A gigantic financial deficit caused by the pandemic , only comparable to the Great Recession, a possible increase in the taxes on people with more income , regulations to stop the barrage of evictions of tenants for delays in the rent, the possible legalization of marijuana and an overwhelming Democratic majority in the Assembly and Senate state, are the main fuels that mark the beginning of legislative sessions in 2021 that will impact the lives of New Yorkers in the coming months.
As is absolutely predictable, the legislators in Albany and the governor Andrew Cuomo start this year trying to balance how the budget crisis generated by COVID – 19 not affect e health and education programs , which will precisely need more resources.
And especially they will have the challenge of generating more resources in a stage of fiscal crisis with a deficit of $ 60 billion.
Democratic Senator from The Bronx, Luis Sepúlveda emphasizes that when they start engines for a stage that will be complicated and challenging, there is an oxygen: we will have a president who will not discriminate against New York to allocate federal funds for political reasons
Two visions to help tenants
The opinion of the Puerto Rican legislator in the middle of the inventory of Proposals that will have as their main north the recovery of the state in the midst of the ashes of the coronavirus, is that it is “vital” to start this new period that begins on January 6 with regulations to assist Those due to the crisis fear being evicted due to delays in rent payments.
“We are perfecting the details of this package that should also include a stimulus and protection for thousands of tenants, but also for owners. The scheme will allow the moratorium on evictions to continue until June. Obviously everything requires funds, but this must be a priority immediately, ”explained Sepúlveda.
In this sense, already in Albany there are clashes and different visions between the proposals that try to avoid one of the most bloody scenarios for thousands of New Yorkers, who receive the 2021 with the weight of the threat of being evicted from their homes for accumulating several months of rent.
In one corner a more radical legislative proposal is being debated, which prohibits evictions and moratorium trials for one year, and in the other, an option that requires tenants to prove in court that their financial difficulties are a direct result of the pandemic , something that in the opinion of some assembly members can be complicated and expensive.
Plus taxes on the rich
New York State lawmakers could speed up, according to State Assembly sources, a reform to increase taxes on high-income people. This would increase revenue to avoid up to $ 8 billion in cuts to education and social services funds in the state.
On Christmas Eve, the president of the assembly, Carl Heastie , confirmed that negotiations are indeed underway to implement reforms to increase tax rates.
It was learned that senators are pushing for the higher rates to be retroactive to some point earlier in 2020, for New Yorkers reporting annual income of two million or more.
It is important to note that these proposals to face more taxes on higher income New Yorkers, is nowhere near the law proposed by the Colombian US Senator Jessica Ramos , who represents the District 13 of Queens, that would force the select club of 100 state billionaires, to pay a wealth tax , which allows funding relief plans for the undocumented.
The year that marijuana will be legalized?
The debate over the legalization of marijuana for recreational and adult use in New York has taken firm steps in the last two years, after the Democrats took control of the state legislature, but many disagreements persist on the issue, which could be cleared up in the coming months Albany sources told El Diario.
Governor Cuomo showed interest in this issue in the last quarter of 2020, despite the pandemic complications.
“I think this year is ripe because the state is going to be desperate for obtain funds. Even with Biden, even with the stimulus, we’re still going to need funding. I think it will be achieved soon “, said the state president.
But it is necessary to clear the way about what the state will do with Marijuana industry tax revenue, which is expected to generate around $ 300 million annually when the program stabilizes , according to state projections.
The assembly members leading the negotiations support a bill, called the ‘Marijuana Tax and Regulation Act’, which would allocate half of that income to be invested in communities where punitive drug laws have been applied at higher rates.
Some legislators place as a point of honor a greater participation of minority communities in the business , taking into account that in the other states the great beneficiaries have been large entrepreneurs and whites.
The other thorny aspect at the point of the debates, which have delayed the agreements, has been to specify how justice will be done with the groups that were devastated by the imprisonment for using or selling ‘cannabis’.
Criminal justice reforms
Although a group of legislators and activists have a pressure roadmap, based on the effects of the coronavirus in New York prisons, the reforms on criminal justice could have little or no progress this year according to local media.
Legislation that would impose limits on solitary confinement in state prisons and that would That more older prisoners were eligible for parole, coupled with other changes in the criminal justice system, “is likely to face a lot of resistance from moderate legislators and the governor himself,” they argue some projections of specialized publications on public policies com or City & State New York.
With a vaccine on the horizon
The awakening of this new 2021, precisely projects that the state recovers its course having as light at the end of the tunnel that the route of vaccination against COVID – 19 , which is just beginning, put an end to the pandemic.
All legislative and governmental political energies will have as their north to structurally recover New York from the financial “knockout” of the coronavirus and guarantee an immunization plan that reaches the majority of New Yorkers , without discrimination, before next summer.
“The formula is to stabilize the state financially and free it from the pandemic. Beyond that, any other reform of those expected for years in the field of criminal justice, decriminalization of prostitution, and other minority struggles that require a lot of funds, can hardly have space this year that looks complicated ”, shared spokespersons familiar with the State Assembly.
And the immigrant communities?
While for decades, the agenda of the organizations and coalitions that fight for The rights of the most vulnerable have been to push new laws that guarantee labor justice, immigration relief and equality , now several community leaders agree that the devastating effects of COVID – 22 in the poorest and in the racial minorities will be the center of all their battles
Yesenia Mata , leader of the La Colmena organization ensures that a large part of the community leadership in the Big Apple is already prepared to fight to ensure that immunization is distributed equitably among the people who were the most affected by COVID- 22 and have not received any economic stimulus.
“Our essential workers cannot continue to be out of the agenda ”, he commented.
For his part, Guillermo Chacón president of the Hispanic Health Network ponders that the legislative forces should not “Forget about the forgotten , the undocumented and those with less income who bear the worst burden of these months of public health emergency.”
Effective on 2021:
- Highest minimum wage in NY: Since the past 50 December the minimum hourly wage increases to $ 12. 50 everywhere outside of New York City, Long Island and the county of Westchester. That increase of 80 cents an hour will mean $ 28 additional per week in the salary of a person who works full time and earns the minimum wage.
Highway toll increase: New York Thruway drivers without an E-ZPass account experience a fare increase of 30% , since last January 1st.