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Maybe Gov. Kathy Hochul was so defensive in Tuesday night’s debate because she realizes she’s obliged to defend the obscenely wasteful blob that is New York state government — while the public knows it’s getting ripped off.
Consider the poll the Empire Center released last week, showing that 63% of New York voters, including 51% of Democrats, are ready to abolish the state income tax.
Albany insiders will sniff that the voters just don’t understand the details of how state government works, and that may be true — but it also applies to every poll showing the public wants more state spending on one thing or another.
And the Empire Center also found that 67% of residents believe state taxes aren’t delivering good value, which sure shows some understanding of Albany’s ways.
New York leads the nation in per-student education spending, yet families are fleeing its public schools while test scores remain painfully mediocre.
Meanwhile, the state’s massive Medicaid program has passed school aid as Albany’s single largest expense — costing far more per resident than anywhere else in America, all while being wracked by rampant fraud that Hochul, state Attorney General Tish James and their colleagues can’t be bothered to rein in.
And the thinking that dominates Albany is why New York taxes more per-capita than any other state, and spends more, too.
Hochul’s GOP challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, is showing he thinks differently with his plan to end income taxes for most New Yorkers, wiping them out entirely on the first $50,000 for single filers and $100,000 for married couples, while slashing the roughly 6% rate for those earning $100,000-$500,000 down to 4%.
That plan might not be the best way to reverse the flight of families and businesses from New York to low-tax havens, but at least it points in the right direction.
Crucially, any serious tax cut will require slashing state spending, including school aid and Medicaid.
But other states that spend far less on such programs actually see better results.
New York needs to change, and the voters know it; the longer the political class manages to delay that change, the more drastic it will have to be.