An open letter to our leaders

An open letter to our leaders
Dear Legislator,
New York State faces a serious fiscal crisis. The lack of oversight and the resulting greed on Wall Street have caused the stock market to crash and, consequently, revenues to drop significantly.

Everyone in New York is hurting. The burden of fixing this fiscal crisis must be shared. So far, the state workforce has borne the brunt of the state’s budget cuts.

PEF has identified several options that will help close the budget gaps over the next several fiscal years, including increasing the income tax on wealthier New Yorkers.

Layoffs and other serious cuts in state services are counterproductive in a recession and, according to the governor’s own economic advisor Joseph Stiglitz, are more harmful to the state economy than a temporary income tax increase on wealthier New Yorkers. At the very least, the state must close its budget gaps with an equal share of revenue raisers and budget cuts. PEF has several significant proposals on our Web site, PEF.org, that will address the fiscal downturn, without further weakening New York’s economy.

Our proposals have the potential of reducing the budget deficit by as much as $10 billion without severe cuts to programs and services. We are all in this together and together we can work our way out of this crisis.

Yours in solidarity,
Kenneth Brynien,
PEF President

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