FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2012
CONTACT: Mary Tek, Coordinator
212-341-9509 / nyccprogresscaucus@gmail.com

Progressive Caucus Responds to Mayor’s Executive Budget,
Calls for Progressive Revenue Solutions

The Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council is concerned by the Executive Budget presented today by Mayor Bloomberg. In the short-term, while we are relieved that the Mayor is backing away from his proposal to reduce 2,750 teaching positions through attrition, a plethora of cuts to vital services are still on the table. We can not balance the budget on the backs of parents, youth, seniors and workers. In the long-term, the Mayor acknowledges that the city is operating at a $3 billion deficit that we will have to face head on in Fiscal Year 2014. The Mayor’s stance that continuing to slash essential programs is the only solution to address this shortfall is troubling. The results of our recent survey on the New York City budget showed that New Yorkers overwhelmingly support sustainable long-term revenue solutions that ask corporations, banks and private equity to pay their fair share. We are calling for the administration to consider these alternative revenue options, such as closing the carried interest loophole and ending future subsidies to big banks. The future of our city depends on it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 2, 2012
CONTACT: Mary Tek, Coordinator
212-341-9509 / nyccprogresscaucus@gmail.com

Survey: 97% Say Protect Vital Services by Ending Preferential Tax Treatment
for Private Equity, Hedge Funds & Banks

Cuts to Education, Seniors, Runaway Youth and Libraries
At Top of List of Cuts to Prevent

97% of New Yorkers polled think the city should balance the budget by protecting vital services like education, police, fire and the social safety net, and asking a little more from those who can afford to pay more by eliminating preferential tax treatment, according to a survey conducted by the Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council.

The survey, which received over 750 responses in the course of one week, gathered feedback about the New York City budget for Fiscal Year 2013 from constituents and allies.  Only 3% of those surveyed favored balancing the budget through cuts to essential services in order to avoid raising taxes on high-income individuals, banks and corporations based in New York City.

There was overwhelming support for several options to raise revenue in order to prevent cuts to essential services:

• Closing a loophole in business taxes, known as the carried interest exemption, for partners at private equity companies and hedge funds so they are taxed like regular business income by the City.  This revenue option would raise approximately $200 million for the city.
• An end to future subsidies to four major banks who failed to create 19,000 jobs out of a promised 33,000 in exchange for a collective subsidy of $783 million, a measure that would bring in $100 million in revenue.

These options far outweighed the popularity of a proposed revenue option in Mayor Bloomberg’s preliminary budget that would charge non-profit organization a fee for trash pickup that is currently provided free of charge.

According to the survey, New Yorkers are most concerned about the following proposed cuts in the Mayor’s preliminary budget:

• Scaling back senior services such as transportation, elder abuse services and home attendants;
• Reducing 2,750 teaching positions through attrition which would continue the trend of increased class sizes and more elementary school students in classes of 30 or more students;
• Eliminating 159 of 251 shelter beds for runaway and homeless youth while reducing drop-in and street outreach services;
• Closing 40 library branches, significantly reducing library hours to 2-3 day service, and laying off 1,830 library workers;
• Cutting 2,300 slots in Out-of-School Time, an academic & recreational program that operates after school, during school holidays and in the summer.

The Progressive Caucus stands with the people of New York to say that we must pursue sustainable, long-term revenue options to balance the budget rather than continuing to slash vital services. We hope to see this sentiment reflected in the Mayor’s Executive Budget tomorrow.

The complete results of the survey are available here.

Check out Progressive Caucus members weighing in on recent allegations of widespread corruption at Walmart in Mexico and calling for a thorough, independent investigation of the company. We support a Walmart Free NYC!

 For Immediate Release: April 24, 2012

Contact: Raymond Rodriguez,

646-200-5309/305-992-1809, raymond@berlinrosen.com

WALMART TOLD TO TAKE A HIKE

ELECTED OFFICIALS & ADVOCATES DEMAND WALMART WITHDRAW PLANS FOR NYC MARKET; CALL ON BOARD CHAIR AND CEO TO RESIGN

MOMENTUM AGAINST WALMART MOUNTS AS GROUP CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO RETAILER’S NYC BUSINESS PRACTICES, BOARD MEMBERS, & EXPANSION PLANS

New York, NY- Following reports of the Justice Department’s inquiry into Walmart’s bribery scandal, city officials today joined with members of Walmart Free NYC to demand that mega-retailer Walmart halt its expansion plans into New York City until an independent investigation is performed and adequate steps are taken to ensure the retailer doesn’t engage in any illegal activity.

This weekend’s New York Times story revealed that Walmart de Mexico paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to curry favor with Mexican officials expedite new store growth. When the issue was brought to the attention of the company’s senior leaders, they covered it up and hit it from the authorities.

“Wal-Mart has once again revealed its true colors. The corporation’s tactics of bribery, scheming and corruption are the latest in a litany of despicable business practices including discrimination, worker mistreatment and predatory pricing. This is precisely the type of business we do not want in our communities and I remain committed to fighting against Wal-Mart’s corporate poison from entering the five boroughs. Wal-Mart’s actions in Mexico should be investigated and they must be held fully accountable for any laws, American or Mexican, that were broken,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

“New York City cannot open its doors to a company that relies on bribery and cover-ups as part of its business model,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. “Walmart has a long history of breaking laws and promises to pad its profits, but these new revelations show just how far Walmart will go for its own bottom line. New Yorkers should be put on notice: there is no tactic too underhanded for Walmart to try in order to open in our City, and anyone who thinks the jury is still out simply hasn’t been paying attention. All of our City’s leaders—especially the Mayor—should know by now that a Wal-Mart in New York would destroy jobs, squeeze out hundreds of small businesses and depress retail wages. None of us should support that.”

“The New York Times’ expose of WalMart’s consistent pattern of bribery demonstrates that they cannot be trusted to play by the rules,” said Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Bronx). “Instead, they do whatever it takes to squeeze out every dollar they can from the communities in which they operate. They keep wages down and bust unions, destroying jobs. They abuse civil rights by paying women less than men and don’t accept food stamps. They’re a multinational corporation that doesn’t pay its fair share of taxes. They are definitely not welcome and have no place in New York City.”

“Any company that tries to bribe elected officials does not deserve to operate in New York City or anywhere else in the country,” said NYC Council Member Daniel Dromm (D-Queens). “Walmart has a proven track record of these types of violations and a history of paying poverty wages, offering little to no health insurance and mistreating women. Their obsession with corporate growth and reckless disregard for communities across America is deeply troubling.”

“I cannot in good conscience support a multinational corporation like Walmart that relies on bribery and shady tactics to make a buck, all while crushing our true community partners,” said NYC Council Member Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn). “Corporate greed run amok presents a serious danger to the future of small business in this city. As chair of the Oversight and Investigations Committee, I stand ready to be a part of any probe into Walmart’s political activities in New York, to ensure this does not become another Mexico-type scandal.”

“Walmart is a company built on unfair labor practices.  We don’t want to invite companies like Walmart into New York City to undermine the worker friendly policies we have been fighting for over many years,” said NYC Council Member Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn).  “Further complicating Walmart’s attempt to gain a foothold in NYC is that we are a city of small villages and each of our communities has their own grocers, butchers and pharmacies.  We are not interested in losing our identity at the hands of Walmart.”

Advocates urged the City Council to investigate Walmart’s New York City business practices.

 “More and more New Yorkers are growing skeptical of Walmart’s plans and promises for our city—and for good reason,” said Matt Ryan, Executive Director at ALIGN. “Armed with the latest news about Walmart de Mexico’s illegal practices, the City must investigate Walmart’s recent dealings with public officials and developers in its bid to move to New York City.”

“We now have evidence of what we have been saying all along: that this company will stop at nothing to increase their bottom line. New York will not stand for a company as duplicitous as Walmart coming into our city, said Walmart Free NYC spokeswoman Stephanie Yazgi. “Its actions in Mexico prove that Walmart refuses to play by the rules, and communities pay the price. Its recent behavior means that we must be hyper vigilant about any potential deals or developments involving Walmart and that they and their intermediaries be held to the highest levels of scrutiny possible.”

The group also said Walmart NYC Board members Michele Burns and Christopher Williams- both of whom were on Walmart’s audit committee at the time of the alleged bribery and cover-up- must explain what they knew and when they knew it. It vowed to keep the pressure on until they come clean.  Walmart Free NYC also called on the Walmart Board of Directors to appoint an independent, respected expert from outside the company to conduct a thorough and independent investigation of the corruption scandal and cover-up.

Walmart Free NYC also called for the resignation of top executives, Walmart Board Chairman Rob Walton and CEO Mike Duke.

Today’s actions come amidst a global inquiry into the company’s illegal practices.

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We need your input on the upcoming New York City budget.

While the Mayor’s preliminary budget avoids new drastic cuts to services, the funding lost during the austerity of the economic recession is not restored, and smaller cuts and layoffs continue throughout City agencies. Despite an improving economy, the proposed budget would continue the pattern of shrinking essential programs and services.

This survey asks for your guidance as we look for progressive solutions to balance the budget.

Please respond by April 25th, and help us spread the word by sharing the survey with your friends.

We appreciate your feedback!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 17, 2012
CONTACT: Mary Tek, Coordinator
212-341-9509 / nyccprogresscaucus@gmail.com

Progressive Caucus Calls on Mayor Bloomberg to Protect Child Care and After-School

NEW YORK, NY — The Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council is extremely troubled that the Mayor’s Preliminary Budget would result in the loss of child care and after-school for 47,000 children.

Substantially cutting child care and after-school programs flies in the face of the values of our Caucus.  These cuts will leave low-income working parents who are striving to achieve economic stability with the untenable choice of quitting their jobs or potentially leaving their children in unsafe care while they work.  Furthermore, these cuts would stymie the success of the next generation by depriving them of the early childhood education that prepares them for kindergarten, and the after school programs that keep school-age children engaged in safe academic and social activities after the school day ends.

The Progressive Caucus calls on Mayor Bloomberg to include at least $104 million for the Administration for Children’s Services for child-care and $66 million to the Department of Youth and Community Development for after-school programs in the Executive Budget.  The children and families of New York City deserve no less.