New York State is in deep trouble.
The left-wing policies of Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., that have triggered staggering housing prices, spiking utility costs, the highest combined state, and local taxes in the nation, are driving people to flee to more
affordable states in the south and southwest.
In the past five years, New York's population has declined by 200,000. And it is not just rich people who are leaving.
Young people, many burdened with education debt and unable to afford the high cost of living, are also packing their bags and skipping town.
In New York City, for example, where 46.2% of the state's young people between the ages of 18 to 34 reside, the growth rate of that demographic has declined 7.6% since 2013.
A report released by the state’s comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, noted that "New York is one of ten states, and the District of Columbia, where the number of young adults has been decreasing. In 2023, there were just over 90,200 fewer young adults than in 2013, a decline of 1.9%.
In comparison, the number nationally rose by 4.2%; Idaho had the highest rate increase,18.1%."
That's not DiNapoli's only gloomy observation: "Just under 200,000 young adults aged 18 to 25 are considered 'disconnected,' meaning they are neither in the labor force nor in formal education, and they represent about 1 in 10 in this age group in New York."
Additionally, "in 2023, nearly 1 in 4 young adults aged 26 to 34 in New York were living with their parents. Among those that live independently and rent their home, 35.9% of young renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
"In addition, a 60% surge in home prices since 2019 has put homeownership out of reach for many young adults."
To add insult to injury, entry level jobs in New York's tech industry are declining due to increased utilization of artificial intelligence.
The result — approximately 228,000 young people left the state in 2023 while 178,000 moved in, for a net decline of 51,000.
As for adults over the age of 35, over 116,000 migrated to other states.
These population trends will not only impact the state's tax base but its standing in the electoral college and the halls of Congress.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt won his fourth presidential election in November 1944, his home state of New York had the largest number of electoral votes, 47.
That number translated into the most powerful congressional delegation in the nation; 45 house members and two senators.
But that commanding number did not last.
In the 1960s it declined to 43 electoral votes. In the 1970s it was 41. The downward slide continued throughout the remainder of the century and into the next.
Today it stands at 28 electoral votes.
A recent independent analysis projects that after the next census New York's electoral votes will drop to 26.
Compare that to Texas and Florida, which are expected to gain four each for a total of 44 and 34, respectively.
Back in the 1940s, Texas had 23 electoral votes and Florida had 8.
Quite a change in the body politic.
And I do not expect New York's elected officials to do anything to reverse this trend.
Gov. Hochul's election year budget gives away the store to her party's far left.
Her budget, which tops $260 billion, will increase spending by $8 billion.
Spending will be up an incredible $80 billion since she took office in 2021.
Hochul, expecting Wall Street bonuses to bail out her budget, claims she does not need to raise state taxes.
However, the radicals that control the legislature with a veto-proof majority, will look to spend even more and will support raising state income taxes on the "rich" to fund their social welfare schemes.
Then there's Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is facing a $10 billion budgetary deficit before he adds in the $8 billion in free stuff he promised to his supporters.
To help balance the mayor's budget, his confreres in the state Legislature will happily increase the city's personal and corporate taxes, and Mamdani will gleefully raise property taxes in "white" neighborhoods.
New Yorkers will be burdened with more than higher taxes this year.
Thanks to the Democrats’ opposition to fracking, nuclear energy, and increasing the supply of natural gas, utility rates are soaring and are 50% higher than the national average.
In January, the state's Public Service Commission approved another Con Edison rate increase. The New York Post has reported that "Con Edison we’ll hike electric bills by 10.4% and inflate gas bills 15.8% — costing the average Big Apple resident an eye-watering $600 more per year by 2028."
Between 2019 and 2028, utility rates will have soared 51%.
The left’s post-World War II tax and spending spree wrecked the State and City's fiscal foundations in the 1970s.
Having learned nothing from that experience, the new generation of radical ideologues are implementing policies that are, once again, driving the Empire State and the Big Apple toward financial insolvency.
George J. Marlin, a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is the author of "The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact," and "Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy." Read more George J. Marlin Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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