Chuck Schumer, the United States Senate minority leader, hopped out of a white GMC van on Monday outside Syracuse City Hall, grinning as he strode up to deliver a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump’s administration and the Republican Party’s contentious Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of the Democratic Party’s leading critics of Trump, was flanked by a contingent of security aides as a crowd of about 30 central New York residents pushed together, straining to catch a glimpse of the senator during an anti-tax bill rally.

The rally, one of several planned across the country, was organized by the liberal “Repeal the Trump Tax” group, which opposes the sprawling Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that narrowly passed through Congress late last year. Democrats and some policy experts say the legislation disproportionately benefits “1 percenters” and corporations.

“What does central New York prefer? Tax breaks for the wealthy or middle-class jobs?” Schumer said Monday, speaking into a microphone in front of a crowd of supporters.

Rally attendees, some waving cutouts of Monopoly character Rich Uncle Pennybags’ face, yelled back: “middle class jobs.”

Syracuse, and other portions of upstate New York stretching from Buffalo to Albany, have lost thousands of manufacturing jobs since the 1990s with major companies like Carrier Corp. or Kodak moving operations abroad or simply downsizing.

Schumer, along with other local politicians, said tax provisions in the GOP’s legislation benefit well-paid company executives and squeeze out average workers in Syracuse, who have already been hit hard by layoffs in the Rust Belt-like area.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the Republican Party’s major legislative victory of the current congressional cycle. The bill, which Trump signed in December, was fiercely opposed by Democrats.

The bill will cut the corporate tax rate significantly by reducing the rate 3 percentage points per year from 2018 to 2022, among other things. A December analysis of the legislation by the Tax Policy Center found that the GOP’s legislation would also reduce federal revenue by $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years.

The policy center found that, on average, taxes would change little for lower- and middle-income groups by 2027.  

“The top 1 percent got a tax break, now they’re doing great. I don’t begrudge ‘em. But they don’t need a tax break,” Schumer said.

Kai Nguyen | Photo Editor

Several local elected officials joined Schumer on Monday. Joe Driscoll, the city’s Democratic Common Councilor of the 5th district, introduced the senator. Driscoll cited a set of statistics on U.S. CEOs making more money than their employees.

“Numbers can be hard to grasp,” Driscoll said, though. “What’s not hard to grasp is people barely having enough money to get from one check to the next.”

Helen Hudson, the council’s president, stood alongside Driscoll. Peggy Chase, Onondaga County’s Democratic legislator of the 9th district, attended the rally. So did Mark English, chair of the county’s Democratic committee. New York State Senate candidate Rachel May, an employee of Syracuse University, stood in the crowd.

Mayor Ben Walsh, who’s not affiliated with any major political party, met with Schumer during a separate event at Onondaga Community College earlier Monday morning. Walsh, at a protest last November, said he was concerned by the tax bill.

Walsh, who formerly served as one of the city’s leading economic development officials, at the time said he worried a provision in the GOP’s legislation would eliminate the federal Historic Tax Credit program. That program helped local businessman Ed Riley renovate the iconic Hotel Syracuse, which was left vacant after years of bankruptcy court proceedings and sales.

Schumer on Monday said the legislation has primarily benefited CEOs who employ “buybacks” as a means of repurchasing their own company’s stock to increase its value. The extra money large companies are saving with the reduction of the corporate tax is not helping lower-level employees, he said.

“This isn’t working,” Schumer said.

Published on March 19, 2018 at 4:36 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek