ALBANY — State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt and members of the Senate Republican Conference today 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 the state 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, child care, 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.
“Over the past few months, members of the Senate Republican Conference heard first hand from community members, business owners and other stakeholders from across the state, and one thing is abundantly clear: New Yorkers are facing an unsustainable affordability crisis, and we continue to lose residents and businesses because of it,” Ortt said in a press release. “Despite Albany Democrats catching on to this buzzword, they continue to increase state spending, discuss raising taxes and do nothing for business owners, all of which will only exacerbate affordability issues.”
The report makes a series of recommendations in several areas that were identified as major drivers of the high cost of living and doing business. Some highlights include:
REDUCE TAXES
— Eliminate state personal income tax on the first $50,000 for single filers and $100,000 for filing jointly. Lower the tax rate to 4% for single filers up to $250,000 and $500,000 joint filer, and 5% for single filers of more than $250,000 and more than $500,000 filing jointly 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.
— Exempt tips from state income tax.
— Exempt overtime wages from state income tax.
— Freeze real property taxes for three years.
REDUCE REGULATIONS AND GOVERNEMENT 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.
— Require 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.
— 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 behind California.
— 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.
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.
— Provide a one-year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday and two-year green energy tax holiday. Government taxes and fees account for between 25-50% of a customer’s utility bill.
— Repeal the system benefit charge, a fee imposed on all ratepayers that provides money to NYSERDA and the Public Service Commission.
HOUSING
— Establish the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act.
— Repeal the All-Electric Building Act, which adds approximately $20,000 to $25,000 to the construction cost of a single-family home.
— 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.
CHILD CARE
— Ensure the Child Care Assistance Program is fully funded in the 2026-27 State Budget, so all eligible families receive proper help with child care expenses.
— Supplement the state’s existing child tax credit by providing a $1,000 “baby bonus” refundable tax credit for all parents of newborns.
— Allow the Office of Children and Family Services 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.
“In Governor (Kathy) Hochul’s New York, affordability is little more than a buzzword. I’m proud to join my Senate Republican colleagues in outlining an agenda that would make a meaningful positive impact in the lives of New Yorkers,” Sen. Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) said in a press release. “We must reduce taxes and costs on our families, seniors and small businesses. The package of bills we presented today accomplish exactly that, and I urge the governor and Democrat legislative leaders to take up these measures.”
Senate Republicans will continue to roll out key initiatives under their Save New York agenda through the coming weeks.