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MOBILE BILLBOARDS IN SYRACUSE & OSWEGO WILL REMIND CENTRAL NEW YORKERS OF KATKO’S DEVASTATING VOTE TO PASS TRUMPTAX

Thousands Of Katko’s Constituents Will See Billboards Outside Syracuse Nationals And At Oswego Harbor Fest 

SYRACUSE — Speak Out Central New York will bring mobile billboards to major events in Congressman John Katko’s district for the next two weekends, reminding people attending Syracuse Nationals – the ‘largest car show in the northeast’ – and Oswego’s annual Harbor Fest that Katko voted to pass the TrumpTax and give the rich a $1.5 trillion tax break at working families’ expense.

The billboard carries a stark reminder for spectators and festival goers: “John Katko voted to give big tax breaks to the rich and raise taxes on working people.”

Speak Out CNY also had a traditional billboard just outside of the State Fairgrounds where Syracuse Nationals was held, which has been reminding Syracuse commuters of Katko’s vote to raise New Yorkers’ taxes since it went up in late June. The billboards will remind attendees at events that regularly draw tens of thousands of people that Katko consistently votes only to serve the Republican party’s agenda, regardless of its impact on his own constituents. Katko’s vote for the TrumpTax will cause New Yorkers’ taxes to increase by an estimated $2.4 billion in 2019, as 80 percent of its tax breaks flow to the richest 1 percent of the country.

The TrumpTax also repealed the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, which is spurringdouble-digit premium hikes for New York next year, with some insurers requesting rate hikes of nearly 40 percent. The average premium increase for individuals will be $572 because of the TrumpTax, with families facing even higher prices. For the bottom 60 percent of earners in New York, the repeal of the mandate will completely negate any meager savings offered by the law, and ultimately raise their annual costs by an average of $182.

Since the TrumpTax passed in December, Katko has repeatedly – and wrongfully – insisted that it is encouraging increases in worker pay. But in reality, corporations are spending 88 times as much on stock buybacks for rich executives and shareholders than they’re spending on worker raises or bonuses. Since December, just 4.3 percent of American workers have gotten a pay increase.

Katko recently stood with Ivanka Trump at an event in Syracuse, touting the “benefits” of the TrumpTax. But unemployment in Syracuse has risen for 14 of the past 17 months, and wages nationwide are stagnant, or even decreasing. A CBS Money article recently reported that despite the billions in tax breaks being collected by corporations, workers aren’t seeing any of the money themselves. In fact, major corporate donors to Katko’s campaign like General Motors and Microsoft – who each saved hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes already this year – have cut hundreds or thousands of jobs each.