Congressman John Faso (R-Kinderhook) said a proposed amendment to the new health care bill would save Upstate taxpayers $2.3 billion a year by shifting Medicaid costs from the counties to the state.
“High property taxes are crushing Upstate homeowners and businesses,” said Faso. “Medicaid costs passed on from Albany are the primary driver of these taxes.”
The change would affect New York State only, though not New York City.
Critics compared it to similar targeted provisions designed to win support from particular lawmakers for the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and 2010, like the “Cornhusker Kickback.” Some have already taken to calling the amendment the “Buffalo Buyout” or “Buffalo Bribe” after Rep. Chris Collins of Buffalo, who has been assigned credit for pushing it. (An attempt to float “Poughkeepsie Dough-Keepsie” has apparently not taken off.)
But Faso, along with several other Upstate GOP congressmen, say New York State residents pay disproportionately high property taxes. The amendment would mean tax relief, and they are proud to claim it.
Faso, in a release, referred to it as “the Faso plan.”
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