Should Seniors Only be Eligible for Rebate Checks? NY Lawmakers Think So

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s marquee budget proposals are facing new pushback, with top legislators now saying a plan to send rebate checks to taxpayers should only apply to seniors.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Democrats who control the chamber believe the planned relief should be more precisely targeted to people who need it. Instead of Hochul’s plan to use $3 billion to send $300 checks this year to New Yorkers reporting less than $150,000 of income — or $500 checks for families reporting less than $300,000 — senators said the rebates should only go to New Yorkers over 63 years old. The money would be paid to seniors over three years.

Stewart-Cousins and her top lieutenants said they would spend some of the leftover money that Hochul planned for rebate checks on a new expanded tax credit for working families, as well as to pay unemployment insurance debts of small businesses.

“We’ve reprogrammed what the governor was proposing to do in a more targeted fashion that will matter to people,” said state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan.

The proposed changes to Hochul’s rebate checks emerged as the Senate and Assembly presented their own budget plans this week. Lawmakers in both Democratic-controlled chambers will vote on budget resolutions that serve as a statement of priorities in formal talks with Hochul.

Legislative leaders also dropped or amended many of Hochul’s policy proposals, signaling they could be radically changed or delayed for consideration later this year, once the budget is settled.

The Senate tweaked the governor’s requested limits on cellphone use in schools by allowing more flexibility for districts. Instead of the “bell to bell” ban Hochul is pushing, the Senate’s plan would require schools to prohibit students from using their smartphones during instructional periods — and leave it up to individual districts whether to ban their use during non-instructional periods, like lunch and study halls.

“We certainly agree that getting cellphones out of the hands of our children is a benefit to everyone,” Stewart-Cousins said. “We also hear that there are districts that have gone ahead and done different things that they feel are working.”

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said that his fellow Democrats were mixed on how much discretion to give school districts. The Assembly’s budget proposal doesn’t include any language about the cellphone ban.

Hochul again made an impassioned plea for full prohibition.

“I’ve not had time to digest every part of what the one-house [budget proposals] show, but I’m committed to fighting for bell to bell,” she said. “This is what the experts say. This is what the parents want. This is what the teachers want.”

Both houses excluded from their budget proposals Hochul’s language to change the standard by which a person could be involuntarily committed for mental health evaluation. The Senate and Assembly also rejected proposed changes to rules that require what information prosecutors must turn over to defense lawyers before a trial.

Hochul’s discovery proposal would have given prosecutors too much discretion, Heastie said. Stewart-Cousins said the involuntary commitment proposal was complicated, and she was concerned Hochul’s new standard was overly broad. Both items are set to become major sticking points in upcoming talks, legislators said.

“Budgets should really be about the finances. That’s the point we like to make,” said Heastie, a Democrat from the Bronx.

Both the Senate and Assembly proposed raising taxes on corporate earnings and personal income in excess of $5 million. The two moves would raise an additional $3 billion a year, legislative aides said. As a result, each house is proposing to spend more than Hochul’s $252 billion plan.

Heastie said the higher taxes are justified because he expects President Donald Trump to approve additional tax cuts for the wealthy. The Assembly proposed cutting tax rates for middle-class earners.

“We want to do that to give more relief to middle-class people,” he said.

Progressives have called for raising more funds to brace against potential federal cuts. Morris Pearl, chair of the activist group Patriotic Millionaires, said the state should levy a tax on unrealized capital gains.

“I want to keep the things that make New York, New York,” Pearl said. “I don’t want to become one of those low-budget states.”

Republicans attacked their Democratic colleagues for spending even more money than the governor. Assemblymember Ed Ra, a Republican from Nassau County, said nothing on the table addresses long-term structural problems.

“I’m happy to see the continued focus on child care and affordability for middle-class taxpayers, but I think we need to get our recurring spending and revenues in line to have a sustainable budget,” Ra said.

Hochul has said she doesn’t want to increase income taxes on the wealthy, who account for a disproportionate share of New York’s tax base. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the governor declined to directly weigh in on the Senate’s proposal to limit the rebate checks.

“I’m doing everything I can, and will continue to do everything I can, to get that money back in their pockets,” Hochul said of taxpayers.

The current state budget expires on April 1.

Story by Jimmy Vielkind/New York Public News Network. Jon Campbell contributed reporting.
Jimmy Vielkind covers how state government and politics affect people throughout New York. He has covered Albany since 2008, most recently as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

Image: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks about affordability issues. (Credit: Don Pollard/Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office)