new spending,' as the Legislature's addition 'hikes the state share to almost $45 billion, an increase of 18.6 percent.' Ignoring the risks, 'lawmakers approved an unusually large increase in spending.' Despite congressional plans to 'constrain federal Medicaid funding,' economic uncertainty and Trump actions that have cost the state an estimated $1.3 billion, the budget 'does not attempt to hedge against these threats.' Instead, Hochul and the Legislature say they will 'cut spending later in the year as necessary.' Foreign desk: Now's the Time To Strike Iran President Trump insists he'll 'accept nothing less than 'total dismantlement' of Iran's nuclear program,' notes Karen Elliott House at The Wall Street Journal. Yet 'the mullahs in Tehran will never agree to that,' and Trump may be tempted to accept 'something akin to the 'worst deal in history,' signed by President Obama in 2015.' Yet Iran has 'never been weaker,' so 'now is the time for a U.S.-Israeli strike to destroy Iran's nuclear capability.' Yes, that involves risks. But if Trump 'believes Iran can be trusted to execute a new pact, he hasn't done his homework. If he settles for anything short of total dismantlement, it will be the moral equivalent of Joe Biden's ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trust in his leadership will be gone.' Advertisement Libertarian: Souter's Odd Claim to History The 'unusual reason' Justice David Souter, who died last week at 85, will be remembered, per Reason's Damon Root: 'the severe and enduring backlash that he inspired.' Named to the Supreme Court 'by Republican President George H.W. Bush, Souter quickly emerged as a consistent 'liberal' vote in high-profile cases about hot-button issues such as abortion and affirmative action.' Hence 'the battle cry of 'No More Souters' . . . whenever a Republican president had the chance to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. In practical terms, what that meant was 'no more judicial nominees without verifiable conservative credentials.'' Don't expect to soon see another justice who infuriates 'the political party that first championed him while greatly benefiting the political party that first opposed him.' From the right: The 'Disparate Impact' Obscenity 'You may not know the ins and outs of disparate impact' — the federal doctrine on racism Trump has moved to uproot via executive order, but Christopher Caldwell explains at The Free Press that 'you've surely seen its effects': the end of on-the-job meritocracy, as that 'produces a lower-than-random number of protected minorities.' Good for the prez on taking 'another step toward uprooting the second constitution that has been in place since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.' The Civil Rights Act of 1991 'introduced disparate impact into black-letter U.S. law. It would have to be repealed to bring about the meritocracy Trump seeks.' But perhaps congressional 'minds are changing' since both parties see 'what a devastating weapon civil-rights law can be — and, indeed, always has been.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
New York Post
05-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Medicaid reform, now or never, GOP savings may cost NY $5B and other commentary
From the right: Medicaid Reform, Now or Never 'Republicans would be making a terrible blunder to let' Democrats' fear-mongering about Medicaid reform 'intimidate them from fixing the program,' warns The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. Under the ObamaCare law's Medicaid expansion, the feds pay states more for eligible 'prime-age adults' than 'for pregnant women, the disabled and other low-income populations.' Huh! 'You won't find many voters who think the federal government should focus scarce health resources on working-age men over poor children and pregnant women. Yet that is what the perverse financing formula encourages.' Fact is, 'the GOP can make the strong and accurate argument that fixing this bias in federal payments is shoring up the program to better serve the vulnerable,' and 'Republicans may not get another opening for decades to fix the core problems in Medicaid.' Eye on NY: GOP Savings May Cost State $5B The stakes for New York 'are high' as Republicans eye Medicaid savings from targeting the 'so-called expansion population,' notes the Empire Center's Bill Hammond. These are under-65, non-disabled adults 'with income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.' ObamaCare made them Medicaid-eligible, with the feds funding 90% of the costs, instead of the 50% it pays for most Medicaid recipients in New York. Republicans may make the feds' share 50% for these people as well, which could cost New York state 6% of its funding, or $5.3 billion, based on 2023 numbers. Amazingly, such changes 'would be unlikely to reduce' federal Medicaid spending for New York 'in absolute terms.' They'd merely 'slow growth compared to current trends.' Ed desk: The School-Closures Obscenity Teachers and administrators simply 'didn't care about having kids in school' during COVID, David Zweig recalls at New York magazine; 'a series of falsehoods' related to risk birthed the 'fantastical list of demands' from teachers unions and others around reopening. Recall too that the American Academy of Pediatrics was 'very strongly in favor of getting kids into schools, but as soon as Trump came out in favor of reopening, they completely reversed their position.' 'Childhood is achingly brief.' The pandemic saw little kids miss a year or more of 'running around in a playground with friends' as they were forced to wither away 'in the gray light of their Chromebooks.' The idea that this 'wasn't a tremendous harm is absurd.' Space beat: The Trouble With Hubble 'Without question, the Hubble Space Telescope is a marvel of technology,' gushes Mark Whittington at The Hill. The last mission to the 35-year-old instrument was in 2009; it 'has been operating ever since then without a servicing mission.' Now 'not only is Hubble's orbit starting to decay,' but just 'two of its six gyroscopes are functioning.' Yes, 'the Hubble was designed to be serviced by a space shuttle orbiter.' But the option of 'using a SpaceX Crewed Dragon' to 'boost the telescope's orbit,' after which 'spacewalking astronauts would perform repairs and enhancements,' risks 'the astronauts breaking the space telescope.' Bigger-budget ideas: a SpaceX Starship could simply 'lift huge space telescopes with many times the Hubble's capabilities' into orbit. Libertarian: Ax Regs That Limit US Workers 'At the core of Trump's economic vision is sincere worry about the decline in prime-age male labor-force participation,' observes Reason's Veronique de Rugy. That decline 'has real social consequences' as 'economic insecurity among non-college-educated men fuels declining marriage rates, weaker communities, and more public health crises.' Yet the issue is 'more complicated than Trump's 'China stole our jobs' narrative,' and is 'rooted in problems that tariffs and industrial policy won't fix.' A 'thicket' of government regulations has erected 'huge hurdles to interstate mobility, effectively locking people into stagnant local economies.' 'We must remove the obstacles and perverse incentives that make living with economic stagnation too rational a choice for too many people.' The key to 'restoring work force participation' would be 'tearing down barriers' erected by the government. — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
