Only in New York would politicians think the best use of $5 million taxpayer dollars is to hand it to nine people to “study” how to waste even more of your money. The New York reparations commission is being tasked by Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul with determining how much money taxpayers should be forced to fork over in payments to black New Yorkers. And just to be clear — not $5 million for actual payments, $5 million to study just how large the payments should be. It’s government at its most unserious.
New York isn’t the first state to try this. California has a similar commission that recently wrapped up in the most ridiculous (and expensive) way possible — California’s commission proposed giving $1.2 million to each eligible Black resident, with a total price tag of $800 billion to taxpayers — roughly four times the size of California’s state budget.
You work hard for your money. These commissions work hard to find new ways to take it from you. What starts as a “study” turns into a spending spree — and if your state isn’t careful, you’ll be the one left holding the bill. Free enterprise isn’t just about opportunity — it’s about protecting what you’ve earned from being drained by political experiments. Don’t let your state become New York.