Our long regional nightmare is finally over. That’s right, the New York state legislature has finally managed to pass a budget:
ALBANY – The state Senate finally completed the long-overdue state budget Tuesday night, passing a $1.5 billion revenue bill that restores the sales tax on cheap clothing purchases.
By a 32-to-28 vote that followed a day of chaos in the fractured body, the Senate, with virtually no debate, passed the crucial final piece of the state’s $136 billion spending plan.
At 125 days late, the budget is tied for the third-latest ever and fell just eight days short of the all-time record.
And how have our dutiful lawmakers balanced out all the zeroes? Let’s take a look:
Among the new taxes and fees, which passed the Assembly weeks ago, is the restoration of the 4% state sales tax on clothing and shoe purchases under $110. The renewed tax won’t begin until October, giving parents one more shot at shopping tax-free for back-to-school clothes.
Other hikes include:
- A halving of the allowable charitable deductions for those making more than $10 million.
- The deferment of a host of business tax credits greater than $2 million a year.
- The so-called “Expedia” tax that adds a sales tax for online hotel reservation sites.
However, it does not include a new tax on out-of-state hedge funds. Lawmakers in both houses voted to strike the measure from the new budget after Connecticut starting making overtures to the industry.
It also does not contain Gov. Paterson’s push for a penny-an-ounce tax on soda and other sugary beverages, or permission for grocery stores to sell wine.
Basically, they’re going to keep milking the udders until blood squirts out. And the single biggest cause of the deficit – the humongous, overpaid, underworked public sector – remains untouched. I’m just wondering when the state will have to start giving out IOUs.
You want to fix the budget for good? Forget about taxing fatasses for buying Diet Coke or closing down perfectly good state parks – fire three-quarters of the civil peons in this city, and more across the state. Yes, that means I’ll probably be out of work, but what is good for me is not necessarily what is good for society. But thanks to PEF and the other unions, that’s not going to happen. Judgement Day is inevitable.
Hat tip: Jimmy Vielkind.
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