Editorial: Worthy burst of ideas from Cuomo
ROCKVILLE CENTER, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 07, 2011: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, along with state and local politicians, joins family members of those who perished on 9/11and first responders at the New York Remembers Exhibition in the John A. Anderson Recreation Center. Photo by Charles Eckert Credit: Photo by Charles Eckert
Having won a standing ovation in the role of fiscal conservative, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has decided it's time to please a different audience.
How else to account for the sudden volley of progressive policy proposals from the governor, and his decision to recall a vacationing legislature in order to approve them?
The proposals being discussed in the backrooms right now include an overhaul of the state income tax to make it more progressive and very likely more lucrative; a state infrastructure fund to finance major projects; and a new program targeting unemployment among urban youth -- all to be accomplished legislatively this very week. The governor's urgency isn't just political; the state faces a modest deficit for the current fiscal year and a shortfall of perhaps $3.5 billion for next.
While they're at it, legislators may also agree to approve changes in the hated Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll tax and a revised proposal to license gypsy cabs for street hails outside Manhattan. It's a wildly ambitious agenda to present when legislators thought they were done for the year, and absurd to undertake with such haste.
It would be nice if such grand plans could be addressed in a more thoughtful, deliberate manner. But let's not kid ourselves. Things have always been done this way in Albany -- mostly worse things. So it's hard to fault a consummate politician for acting shrewdly to serve political purposes as well as social ones. The script for the governor's latest production, which may -- or may not -- take place on Wednesday, would be written with legislative leaders, but the general outlines of his plans -- all that's known about them just now -- look good.
Once New York's surcharge on high-earners expires at year-end, for example, our state income tax will revert to being essentially a flat tax; an individual would pay the same 6.85 percent on any annual income from $20,000 to $20 million or more. That doesn't make sense.
The governor's other initiatives also sound promising. Rebuilding New York's infrastructure is crucial for economic growth, and some version of the unspecified public-private partnerships proposed by the governor might well do the trick. But skepticism should greet any suggestion that public-employee pension funds be used, since these funds can't subsidize infrastructure projects by depriving civil servants of a higher investment return that might be earned elsewhere.
Similarly, a way should indeed be found to make the MTA tax less onerous, if it can't be abolished altogether -- as long as all parties understand that they must replace any lost revenue. And the governor should find some way to support a version of the bill already passed by both houses of the legislature to license thousands of gypsy cabs to pick up street hails in upper Manhattan and the other four boroughs, all now ill-served by regular yellow taxis.
Expect some furious horse-trading in the days ahead, all of it conducted behind closed doors. We hope participants have the decency to leave the redrawing of election districts out of it. Beyond that, all the deal-making may yet lead to another compelling performance by a stage-savvy governor.
