Stand Up For Kids Campaign

New York State leads the nation in income inequality which is intricately linked with racial
inequities. While we have unprecedented numbers of children living in poverty and record levels
of hunger and homelessness. This inequality affects all New Yorkers, but disproportionately it
hurts children and especially low income children, children of color and immigrant youth.
The Stand Up for Kids Campaign demands that our elected officials stand up for all of our
children, youth and families by asking the wealthiest New Yorkers to invest in our future. The
Stand Up for Kids Campaign puts our children firstthis means every child. From nurse family
home visits for babies and new moms to expanding community schools that support the whole
child to college financial aid, New York should give each child the opportunity to meet his or her
potential. No child should be denied the opportunity for a good life based on family income, race
or the zip code where they are born.
A dedicated revenue stream will be used to create New York States Stand Up for Kids Fund for
children in high needs communities and schools. The Stand Up for Kids Fund will provide:

$2.3 Billion for Stand Up For Kids Fund

$50 million for home visiting programs for babies, parents, and care givers, including
care prior to birth. These programs have been shown to increase high school graduation
rates by as much as 30%.
Paid Family Leave for working parents and care givers (Budget neutral)
$190 million for quality child care
$150 million for quality pre-K that families need. Targeted to fulfill promise of full-day
pre-K for entire state.
$1.2 billion Innovative K-12 school reforms
o Convert the highest need schools in the state into Community Schools that
provide social, emotional, health and academic supports so all children can
succeed. Rather than the top-down approach of a state-appointed receiver, we
need bottom-up solutions that rely on full engagement of parents, students,
educators and community members.
o Career & Technical Education (CTE) services and programs
o State of the art programs, services and professional development related to
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math).
o Programs for Unaccompanied Minors, English Language Learners (ELL) and
ELL Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE). There are over 174
different languages spoken by ELLs in NYS.
o Restorative justice practices and school climate reforms. We have a crisis with
African-American students suspended four times as often as their white
peers. Latino, LGBTQ and students with disabilities are also disproportionately
suspended. These programs will reduce suspensions and help eliminate the school
to prison pipeline while providing the necessary training and support services
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needed for educators, school leaders and school related professionals to build
students skills to solve problems and change behavior.
Parent and family engagement initiatives by community-based organizations in
partnership with local school districts
High Quality After School Programs

In addition to the $1.2 billion in K-12 funding outlined above, we are calling for $1.7 BILLION
INCREASE IN BASELINE FUNDING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. For all K-12 funding the priority
should be to ensure that at least 72% of new funds go to high need districts as intended under the
Foundation Aid Formula

$717 Million for Expanding Higher Education Opportunities and Quality

o The SUNY 2020 law promised increased state funding for SUNY and CUNY at
the same they authorized $1500 in tuition hikes. The tuition hikes happened, but
the state never met its promised.
o Invest in Community Colleges
o Expand Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)
o Implement the Dream Act
o Expand Opportunity Programs for Traditionally Underserved Students

How Do We Pay for This?

Fair Share for Billionaires, Hedge Funds and the 1 Percent

1% from the 1% (as developed by the Fiscal Policy Institute)
Personal Income Tax New top brackets on Personal Income Tax (PIT) that average a
1% increase on the 1%, with new brackets on incomes ranging from $665,000 (the 1%)
to $100 million and above.
o The highest bracket would be 9.9% which is basically a 1% increase (current rate
8.72%). NYSs highest rate for state and local combined income taxes would still
be lower than California.
o This would be coupled with extending the middle class tax cut for those earning
$40,000 to $300,000.
o Generates $2.3 billion
Closing the Hedge Funds Carried Interest Loophole (As developed by the Strong Economy
for All Coalition)
It is not often that Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and George Pataki agree on
anything, but they all agree that hedge fund managers are getting a sweetheart deal on their taxes
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because they pay a lower tax rate on their income than the rest of us. Hedge fund managers make
billions in annual income, but the law allows them to classify their income as capital gains so
that they can pay a lower tax rate than the rest of us. This is called the Carried Interest Loophole.
We will be proposing a NYS recapture of income taxes that hedge fund managers are avoiding at
the federal level. Hedge Fund Managers are paying a capital gains rate, but this is income not a
capital gain (the capital gain is earned by the investors whose funds they are managing, not the
hedge fund managers). Similar bills are being promoted in several other states. In NYS this
could generate up to $6 billion annually, which would fully fund CFE and provide
additional revenues for important investments.

New York Immigration Coalition
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