New York Gov. Cathy Hochul said her proposed “inflation rebate” checks to taxpayers of up to $500 would not impact the state’s finances from an emergency funding perspective.
The governor announced the proposal on Monday, which would provide a $300 lump-sum payment to single New York taxpayers who earn less than $150,000 a year, and $500 to joint taxpayers who make less than $300,000 a year. It’s a thing. The refunds would be funded by excess sales tax revenue generated by inflation, or what Hochul calls “windfall revenue.”
“I have worked hard to make sure New York is in a financially sound place to handle the economic downturn. There are different dynamics on Wall Street than we are currently experiencing. We have a recession and we have to deal with a pandemic,” Hochul told reporters at a grocery store in Albany on Tuesday. “My job is to make sure we have the resources to take care of New Yorkers in the worst-case scenario. When I first became governor, the reservation was 4%. I’ve worked in municipal budgeting, and I knew that that little safety cushion was expected to be about 15%, so that’s where the money is. ”
Payments to the public amount to approximately $3 billion.
“This is windfall revenue that can be spent at the state level or given back to New Yorkers, where the state has more money because of the money that comes out of their pockets,” Hochul said Tuesday. spoke. “To me, it’s a question of fairness. Now it’s theirs.”
The proposal comes as a new Siena College poll released Tuesday morning shows that the cost of living is the top issue New Yorkers want state lawmakers to address during the 2025 legislative session, which begins in a few weeks. It was held in Not only that, the poll also found that 76% of people think the cost of living has gotten worse than last year.
“We’ve been focused on affordability for years, but this is direct, immediate, and addresses the biggest stress New Yorkers are experiencing right now: the cost of everything. It’s a reaction to the fact that it’s going up,” Hochul said, also referring to critics like Democratic Rep. Richie Torres. It is considering filing a challenge in 2026 against Mr. Hochul, who suggested he could fund the MTA rather than reimpose Manhattan’s controversial congestion toll tax.
Asked if he expected the state Legislature to support the inflation rebate proposal, Hochul said, “Yes.” Democratic leaders, House Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, are considering the bill.
