Assemblyman Joseph Angelino (R,C-Norwich) joined Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C-Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks), his Assembly Minority colleagues and representatives from the American Legislative Exchange Council to highlight the high tax burden New Yorkers currently face as negotiations toward the bloated $252 billion budget continue eight days past the due date. Angelino and his colleagues pointed out that currently, New York ranks 50^th out of all 50 states in terms of tax burden on citizens.

“New York is the highest-taxed state in the nation, and even with that, we are facing a fiscal cliff. New Yorkers need real tax relief in order to make life more affordable and to reverse our trend of leading the country in out-migration. Simply put, high taxes are not good for the people of New York, nor for the state itself, as high taxes drive people out of the state. This will eventually hit a point where the tax base is smaller than it is currently, resulting in even higher taxes to pay for services. The way to fix this is to simply lower the amount of taxes people face and cut our unsustainable spending while we are at it,” said Angelino.