NFIB Testifies in Opposition
The New York State Senate and Assembly are considering legislation called the Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA), which would establish a carbon tax in New York. The $55 per ton tax would be levied on everything from gasoline, heating oil, natural gas, and anything else that emits pollutants.
What does a $55 per ton fee on pollutants look like? It works out to be about a 55-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax and is estimated to cost New York State consumers and businesses as much as $15 billion. The new tax would dramatically increase the cost of production and shipment of goods across the state’s economy with particularly significant cost burdens for trucking companies, manufacturers, paper mills, and other energy-intensive small businesses.
A 2018 survey asked NFIB members in New York what they thought about taxing carbon-based energy production, transmission, distribution and/or use in New York as a means of addressing environmental concerns: 87 percent opposed.
The New York State Senate had a hearing on this bill in April. NFIB testified in opposition, as it would substantially increase costs for small businesses who are already paying some of the highest energy costs in the nation. Small businesses depend on energy supplies at globally competitive prices to operate and run their businesses. New York ratepayers already pay the eighth highest electricity costs in the nation according to the US Energy Information Administration and according to Kiplinger’s, New Yorkers pay the third highest gas tax in the nation.
With four weeks left in the legislative session, this bill is under consideration in the New York State Senate and Assembly. NFIB urges you to voice your opposition to this new tax. You can quickly and easily contact your elected officials by completing this action alert!
