ALBANY, N.Y. Dec. 2, 2017 — New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta today released the following statement upon Senate passage of a tax bill that hurts teachers and middle-class families to further enrich big corporations and the wealthy.
“In what can only be called a disgraceful attack on working people, the U.S. Senate chose the interests of big corporations and the wealthy — the donors who finance their campaigns — over the needs of middle-class families. The Senate’s bill is a barely disguised tax giveaway to the rich that will exacerbate already unacceptable income inequality; explode the deficit by at least $1 trillion; and gash deep holes in Medicaid, Medicare and state budgets all across our country. New Yorkers will be especially hard hit. The elimination of the state and local tax deduction will undoubtedly lead to massive tax increases for many middle-class families, taking money out of their household budgets so the rich can get richer.
“NYSUT and its national affiliates vow to continue to fight against this disastrous plan as Congress now tries to reconcile the differences in the House and Senate bills. We commend Sen. Schumer and Sen. Gillibrand for leading the fight to protect New Yorkers, and the country, from this scam on all but the richest Americans.”
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.