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Binghamton Press and Sun –
From a separate press conference held in Binghamton yesterday

Advocates call for surcharge on richest New Yorkers
Cuts in social services cruel, they say

BY GEORGE BASLER
Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- State lawmakers should temporarily impose an income tax surcharge on taxpayers making $100,000 or more a year to help close a the state's multibillion-dollar budget gap, a coalition of community, religious and human service groups said Thursday.
Lawmakers should also close "loopholes" in corporate tax law and press Washington for more federal aid, coalition members said during a press conference in Binghamton.
These actions would be alternatives to massive and painful cuts in state money for schools, health care and human services programs, members said.
"We can't allow vital services to bear the brunt" of the state's budget problems, said Mary Twitchell, an occupational therapist at the New York State Veterans' Home in Oxford and regional coordinator for the New York State Public Employees Federation.
The Binghamton press conference coincided with one in Albany involving more than 200 community, religious, health care and community service organizations.
Pataki, who will unveil his budget plan Wednesday, has said he'll propose spending cuts, and he has vowed to oppose "job-killing taxes." But he has stopped short of ruling out tax increases altogether.
"We need to remember cuts hurt real people," said Eileen Hamlin, chairwoman of the local chapter of Citizen Action of New York.
The coalition's agenda calls for:
* Hiking income taxes about 1 percentage point on big earners, defined as individuals making more than $100,000 or couples making more than $200,000. That could raise roughly $3 billion, Hamlin said, noting high earners could afford to pay because they will be getting a healthy tax break from the federal government this year.