ALBANY, NY – Senator Steve Rhoads, Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, and Members of the Senate Republican Conference yesterday unveiled “An Affordable New York,” a comprehensive report including legislative recommendations to ease the high cost of living for New Yorkers. The report is the result of a series of roundtable discussions held by the Senate Republican Conference throughout New York that focused on the key areas driving New York’s affordability crisis. 

During the roundtables, the Senators heard from stakeholders and community organizations about a variety of issues including taxes and regulations, energy and utility costs, childcare, housing, insurance, transportation and commuting costs, and the cost of food and groceries. Participants emphasized that while each of these components present affordability challenges on their own, together they form an unsustainable climate that makes the cost of living increasingly unaffordable for New Yorkers. 

“As President Reagan once said, ‘you can’t be for big government, big taxes and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.’  Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats continue to pursue an agenda that punishes success and stifles economic growth with high taxes, over regulation and runaway spending – putting the American Dream out of reach for the average New Yorker.   It’s why New York loses a resident to another state every 2 minutes and 23 seconds.  Affordability should be more than a Governor’s poll-tested punch line.  That’s why the Senate Republican Conference is offering a comprehensive package of legislation that will cut energy, housing and child care costs; slash regulations; make our communities more secure and deliver the largest personal income tax cut in the history of New York State.  It’s an agenda focused on real affordability and solutions that will Save New York – by saving New Yorkers,” said Senator Steven Rhoads, SD 5th.

 

The report makes a series of recommendations to help ease the burden on New Yorkers in several areas that were identified as major drivers of the high cost of living and doing business.

Some highlights from the report include proposals that would:

Reduce Taxes

> Eliminate state personal income tax on the first $50,000 for single filers and $100,000 for married filing jointly. Lower the tax rate to 4% for single filers up to $250,000 and $500,000 for married filing jointly and 5% for single filers of more than $250,000 and more than $500,000 for married filing jointly that are below the millionaire tax threshold. This would provide a personal income tax cut for all New Yorkers, providing $30 billion in tax relief over its 10-year implementation without having to cut funding from vital state programs (To Be Introduced, Senator Rhoads)

> Exempt tips from state income tax  (S.587, Senator Martins) 

> Exempt overtime wages from state income tax (S.3914, Senator Martins) 

> Freeze real property taxes for three years (S.8489, Senator Weber) 

Reduce Regulations and Government Spending

> Create a task force to review the State Administrative Procedure Act, making the regulatory process more business-friendly by ensuring state rules are consistent, efficient and not overly burdensome (S.930, Senator Gallivan)

> Reduce bureaucratic red tape by requiring that when a rule is adopted that imposes a new administrative burden on a business, one or more existing rules must be amended or repealed to offset the cost (S.2371, Senator Ortt) 

> Establish the New York State Commission on Regulatory Efficiency to examine state regulations and identify unnecessary and wasteful state regulations. New York has over 300,000 regulations, the second most of any state only behind California (S.6724, Senator Ortt)

> Require the Governor to hire an independent private professional service firm to audit state agencies and public authorities for any payments, claims or expenditures that appear improper, fraudulent or abusive. Such wrongdoing would be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency (S.8661, Senator Ortt) 

Lower Costs of Basic, Everyday Necessities

Energy

> Return unused funds held by the State from the New York State Climate Investment Account to ratepayers, providing nearly one billion dollars in relief to ratepayers at a time when utility bills are skyrocketing. (S.8461, Senator O’Mara)

> Provide a one-year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday and two-year green energy tax holiday. Government taxes and fees account for between 25 to 50% of a customer’s utility bill. (S.8463, Senator Rolison)

> Repeal the system benefit charge.  The system benefit charge is a fee imposed on all ratepayers that provides money to NYSERDA and the PSC. Repealing such fees would lower utility bills. (S.7075, Senator Walczyk)

Housing

> Establish the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act. (S.850, Senator Helming)

> Repeal All-Electric Building Act, which adds approximately $20,000 to $25,000 to the construction cost of a single-family home. (S.1167, Senator Mattera)

> Allow developers to comply with the less costly and less burdensome 2020 Energy Codes in lieu of the 2025 Energy Code, a $7,400 savings per single family home. (S.8621, Senator Mattera)

Childcare

> Ensure the Child Care Assistance Program is fully funded in the 2026-27 State Budget, so all eligible families receive proper help with childcare expenses.

> Supplement the State’s existing child tax credit by providing a $1,000 “baby bonus” refundable tax credit for all parents of newborns. (S.4487, Senator Ashby)

> Allow the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to grant temporary staff to child ratio flexibility during documented staffing shortages (similar to ones granted during COVID) and clarify regulations to permit directors to serve as classroom staff during shortages without penalties. Currently, directors stepping into classrooms to maintain ratios are cited. Citations have led to insurance cancellations, threatening center viability. (S.9049, Senator Rolison)

Senate Republicans will continue to roll out key initiatives under their Save New York agenda through the coming weeks.