The results of the 2024 election mean tackling the crises of inequality and poverty in New York is more important than ever.

New York continues to have the worst income inequality and some of the highest child poverty rates in the nation. The Project 2025 policies of the incoming Trump administration would make things even worse, with devastating cuts to safety net programs and tax cuts for billionaires.

We need our state government to step up in this moment to protect the most vulnerable New Yorkers and rein in the flow of wealth from the bottom to the top.

Gov. Hochul and the legislature have an opportunity to do just that in the coming year by passing a transformative package of policies that would slash child poverty and pay for it by fairly taxing the richest corporations and individuals. Join the Labor-Religion Coalition, the Kairos Center, and the NYS Poor People’s Campaign on November 14 at 7pm to learn more and take action.

Three years ago, New York State set a goal to cut child poverty in half. Now the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council - which was created to help reach that goal - is about to issue their recommendations. They found that increasing the child tax credit, creating a state housing voucher program, raising public assistance benefits, and expanding food assistance access can cut child poverty by 50 percent.

Some people are going to argue that this plan is too expensive. The Urban Institute estimates it will cost about $9 billion. That sounds like a lot - until you realize that the proposals from the Invest in Our NY Coalition to modestly raise taxes on the richest individuals and corporations would raise more than 5 times that amount! As the Trump administration prepares to cut taxes on the wealthy, New York can take the opposite path and invest in our families and communities.  

We are facing hard times ahead, especially for already vulnerable communities, including immigrants, LGBTQ people, and poor and low-income people. Now is NOT the time for New York to backtrack on its commitment to cut child poverty. Now is the time for New York to marshal the resources to help struggling families weather the challenges to come.

It’s up to all of us to make sure New York follows through and implements these policies to lift more than a quarter million kids and their families out of poverty. RSVP to join the Labor-Religion Coalition, the Kairos Center, and the NYS Poor People’s Campaign on November 14 at 7pm for a virtual rally as we launch our organizing efforts to win these changes.