02/27/2025 | Press release | Archived content
Joint Legislative Public Hearing on the FY 2026 Executive Budget Proposal
Thank you to Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Senate Finance Committee and Chair Krueger, Speaker Heastie, Assembly Ways and Means Committee, and Chair Pretlow for this opportunity.
My name is Debipriya Chatterjee, and I serve as the Senior Economist at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), an organization dedicated to improving the lives of low-income New Yorkers and championing a more equitable city. For 180 years, CSS has provided direct services, conducted rigorous research and policy analysis, and led strategic advocacy efforts to alleviate hardship and expand economic opportunity for our fellow New Yorkers.
My testimony today will focus on key reforms to refundable tax credits that can improve economic security for New Yorkers.
As members of the New York Can End Child Poverty coalition, CSS has been long advocated for strengthening this vital tax credit for households with children. After we secured an expansion of the credit to young children under age four in 2023,[1] we were heartened to see the Governor propose greater expansion of the credit in the FY2026 Executive Budget.[2]
To ensure that the credit makes a serious dent in child poverty, we recommend the following reforms:
The state can improve economic security for thousands of New Yorkers by extending the credit to currently excluded populations:[11]
It is important to note that the Working Families Tax Credit (S.2082 Gounardes/A.3474 Hevesi) already incorporates several of these key reforms.
Before I conclude, I would like to share that CSS's statewide Annual Survey of Housing and Economic Security, conducted in the fall of 2024, provides valuable insights into the struggles households face across the state. Our survey shows that:
In other words, far too many New Yorkers are on the brink of economic insecurity. While the Governor's attention to the pocketbooks of everyday New Yorkers is welcome, we believe that the one-time expenditure of $3 billion in "inflation refunds" could be more effectively deployed to enact these important expansions to the ESCC and the state EITC. These reforms would not only alleviate current economic hardships but also promote long-term economic mobility, reducing future reliance on public assistance.
This budget is a chance to affirm our state's commitment to dignity, opportunity, and equity for all its residents.
Thank you again for allowing me to present this testimony. Please reach out to me at dchatterjee@cssny.org if you have any questions.
1. CSS press release, "Some Consumer Wins in the State Budget, But No Relief for New Yorkers Facing Housing Insecurity, Inability to Access Health Care Because of their Immigration Status, and Reentry Barriers," May 2, 2023. Link: https://www.cssny.org/news/entry/some-consumer-wins-in-the-state-budget-but-no-relief-for-new-yorkers-facing
2. FY2026 NYS Executive Budget, "Your Family is My Fight," Governor Kathy Hochul and Budget Director Blake G. Washington, pp. 37. Link: https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy26/ex/book/briefingbook.pdf
3. Families with incomes below $2,500 get $100 per qualifying child. Source: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/credits/empire_state_child_credit.htm[iii] Nabozny, Pete, "Explaining Governor Hochul's Proposal to Expand the Empire State Child Credit," The Children's Agenda, January 9, 2025. Link: https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy26/ex/book/briefingbook.pdf
4. Ibid.
5. Center on Poverty and Social Policy. 2025. "Children left behind by the Child Tax Credit: by state and congressional district in the 119th Congress." Link: https://povertycenter.columbia.edu/publication/map-of-children-left-behind-by-the-child-tax-credit-2023
6. Davis, Aidan, Meg Wiehe, Sophie Collyer, David Harris, and Christopher Wimer. 2019. "The case for extending state-level child tax credits to those left out: A 50-state analysis." Washington DC and New York: Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy and Center on Poverty and Social Policy. Link: https://povertycenter.columbia.edu/publication/2019/the-case-for-extending-state-level-child-tax-credits-to-those-left-out
7. Burns, Kalee, Liana Fox, and Danielle Wilson, "Expansions to Child Tax Credit Contributed to 46% Decline in Child Poverty Since 2020," U.S. Census Bureau, America Counts: Stories, September 2022. Link: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/09/record-drop-in-child-poverty.html
8. Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, accessed via the Bureau of Labor Statistics site. Link: https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
9. "Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council: 2024 Recommendations and Progress Report." Link: https://otda.ny.gov/news/meetings/CPRAC/2024-12-18/attachments/2024-12-18-CPRAC-2024-Recommendations-and-Progress-Report.pdf
10. Chatterjee, Debipriya, "Make Work Pay Again: An Argument for Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit," Report, May 2022. Link: https://www.cssny.org/publications/entry/make-work-pay-again-expanding-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc
11. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Link: https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1c92a9207f3ed5915ca020d58fe77696/detailed-guidelines-2023.pdf
12. Chatterjee, Debipriya, "Make Work Pay Again: An Argument for Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit," Report, May 2022. Link: https://www.cssny.org/publications/entry/make-work-pay-again-expanding-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc