Reinvent Albany Urges Assembly to End NY’s Opportunity Zone Tax Break
Reinvent Albany thanks the State Senate for passing, for the third year in a row, S543-B (Gianaris) / A2170-B (Dinowitz), which would fully end NY’s Opportunity Zone tax break. Unfortunately, in both 2022 and 2023, the Assembly did not take the bill up for a vote. We urge the Assembly to finally vote on the bill and end this Trump handout to the super-wealthy.
The Opportunity Zone program will cost New York up to $420 million annually according to the Citizens Budget Commission, but the Assembly has failed to act. The bill, passed through Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, offers investors capital gains tax breaks for investing in “Opportunity Zones” anywhere in the country. (Under the OZ program, a New York investor in a Florida gun store can get a tax break from both New York State and City.)
Though supposedly intended to help struggling neighborhoods, the program has instead spurred construction of luxury apartments with indoor rock-climbing and golf simulators, and also makes New York pay for investments in out-of-state Opportunity Zones, including super-yacht marinas, gun megasellers, crypto-mining, and oil and gas fields.
The bill is supported by over 20 unions and advocacy groups, and is co-sponsored by 37 Assemblymembers. Below is a list of the bill’s supporters.
Unions
Civil Service Employees Association
Communications Workers of America, District 1
New York State United Teachers
Professional Staff Congress/CUNY
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
United University Professions
Organizations
Reinvent Albany
ALIGN-NY
Alliance for Quality Education
American Economic Liberties Project
Citizen Action of New York
Community Service Society of New York
CPC – The Chinese-American Planning Council
Good Jobs First
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Legal Aid Society
Long Island Progressive Coalition
New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness
NYPIRG
New York State Council of Churches
Strong Economy for All
Tenants PAC
Assemblymembers
Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz (Sponsor)
Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon
Assemblymember Fred Thiele
Assemblymember Karines Reyes
Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal
Assemblymember Emily Gallagher
Assemblymember Phil Steck
Assemblymember Deborah Glick
Assemblymember Robert Carroll
Assemblymember Patricia Fahy
Assemblymember Anna Kelles
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani
Assemblymember Ron Kim
Assemblymember Kenny Burgos
Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright
Assemblymember Brian Cunningham
Assemblymember Steven Raga
Assemblymember Catalina Cruz
Assemblymember Monica Wallace
Assemblymember Steven Otis
Assemblymember Michaelle Solages
Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha
Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi
Assemblymember Amanda Septimo
Assemblymember Amy Paulin
Assemblymember MaryJane Shimsky
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein
Assemblymember Chris Burdick
Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell
Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest
Assemblymember Dana Levenberg
Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas
Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson
Assemblymember Alex Bores
Assemblymember Al Stirpe
Assemblymember Juan Ardila