Sen. Gounardes Unveils Legislation to Fight Trump Austerity and Close Unfair Tax Loopholes

Proposals would help protect New York from Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” and ensure corporations pay their fair share

Tax reforms proposed by Gounardes could save billions to help fund childcare, housing and other priorities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DECEMBER 22, 2025

Brooklyn, NY — New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes introduced two new proposals today to counteract President Trump’s reckless austerity budget and ensure corporations pay their fair share in taxes. The proposals would save the state billions in forgone revenue that could instead be used to fund childcare, housing and other policies that make life more affordable for working people.

Gounardes’ proposals come in response to Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which dramatically expands corporate tax giveaways while cutting funds for essential services and generating essentially no meaningful economic benefit. 

Specifically, Trump’s budget made major changes to expensing practices that let corporations write off long-lasting expenses in their first year of use. Three provisions—new expensing rules for “qualified production property,” immediate write-offs for research and experimentation, and a massive expansion of certain write-off caps—allow highly-profitable corporations to erase taxable income, often for investments made outside New York. Taken together, these changes could cost New York nearly $3 billion in revenue in 2026 alone.

Gounardes’ first bill would decouple New York’s tax code from these regressive expensing practices in Trump’s federal tax bill, saving the state billions of dollars in lost revenue while avoiding the pitfalls of wasteful, ineffective corporate handouts.

The second bill would protect New York from the poorly-designed, inaccessible and regressive federal “Child and Dependent Care Credit” (CDCC), which directs benefits to wealthy households while failing to help families that most need support. The new bill would decouple New York from the federal changes, freezing the state CDCC at current levels and introducing a reasonable phaseout for households earning above $500,000 (or $1 million for joint filers). These reforms free up resources for far more impactful investments—like the child tax credit or universal child care—that would better support working families and address New York’s affordability crisis.

These new proposals come in the wake of another legislative package introduced by Senator Gounardes this spring designed to close loopholes in the state tax code that benefit wealthy New Yorkers and corporations. Those proposals, which include eliminating tax loopholes on gold bars, racehorses, and corporate franchise taxes, were inspired by a report his office published identified questionable, arbitrary and absurd tax expenditures that cost New York nearly $3 billion while providing minimal public benefit.

“Trump took a hatchet to the federal tax code, carving out big benefits for his billionaire buddies while chopping up funds for crucial programs like Medicaid and food stamps. Here in New York, we can do things differently,” said State Senator Andrew Gounardes. “New Yorkers deserve a tax code that puts them first, not special interests and big corporations. My bills close unfair loopholes so we can focus on making life easier, safer, and more affordable for regular people. That’s how we build a stronger, better state for all New Yorkers.”

“While Trump and Congressional Republicans give $12 billion in tax cuts to New York millionaires and strip away healthcare and food assistance from working-class families, our state leaders must fight back by making ultra-wealthy New Yorkers and highly profitable corporations pay what they owe in taxes," said Brahvan Ranga, Campaign Manager for Invest in Our New York. "Senator Gounardes’ bills to close corporate tax loopholes is an important part of that fight. New York has the wealth to protect ourselves from Trump’s attacks—we just need leaders with the courage to tax the rich.”

“The federal reconciliation bill will cost New York State well over $10 billion per year in lost federal funding – funding cuts that could result in up to one million New Yorkers losing their health insurance and hundreds of thousands facing a hunger crisis,” said Nathan Gusdorf, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. “As though this were not enough, the reconciliation bill contains corporate tax breaks that will flow through to New York’s own corporate tax law, costing the State billions of dollars. Fortunately, this legislation takes the necessary step of decoupling from these flawed federal tax law provisions and protecting the State’s fiscal future. There is no question that these bills must be passed in the upcoming legislative session.”

Press Contact:

Billy Richling

Communications Director

State Senator Andrew Gounardes

billy@senatorgounardes.nyc

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