On Dec. 22, 2022 the U.S. Census Bureau released statistics that revealed New York’s population decreased by 180,000 between July 2021 and July 2022.
Since 2020 the state has lost over 524,000 people.
This decline "both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the base total" the Empire Center for Public Policy reported "was the largest among the 18 states that had negative population growth" — including California.
Ironically, on that same day, the politicians partially responsible for the exodus, state lawmakers, approved a 29% pay increase for themselves.
While the median income of New York workers is $43,208, the part-time legislator’s salary will now be $142,000.
The rationale for this hike?
Democratic legislators whined they deserve it because "they work hard."
They work hard all right. They've been exhausting themselves increasing taxes, increasing spending, and increasing job-killing regulations.
None of this should come as a surprise.
Sadly, it's just the state’s political history repeating itself.
In the aftermath of World War II, the Empire State had the distinction of being the "cradle of American liberalism."
New York’s governing class was proud of its groundbreaking social welfare, urban renewal, and public safety programs that assumed the poor and criminals were victims of society.
But over time, these leftist initiatives caused a decline in the state’s fortunes.
By the early 1970s, staggering welfare rolls, excessive spending, confiscatory taxes, a rising underclass, decaying infrastructure, and rampant crime were taking a toll on taxpayers’ psyche and pocketbooks and the state and the City of New York faced financial insolvency.
Thanks to the efforts of Governor Hugh Carey and mayors Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, sanity was restored.
However, with Albany and City Hall controlled these days by radical leftists, New York is headed, once again, toward a fiscal, economic and cultural calamity.
Throughout the Andrew Cuomo-Kathy Hochul era (2011 – present) State spending has grown leaps and bounds to finance the liberal agenda.
The state’s current $220-billion-dollar budget is twice the size of Florida’s — which has three million more residents.
And with all the federal one-shot COVID revenue spent to balance the budget, billions of red ink is projected for years to come.
Meanwhile, New York City is spending over $104 billion, almost as much as Florida.
To pay for these runaway expenditures, New Yorkers are burdened with the highest combined state and local taxes in the nation.
What are they getting for all this spending?
Failing schools, spiking crime, government fraud, highest unemployment in the nation, soaring welfare and Medicaid costs, bloated government work forces, and an onslaught of migrants invading urban areas.
Here are a few details:
Cashless bail and other dubious Progressive Public Safety “reforms” are responsible for the mounting crime throughout the state. In New York City, for example, major crimes in 2022 were up 23%.
To placate teacher unions, New York spends $34,000 per public school student—double the national average. Yet, student proficiency scores are dropping like a rock and are below national averages.
The ever-growing scandal-ridden Medicaid Program costs $75 billion; 34% of the state budget. New York spends more than Florida and Texas combined.
The flow of migrants to New York’s "Sanctuary Cities" are wrecking municipal budgets and turning neighborhoods into homeless camps.
As for economic activity, New York lags the nation in restoring its workforce to pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate is 6% versus 3.5% nationwide.
New York’s ideologically-driven tax-and-spend policies are driving people to low-tax and job friendly Red states.
Since 2020, 10% of New Yorkers earning over $750,000 have fled. That translates into $21 billion of lost taxable income.
Considering 2% of top earners pay 51% of state and city income taxes, if 100,000 more move out, New York’s tax base will be wrecked.
There are other tax-related issues:
New York is heavily dependent on the financial sector which is only 5% of workers but 22% of tax revenues.
Well, those revenues will be down significantly because Wall Street bonus payouts in early 2023 are projected to decline by 50%.
On top of that, Goldman Sachs and other investment banking firms are laying off thousands of workers.
Due to the spread of remote work, commercial real estate taxes are also taking a major hit.
New York City’s take in 2022 was $6.8 billion vs. $7.5 billion the previous year.
With commercial property vacancies at 15% — twice the pre-pandemic levels — tax revenues from that source are expected to continue declining.
Endless spending on failing leftist policies is not only driving people out but driving New York to the edge of the fiscal abyss.
It’s the 1970s redux.
The big difference this time: New York’s failed liberal experiment extends beyond its borders.
Elected officials in deep Blue states (i.e.: California, New Jersey, Illinois), who view New York as the nerve center of the liberal pulse, have embraced many of its flawed and costly "reform" policies, mandates and regulations.
And now they too are paying the price for rising social disorder: thousands of their citizens have packed their belongings and have hired moving vans to resettle with former New Yorkers in prosperous Red states.
George J. Marlin, a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is the author of "The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact," and "Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy." Read George J. Marlin's Reports — More Here.
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