Thousands, but few electeds, descend on state Capitol to pressure Hochul to tax the rich

Over 1,500 people marched to the state Capitol on Wednesday, pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires in the upcoming budget.

The New York City Democratic Socialists of America and Our Time for NYC bussed most of the advocates to Albany from the city to pressure state lawmakers just starting to negotiate their budget priorities. 

“Our message to the state Legislature and to Gov. Kathy Hochul is we must support the working families of New York,” said DSA-backed New York City Council Member Chi Ossé, who hosted the rally at the Washington Avenue Armory. “We must stand up to Donald Trump.”

Hochul has drawn a firm line in the sand: She won’t be raising income taxes, though she did give an additional $1.5 billion in state aid to the city. Even New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s threat to increase city property taxes to fill a $5.4 billion gap if Hochul declines to raise wealthy New Yorkers’ personal income taxes by 2% has not made the governor budge. 

“This is the first time I’ve seen the mayor be honest about the ramifications of Albany stiffing New York City in the state budget,” DSA-backed state Sen. Jabari Brisport told City & State. “The governor is going to have to answer to the thousands of New Yorkers who she’s supposed to represent who are demanding she tax the rich … this is a core constituency she needs to answer soon.”

The Brooklyn state senator and Mamdani have been close friends since his time in the Assembly. He and several of the other nine democratic socialists in the state Legislature attended the rally, including Assembly Members Phara Souffrant Forrest, Emily Gallagher and Claire Valdez and state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez. Ossé, one of four Council members in the city’s Socialists In Office bloc, and Souffrant Forrest were the only elected officials to speak. Assembly Members Grace Lee, Jordan Wright and Steven Raga – who are all running against farther-left opponents this cycle – were spotted at the rally. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie notably did not attend. Both leaders were down the street at Planned Parenthood’s annual lobby day, but have each advocated for higher taxes on the wealthy. The state Senate and Assembly have included higher taxes on the wealthy in their one-house budget proposals for the past several years.

Heastie told reporters Wednesday he expects revenue raisers to be in the Assembly budget again.

“We've always been supportive of asking the wealthier to pay a little more, contribute a little more,” he added. “That's not the governor's position. But like I said, I don't think we're going to have an issue at all solving the city's problem, and also the other cities and places around the state that are having financial troubles.”

But Heastie made clear that he doesn’t support raising property taxes. “Property taxes is a nonstarter for us, raising property taxes in the city is a nonstarter,” the speaker said. “But I have no doubt in my mind that we will come to a resolution that helps the city, and not only New York City, but all of the cities across the state that are in a little bit of distress now.”

Heastie said he doesn’t expect negotiations between the governor, Mamdani and the Legislature to delay the budget due April 1.

Likewise, Stewart-Cousins said Tuesday that state senators continue to support progressive taxation reform, but wouldn't say how she thinks leaders will resolve this issue this budget cycle. 

“It is my hope that we'll be able to find a way forward that will make sure that, you know, again, working families are not paying additional taxes,” she said. “I couldn't predict what the city will do. But I don't think the mayor actually wants to raise property taxes.”

“I do believe that there will be an effort to, you know, address the problems on the city side with all of us working together,” the Senate leader later added.

Meanwhile, several lawmakers rallied in the Capitol for universal child care. 

"We would not be here without the organization of parents and also talking about taxing the rich and asking those wealthiest New Yorkers to pay $10, $20,000 in extra income tax to pay for this,” Assembly Member Bobby Carroll said.

Republicans claim raising taxes on New York’s highest earners will drive out businesses and lead to out-of-control budgets that will eventually drive out the middle class. And Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt doesn’t see the rally as new momentum for the tax the rich movement.

“These groups come down here every year that I’ve been here,” he said, adding that Hochul’s reluctance to raise income taxes is one of the few places they agree.

Hochul’s $262 billion budget plan increases state spending nearly 50% since 2019, when the budget was just $175 billion.

“At some point, you're gonna have to raise taxes if you keep spending more money, it's unsustainable, which means tax increases are coming,” Ortt added. “Tax increases, just like another increase, gets passed on in some way, shape or form. It gets passed on to people who can't afford it.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has refused to take a position on raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires. But comptroller candidate Drew Warshaw attended the rally and marched with the crowd to the Capitol. 

“Do I believe in taxing the rich? Yes,” Warshaw said in a statement. “The better question is, does Tom?”

Hochul’s budget director Blake Washington commended the energy that ralliers brought to Albany, even though he and his boss don’t agree with their message. “We love to hear people be engaged in these issues of the day,” he told City & State after speaking at a Citizens Budget Commission breakfast in Manhattan. “That said, we also have to be stewards of the state's economy … (Hochul) does not see raising taxes as a box-checking exercise – she sees it as something that must only be done when absolutely necessary.”

Although he declined to opine directly on the politics of Mamdani’s pressure campaign over tax increases, Washington said Hochul has no interest in “socking it to New Yorkers” with higher taxes, whether they’re wealthy or not. “New York's already progressive tax code has provided a great amount of dividends to the state taxpayer, and the governor has been able to masterfully make the investments that the people the state care about,” he said.

Rebecca C. Lewis contributed reporting.