Reilich Calls For Tax Relief

June 29, 2006

Assemblyman Bill Reilich (R,C,I-Greece) today joined his Assembly minority colleagues in calling for the passage of five key tax cuts before the 2006 legislative session officially ends on Thursday.

Reilich and his colleagues are supporting:

• A $400 million personal income tax reduction. Currently, the top personal income tax rate of 6.85 percent is reached by married individuals filing joint returns if their incomes are $40,000 or higher. This bill would reduce the tax rate to 6.75 percent and increase the top income bracket to $60,000. The bill also would increase the top income brackets for heads of households, individuals and married individuals filing separately (A.9560-A).
• STAR Excelsior to provide $1.75 billion in additional tax relief by immediately indexing the Basic and Enhanced STAR exemptions to the current median housing values throughout the state (A.9465).
• A Co-Star program, which would provide $285 million in county property tax rebates to senior citizens and farmers who are eligible for Enhanced and Basic STAR exemptions, respectively (A9389-B).
• Elimination of the corporate franchise tax on manufacturers, saving these business owners and operators more than $500 million annually. Many incentive programs are aimed at attracting new businesses to New York State, but most ignore existing manufacturing businesses, which could benefit tremendously from legislation that boosts growth in this vital industry (A10055).
• A corporate franchise tax credit equal to 15 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums paid by small-business owners for their employees, saving small businesses $1.6 billion and providing quality health care for thousands of New Yorkers (A.9390).

“Our constituents face a heavy tax burden – the heaviest in the nation. It is about time we did something to change that. I am calling on all legislators to pass these measures and provide real tax relief to New Yorkers,” concluded Reilich.

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