Flip Your Ballot: 2022 Ballot Proposals

New York City voters also will have four proposals to decide on: a statewide proposal that would boost spending in Albany on future environment-related projects plus three city proposals to create a “statement of values” for the government, form a racial equity office, and define how the cost of living is calculated.

If approved, the four ballot questions — one that pertains to the state and three to the city — would each take effect right away. The proposals would boost spending on environmental projects, define how the city calculates the cost of living and create a new racial equity office.

Proposal 1: Environmental Bond Act of 2022

This proposal would allow New York State to borrow $4.2 billion through a bond issuance for specific environment-related projects and policy efforts.

That includes $250 million for improving stormwater systems, $200 million for wastewater infrastructure, $500 million for zero-emissions school buses and $1.5 billion for climate mitigation such as wetland protection and renewable energy projects.

This would be the first environmental bond act enacted for 26 years in New York, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

The state legislature approved the measure as part of this year’s budget package, sending it to voters as a November ballot proposal.

Proposal 2: Statement of Values for City Government

This measure would create a mission statement of sorts for New York’s government by adding a preamble to the city charter that includes a statement of “values and vision,” the ballot proposal says, that aims to create a “just and equitable city for all.”

The proposal, like proposals three and four, was born from former mayor Bill de Blasio’s Racial Justice Commission. The mayor convened the RJC in 2021 following the widespread protests of systemic racism and police violence in 2020.

In the RJC’s final report, it recommended a preamble that “acknowledges and speaks to historical wrongs” in order to “reconstruct, revise and reimagine our city’s foundations, structures, institutions, and laws to promote justice and equity for all New Yorkers.”

“The first step towards accountability and healing is telling the truth,” the commission wrote.

Proposal 3: Racial Equity Plans and Office

This measure would bring three new requirements to the city charter: mandating that all city agencies create “racial equity plans” every two years, establishing a new Office of Racial Equity to coordinate racial equity planning across city government, and creating a Commission on Racial Equity. That commission would identify and propose priorities for racial equity planning and review the racial equity plans for each city agency.

Proposal 4: True Cost of Living

This measure would mandate that the city government use a new method to calculate the “true cost of living” in the city without taking into account public, private or informal assistance a person or household may receive.

The RJC advocated for this change, it said, because it concluded that current poverty measures are not accurate for New York City’s needs or policy decisions.

A commonly used federal poverty measure developed decades ago does not take regional costs into consideration, it said. To combat that, New York created its own measure — called the NYCgov Poverty Measure — but “it still calculates public assistance as income,” which skews the economic picture, says the report

Instead, the proposed “true cost” measure would be based on “actual household income required to meet the essential needs of people living in New York City,” the commission said. It would include costs related to housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, clothing and shoes, hygiene products, household items, and telephone and internet services, among other things.

Andrew Rein at the Citizens Budget Commission said there is “logic for the measure” and it “might very well be useful,” but cautioned that it may need to be more specific.

There will be more than just candidates on your ballot in November. Please flip your ballot and vote yes on all the ballot proposals!

Onward,

Christian