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Speak Out CNY Holds Simultaneous Tax Day Rallies Outside Congressman Katko’s Syracuse Office and Congresswoman Tenney’s Binghamton Office

ON TAX DAY, CENTRAL NEW YORKERS AND RESIDENTS OF THE SOUTHERN TIER RALLY OUTSIDE OFFICES OF CONGRESSMAN KATKO AND CONGRESSWOMAN TENNEY AGAINST REPUBLICAN TAX GIVEAWAY TO WEALTHY DONORS

 Local Elected Officials, Central New Yorkers Highlight Katko’s And Tenney’s Corporate Donors And Ask Who They Really Represent

SYRACUSE AND BINGHAMTON— At simultaneous Tax Day rallies today in Binghamton and Syracuse, residents of the Southern Tier and Central New Yorkers and local elected officials denounced Congressman John Katko’s and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney’s votes in favor of the Republican tax scam, and highlighted the wealthy corporate campaign donors who stand to benefit most from the TrumpTax.

“Central New Yorkers face tax hikes and crippling cuts to healthcare and education, all while Katko and Tenney continue to rake in thousands in campaign donations from Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and Blackstone Group,” said Jessica Bumpus of Indivisible Syracuse. “We’re asking who our members of Congress are really working for, especially after they voted for a tax scam that funnels $1.5 trillion in tax cuts to the richest fraction of Americans and leaves working families around the country to bear the burden.”

Central New Yorkers pinned the logos of major corporate donors to each Congressmember’s campaigns on cardboard likenesses of Katko and Tenney, emphasizing the billions in tax breaks funneled to each by the TrumpTax.

“With our Congressmembers voting in favor of this disastrous plan after accepting this amount of money from massive corporate interests, their allegiances couldn’t possibly be more transparent,” said Lori Wahila of Indivisible Binghamton. “Central New Yorkers and residents of the Southern Tier deserve to know who their Congressmembers really work for, and today is about making Katko and Tenney own up to the voters and finally publically display the names of the corporations sponsoring their time in Congress.”

Major donors to Katko’s campaign include:

  • Blackstone Group: $16,200
  • Chevron Corp.: $6,500
  • Deloitte LLP: $5,000
  • UnitedHealth Group: $5,000
  • Goldman Sachs: $4,000
  • General Electric: $4,000
  • Comcast: $3,500

Major donors to Tenney’s campaign include:

  • Comcast: $10,400
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers: $10,000
  • New York Life Insurance: $9,500
  • Koch Industries: $7,500
  • Goldman Sachs: $7,500
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co: $6,000
  • Exxon Mobil: $5,000

The Republican tax scam sends more than half of the tax breaks to just the richest 5 percent of New Yorkers, and is expected to cost the state $2.4 billion in 2019 alone – while 2.4 million New Yorkers won’t see a tax cut at all. The TrumpTax is set to devastate poor families around the country, even triggering automatic tax hikes in some states – including New York.

About Speak Out Central New York

Speak Out CNY is dedicated to educating and empowering Central New Yorkers through grassroots organizing, digital advocacy, and community partnerships. By advocating for policies that help working families make ends meet, we aim to encourage our members of Congress to protect our health care and work to expand economic opportunity.