New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just announced that all the health care workers who came in from out of state to help fight the COVID-19 crisis in New York City will have to pay New York State income taxes!
On March 30th Gov. Cuomo held a press briefing where he said, “Please come help us in New York now. We need relief. We are the ones who are hit now. And we will return the favor.”
Health care workers from around the country flooded into The Big Apple after hearing pleas for help from the governor. And how does he repay them? By making them pay!
Some of these professionals quit their jobs to aid in treating people stricken with the coronavirus in New York City. Some came out of retirement. They all left their families behind. And they all put their own health and lives on the line. And what thanks do they get? They get a tax bill from New York!
On April 6th, CNBC reported that, “New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will need an additional 45,000 medical personnel to fight the pandemic sweeping across the city.”
Staffing agencies hired health care workers “by paying so-called ‘crisis rates,’ which range from about $4,000 to over $10,000 a week,” according to an April 9th ABC News article.
Compassionate health care workers from around the country answered the clarion call.
That call was made by the Pied Piper.
Just as in the medieval story, Gov. Cuomo lured unsuspecting health care workers into New York during a plague. Then when he realized he would not be paid, he changed his tune.
Cuomo said during his Tuesday briefing, “We’re not in a position to provide any subsidies right now because we have a $13 billion deficit.” A Fox News article noted that “a New York state law requires anyone working in the state for more than 14 days to pay income tax.”
The Washington Examiner noted in a May 6th article that New York has some of the highest income taxes in the nation. “A nurse who volunteered to travel from Texas, where there is not an income tax, will have to pay New York as much as 8.8%, the top marginal income tax in New York, of the money he or she earned while working in New York City hospitals.”
New York has the third largest pension fund in the U.S. according to the Office of the New York State Comptroller. USA Today reports it is underfunded to the tune of $11.5 billion annually. Somebody has to help pay the shortfall. Guess who?
The irony is that Gov. Cuomo made the announcement about nurses paying income taxes at the beginning of National Nurses Week (May 6th) and right before National Nurses Day. That’s celebrated on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. This year will be the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder of modern nursing.
I think she would be proud of all the health care professionals around the country who have put their work and the lives of their patients above their own. Cuomo, not so much.
Image from nga.org
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