A New York state senator from the Hudson Valley has introduced a bill to protect public schools and higher education from budget cuts due to COVID-19 financial impacts.
Democratic state Senator Shelley Mayer is sponsoring the Shared Help Assessment to Rebuild Education (SHARE) Act that would implement a temporary, income-tax increase on those earning more than $5 million annually. Mayer, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, says the measure would increase the income-tax rate for high earners from 8.82 percent to 10.9 percent for two years. She says 85 percent of the new revenue generated would go to public schools and 15 percent for SUNY and CUNY. State Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Toby Stavisky is a co-sponsor of the bill.
