To: Governor Andrew Cuomo
NY Gov. Cuomo: Don’t steal the Chase settlement money from struggling New York families and give ...
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Don't steal the $600 million in JPMorgan Chase settlement money from struggling New York families and give it back to Wall Street criminals. Ensure it gets to programs that will provide direct assistance to the homeowners hurt by Wall Street bankers.
Why is this important?
The Home Defenders League, a Campaign for a Fair Settlement/Action for the Common Good partner, alerted us to an outrageous provision in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget.
Here's the background. Last year JPMorgan Chase agreed to a $13 billion settlement (the largest ever between a corporation and a government) for helping to create the Great Recession and then stealing thousands of homes from struggling homeowners. $600 million of that goes to New York State and it’s supposed to be used for direct relief for homeowners.
But not if Gov. Cuomo has his way. Instead of helping homeowners, the Governor wants to use that money to pay for a major cut to corporate taxes, including one called... the Bank Tax.
That’s right. Gov. Cuomo wants to steal the settlement money from struggling homeowners and give it back to Wall Street criminals.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was able to use $136 million from a previous settlement to help thousands of families stave off foreclosure. We need the $600 million to alleviate the continuing pain from foreclosures and underwater mortgages.
Adding to the outrage is the fact that Gov. Cuomo is stealing this money from New York's most vulnerable communities. Communities of color lost the most when Chase and other Wall Street bankers pushed us into the Great Recession – the median black household lost almost 84% of its household wealth in the recession. Latinos lost 66%, while white households lost some 34%. Now Gov. Cuomo wants to make sure the biggest losers stay the biggest losers.
Because New York is one of the most populous states, if we let Gov. Cuomo get away with this, then Governors across the United States will think they can use this money for whatever they want, including paying off Wall Street criminals. We must stop this.
Tell Gov. Cuomo: Don’t steal the Chase settlement money from struggling New York families and give it back to Wall Street criminals.