Attention New York State Lawmakers,
The percentage of New York adults who hold a bachelor degree or higher is around 35%. Compare that with the percentage of adults in Russia who hold similar degrees, at about 55%. Think about that. 

While higher education is by no means the only path to success in life, having an educated workforce has clear benefits for such institutions as education, healthcare, and all kinds of industries. If we want a brighter future for New York State, increasing opportunities for higher education is foundational.

This said, in spite of the fact that New York is one of the wealthiest states in the union, state funding for higher education, including both the SUNY and CUNY systems, is simply embarrassing. Did you know that these days, less than 40% of the funding for SUNY comes from the state—whereas 15 years ago more than 60% of the funding came from the state? 

When people think about great state universities in the US, they think Michigan, UC Berkeley, UVA, Wisconsin, Penn State. SUNY campuses rarely make it onto national rankings of the best state universities in the country. Not a single SUNY makes it onto the top 30 state universities according to the most recent ranking by the US News and World Report. Yet New York regularly emerges as one of the wealthiest states in the nation by all kinds of indices. And education in general is highly valued by many in our state.

What is going on? 

One conspicuous problem that helps explain this dismal situation is as follows: The wealthy elite in New York—who have, as a group, made billions and billions during the pandemic—are not paying their fair share of taxes. The Invest in Our New York Act, which will soon be presented to New York State Lawmakers, could change this situation by making sure that the wealthy elite are taxed fairly just like you and me. Further, I propose that we encourage our lawmakers to allocate a substantial proportion of the proceeds from this act to be distributed to public higher education.

Want to ensure a bright future for all New Yorkers? We need to address New York’s public higher education problem.