The fiscal and political issues surrounding NYC & NYS’s budget deficits and personal income tax structure are complex, boring and crucial to all of us. Over the last eight months or so, I have been too close to the issues to write about them with clarity. As the debacles caused by the housing bubble, the foreclosure crises, the stock-market and finance industry collapse have all led to declining state and city revenues, I have been working with a coalition of more than 200 social & health agencies, community organizations, labor unions. Our object has been to resist the human services budget cuts planned and proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson.

That coalition, One New York: Fighting For Fairness has been doing grass-roots lobbying, organizing letter-writing campaigns and visiting the offices of legislators. You can (and I think you should) review the Coalition’s principles and membership roster after the jump. Ask your organization to join. I’m inspired by the Coalition because it represents a huge spectrum of New Yorkers. Large unions, tiny social service agencies, community groups all of which have many opportunities for conflict, have figured out how to get along some. Billy Easton, of the Alliance For Quality Education – and one of the smoother, least rattled organizers around – gets credit steering the Coalition carefully.

Our efforts have focused now on two tasks: preventing irrational and harmful cuts to the educational, health, human and social service needs of New Yorkers and trying to force New York State and City to address their budget crises by – in part – taxing higher income New Yorkers more. The Fair Share Tax Reform bill, S2021, just introduced by Senator by Eric Schneiderman embodies the revenue proposals favored by the Coalition. Get our view of the problem and our proposed solutions.

In addition to letter-writing, going to Albany, calling our Senators and Assembly Members, there will be two meetings I’ve been involved with. One, on Sunday March 1, 2009, 3PM at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on Manhattan’s Lower East Side (Pitt & Stanton) will be a speak out against irrational cuts to New York City and State budget. On March 5, 2009, at 4 PM there will be a City Hall rally in favor of the Fair Share Tax Reform Bill.

ONE NEW YORK: FIGHTING FOR FAIRNESS -- Statement of Principles

We come together as One New York: Fighting for Fairness, a broad-based coalition of New Yorkers demanding that our communities are prioritized and protected in this time of economic difficulty. Our elected leaders have embraced the needs of Wall Street, together we must ensure that the talk about taking care of Main Street is more than lip service. If we can prioritize a bail out for New York’s financial industry, surely we can prioritize protecting the greatest needs of New York’s communities. Now, more than ever, government must protect New Yorkers by not cutting AIDS services, child care, child welfare, education, health care, higher education, homeless housing, housing, immigrant services, income support, legal services, people with disabilities, senior services, youth services and other vital areas.

City and State Government Must Not Balance Their Budgets on the Backs of the Neediest

At this time of economic difficulty, it is essential that government recognizes that the neediest among us will feel the pain of economic downturn the most sharply. No matter what we must protect our community safety net and make no budget cuts to services for those with the greatest needs. Budget reductions must not produce across the board cuts to all programs and services. Such a blunt approach does not reflect our values as New Yorkers and will produce serious harm by cutting programs that are essential to our safety net. It will also be necessary to increase investment in certain critical components of our community safety to protect people from the worst consequences of the economic downturn; such investments are prudent and cost effective as they will prevent much costlier emergency expenditures.

We Cannot Cut Our Way Out of this Economic Downturn: City and State Must Fairly Address Our Revenue Needs.

While many of our elected officials are talking about shared sacrifice, we are calling on them to also call for shared commitment. New York City and New York State must address the serious and immediate need for additional revenues. We must ask government to deliver fair and equitable tax policies and revenue sources that call on all New Yorkers to contribute fairly. It is a matter of fairness to our taxpayers, urgency for our communities and necessity for effective functioning of government services.
Budget

Cuts Will Hurt the Economy; Investing in Our Communities Will Help.

As Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz pointed out in a letter to New York State leaders earlier this year, “It is economically preferable to raise taxes on those with high income than to cut state expenditures.” Stiglitz points out that, “Budget cuts reduce the level of total spending.” Budget cuts will be a drag on an already hurting economy. Investing in our community needs will provide economic stimulus to our economy.

One New York: Fighting for Fairness - (Coalition in Formation) --List in Formation—
1199SEIU Child Care Corporation ● ACORN ●Advocates for Children ● AIDS Community Services of Western New York ● AIDS-Related Community Services, (ARCS) ● AIM Independent Living Center ● Alliance for Quality Education ● APEX ● APICHA ● ARISE Coalition ● Asian American Federation ● Asian Youth Center of New York ● Barrier Free Living ● Black Equity Alliance ● Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled ● CAMBA ● Campaign for Fiscal Equity ● Canaan Senior Service Center ● Cathedral Community Cares ● Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY ● Chhaya Community Development Corporation ● Child Care Council - CUNY ● Child Care Inc. ● Children’s Aid Society ● Chinatown Manpower Project ● Citizen Action of NY ● Citizens Advice Bureau ● Citizens Committee for Children of New York ● Citywide Council on High Schools ● Class Size Matters ● Coalition for a District Alternative ● Coalition for After School Funding ● Coalition for Asian American Children and Families ● Coalition for Educational Excellence for English Language Learners ● Coalition for the Homeless ● Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies ● College of Mount Saint Vincent - Institute for Immigrant Concerns ● Commission on the Public's Health System ● Community Access ● Community Board 7, Manhattan ● Community Board 11, Manhattan ● Community Health Care Association of New York State ● Community Voices Heard ● Comunilife, Inc. ● Connect, Inc. ● Connecting to Advantages ● Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies ● Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, Inc. ● Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation ● Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation ● Damayan Migrant Workers Association ● Day Care Council of New York, Inc. ● District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO ● District Council 37, Local 1549, AFSCME ● East Side House Settlement ● Economic Justice and Social Welfare Network ● Education Voters of New York ● Educational Alliance ● Empire Justice Center ● Empire State Economic Security Campaign ● Episcopal Social Services ● Erasmus Neighborhood Federation ● Family Justice ● Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies ● FEGS ● Fiscal Policy Institute ● Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project/Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees ● Freedom Community Center ● Friends and Relatives of Institutionalized Aged, Inc. ● Gay Men’s Health Crisis ● Goddard Riverside Community Center ● Good Jobs New York ● Grand Street Settlement House ● Greater Chinatown Community Association ● Haitian Americans United for Progress ● Hamilton-Madison House ● HANAC, Inc. ● Harlem Independent Living Center ● Harlem United Community AIDS Center, Inc. ● Henry Street Settlement ● Highbridge Community Life Center ● Hispanic AIDS Forum, Inc. ● Hispanic Federation of New York State ● Hispanic Senior Action Counsel ● HIV Law Project, Inc. ● Homeless Services United ● Housing Works ● Hudson Guild ● Human Services Council ● Hunger Action Network of New York State ● Immigrant Social Services, Inc. ● Indonesia Sino-American Community Center ● Institute for Community Living ● Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly, Inc. ● Internationals Network for Public Schools ● Isabella Geriatric Center ● Jamaica Service Program for Older Adults ● Jewish Child Care Association ● Joint Public Affairs Committee for Older Adults (JPAC) ● Korean American Family Service Center ● Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc. ● Korean Family Counseling and Research Center ● Legal Action Center ● Legal Aid Society ● Legal Information for Families Today ● Legal Services NYC ● Lenox Hill Neighborhood House ● Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center, Inc. ● Local 372 New York City Board of Education Employees ● Long Island Progressive Coalition ● Lower East Side Family Union ● Make the Road New York ● Medicaid Matters ● Medicare Rights Center ● Melrose Senior Center ● Metro Justice ● Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign ● MFY Legal Services ● Midwood Development Corp. ● Mosholu Montefiore Community Center ● NAACP Metropolitan Council ● National Association of Social Workers, NYC Chapter ● National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS ● National Center for Schools and Communities at Fordham ● Neighborhood Family Services Coalition ● New Settlement Apartments ● New York AIDS Coalition ● New York Citizens’ Committee on Aging, Inc. ● New York City Central Labor Council ● New York Childrens Action Network ● New York City Employment and Training Coalition ● New York Civic Participation Project/ 32BJ ● New York Coalition for Adult Literacy ● New York Counties Registered Nurses Association ● New York Immigrant Coalition ● New York State Coalition for School Based Health Center ● New York State NAACP ● New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness ● NY Jobs with Justice ● New York City AIDS Housing Network ● NYC Coalition for Educational Justice ● New York State Child Care Coordinating Council ● New York State Public Employees Federation, Region 10 ● New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness ● Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York ● One Stop Senior Services ● Palladia, Inc. ● Partnership For The Homeless ● Phipps Community Development Corporation ● Pratt Center for Community Development ● Professional Staff Congress - CUNY ● Project FIND ● Project Renewal ● Safe Horizon ● SCAN-New York ● Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy ● SEIU Local 32BJ ● Service Program for Older People, Inc. ● Sky Light Center, Inc. ● South Asian Council For Social Services ● South Asian Youth Action ● Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center, Inc. ● Staten Island Inter-Agency Council for the Aging ● Staten Island Legal Services ● Strycker's Bay Neighborhood Council, Inc. ● Supportive Housing Network of New York ● Tenants Political Action Committee ● The After-School Corporation ● The AIDS Council of Northeastern New York ● The Arab-American Family Support Center ● The Bridge Inc. ● The Bronx Health Link ● The Center for Arts Education ● The Center for Law and Social Justice, Medgar Evers College- CUNY ● The Children’s Village ● The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, Inc. ● The Bridge Inc. ● The Fortune Society ● The Geriatric Mental Health Alliance of New York ● The International Center in New York ● The Muslim Women’s Institute for Research and Development ● The Retirees Association of District Council 37 ● The School for International Studies ● Thorpe Family Residence, Inc. ● Time Out from Testing ● UAW LOCAL 2325 Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (AFL-CIO) ● UAW Region 9A ● United Chinese Association of Brooklyn ● United Community Centers, Inc. ● United Federation of Teachers ● United Neighborhood Houses ● University Settlement Society ● Urban Justice Center ● Urban Pathways, Inc. ● Village Care of New York ● Violence Intervention Program, Inc. ● VIP Community Services ● Welfare Reform Network ● Welfare Rights Initiative ● West Side Campaign Against Hunger ● Westchester Disabled On the Move Inc. ● Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation ● Working Families Party ● YKASEC-Empowering the Korean American Community ● YWCA of Queens