THIS IS QUEENSBOROUGH
queenschamber.org
COVER STORY
CRUZ PUTS RECOVERY AS TOP PRIORITY
BY BENJAMIN FANG
sponsored many of the bills in the package. The Queens lawmaker For a legislator who is unabashnoted that during the pandemic, the edly progressive, Assemblywoman wealthy “got even more rich” and Catalina Cruz has been highly suphave benefitted from the current portive of the business community, tax system. particularly small mom-and“It’s only fair,” she said. pop shops and street ven“Pay a little extra to help dors in her diverse Queens the rest of the state.” district. As the legislative sesThe second-term lawsion in Albany continues, maker, who represents CoroCruz is focused on not na, Elmhurst and Jackson just helping small busiHeights, says understandnesses and closing the ing small business owners’ budget gap, but also finddreams, hopes and pitfalls, ing creative solutions to is key to helping them, espeaddress food insecurity in cially as the COVID-19 panher district. demic and economic crisis Last summer, the assemcontinue to ravage stores blywoman turned her disacross the city. trict office into a food pan“These small businesses try, providing food to a give many families a job and long line of constituents an opportunity to survive,” amid the pandemic. Cruz she said. “Especially in my said she noticed that their district, many people who provider and other food used to work in low-wage pantries like La Jornada jobs save up their whole lives were struggling to access PHOTO: ALEXANDRA OWENS to open up a shop.” even simply necessities In Albany, Cruz has pro- Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz speaks to a business owner in Jackson Heights as Queens like milk. Chamber CEO and President Thomas Grech looks on. posed and helped pass legisIn the early fall, Cruz lation to provide support for decided to join an upstate struggling small businesses. to raise revenue and cut important ers were close to passing the pro- Republican colleague in the In mid-January, the state legisla- services that would “cause pain for posal last year, which would have Assembly on a tour of his district’s ture passed the COVID-19 Emer- New Yorkers.” provided important revenue for the farms. There, she learned that durgency Protect Our Small Business The governor has called on the state. ing the pandemic, many farms had Act, which protects restaurants federal government to provide As for sports betting, Cruz said as nowhere to sell their produce, milk from eviction and foreclosure, New York with $15 billion to not the state gets through the recovery and meat. She heard stories of restricts third-party delivery fees, only fill the budget hole, but also process, the sports scene, includ- farmers pouring milk down the freezes unemployment insurance make investments in infrastructure, ing eventually bringing fans into drain and even changing what they rates and establishes a partial- sustainability projects, rent relief, venues, will become even more were farming to survive. unemployment system. pandemic recovery, school aid and robust, which will lead to increased To address the dual issues of Governor Andrew Cuomo also more. revenue. struggling farmers and hungry rolled out a $130 million proposal Among the governor’s proposals “It can only help with that gap,” families, Cuomo implemented the to provide tax credits to small busi- to raise revenue is the legalization she said. Nourish New York initiative, which nesses, including restaurants, that of marijuana, which would generAnother way to increase revenue allows emergency food providers have been impacted by COVID-19 ate an estimated $300 million in for the state is to raise taxes on the to purchase surplus products from to hire additional workers through tax revenue, and legalizing mobile wealthy, which a set of lawmakers farmers and dairy manufacturers. 2021. That proposal, Cruz said, sports betting, which is expected to have proposed through the Invest The governor allocated $35 million is similar to a bill she introduced raise another $500 million. in Our New York Act, a package for the program to fund it through last year to provide incentives for In response to Cuomo’s State of six bills that legislators say will the end of 2020. businesses to hire local community of the State, Cruz said while the raise $50 billion annually. The proCruz noted that Nourish New members. proposals would get the state “on posal includes establishing a pro- York is not a permanent program, “If we don’t help small busi- the road to be in a good place,” gressive income tax, capital gains and that much of its funding came nesses, if people can’t get back to they would not be enough without tax, heirs’ tax, billionaires’ tax, from federal emergency money. work, if we still have expenses that federal help. Wall Street tax and the repeal of the Cruz teamed up with Republican are going to increase because of the “We need to apply force to our Trump tax cuts. State Senator George Borrello on pandemic,” she said, “the need is federal colleagues to do their fair Cruz said she’s supportive of only going to get bigger.” share,” she said. “We have to get the legislation, and has already coCONTINUED ON PAGE 14
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Not only are small businesses struggling from the pandemic, but the state is facing a $15 billion budget gap. Cuomo warned in his State of the State Address that without federal funding, he would be forced
more creative and more forceful to ensure we have a surplus, not just fill the gap.” Legalizing marijuana will bring a “good amount of revenue,” Cruz said. She noted that state lawmak-
