Ortt and Senate Republicans present ‘Affordability Agenda’ for NYS

Among the proposals includes exempting tips and overtime from state taxes

Press Release, NYS Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt

Photo courtesy of Rob Ortt’s office: State Sen. Rob Ortt speaks at a press conference today with his Republican colleagues on the Million Dollar Staircase in Albany.

ALBANY – In the wake of a staggering $259 billion budget proposal passed by Senate Democrats last week, Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt and members of the Senate Republican Conference today called for the inclusion of several pieces of legislation in the enacted budget that would provide relief and help ease the affordability crisis being faced by New Yorkers.

These bills, part of the Senate Republican Conferences “Liberate New York,” 2025 Legislative Agenda– are aimed at helping families and businesses who are struggling under high taxes and skyrocketing costs on everything from utilities to housing.

“The Senate Republican Conference understands that we can’t make New York more affordable by continuing to increase spending and taxes the way our colleagues across the aisle are doing – it’s unsustainable,” Ortt said. “In contrast, our plan looks to cut taxes for individuals and businesses, lower utility rates, and help New Yorkers keep more of their hard-earned money in their own pockets. We can’t spend our way to affordability, so it’s our hope that our colleagues will join us in these real actions that will have real results.”

A key component of the Senate Republican agenda is legislation that will help make New York more affordable by allowing hardworking New Yorkers to keep more of their own money in their own pockets. Included in the affordability agenda highlighted today are bills that would:

• S.587 (Martins) – Exempts state taxes from cash tips.

• S.850 (Helming) – Establishes the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act.

• S.1031 (Rolison) – Directs the Public Service Commission and the Comptroller to determine the cost of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act mandates for each ratepayer and to establish a credit for ratepayers and businesses to cover those costs.

• S.1487 (O’Mara) – Providing a $464 million tax cut to support small businesses by raising the corporate tax threshold from $390,000 to $500,000 and lowering the rate to 2.5%; expanding the small business exemption to all PIT businesses, regardless of whether they have employees and increasing the threshold to $500,000, raising the exemption to 15%, and setting the exemption at 20% for farmers.

• S.3914 (Martins) – Exempts state taxes from overtime compensation.

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

• S.1559 (Palumbo) – Enacting the “Affordable New York Act,” which is designed to lower the tax burden on individuals in New York State. Specifically, this legislation doubles the current School Tax Relief (STAR) exemption and lowers the income tax rate on middle-income taxpayers by 2%.