New York Governor Kathy Hochul is now begging millionaires to come back to a state she admits has lost its tax base — and her answer for why they left is to blame Trump and COVID.
Story Snapshot
- Hochul publicly pleaded with wealthy former New Yorkers to return, admitting the state’s tax base has been “eroded” by departures.
- She blamed the 2017 federal repeal of the State and Local Tax deduction and the COVID pandemic — not New York’s own high taxes — for driving millionaires out.
- New York City’s likely next mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is pushing a 2% income tax on earners over $1 million, directly contradicting Hochul’s “no new taxes” stance.
- Data shows the millionaire exodus peaked during the pandemic in 2020 and returned to normal levels by 2022 — suggesting the crisis was temporary, not structural.
Hochul’s Pitch: Come Back and Pay Our Bills
Governor Hochul recently made a remarkable public appeal to wealthy New Yorkers who moved away. She said the state needs them back to fund its programs. Her exact words: “I need affluent individuals to support the generous social initiatives that we wish to implement in our state.” She even called the millionaires who stayed “patriotic” and suggested flying down to Palm Beach, Florida, to recruit the ones who left.
Hochul said she opposes raising taxes on high earners, stating clearly: “I am doing what I can to stop that because I believe that we should not be raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals.” But she offered no concrete policy changes to explain why millionaires should return. No tax relief. No reform package. Just a plea — and a promise that others will keep taxing them if they don’t.
Blaming Trump and COVID Instead of Albany
Hochul pointed the finger squarely at the 2017 federal tax law that eliminated the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. She said: “Back then a big driver of people leaving was when the Donald Trump administration and Congress got rid of the State and Local Tax Deduction. All of a sudden, everybody in New York paid higher taxes.” She also cited remote work as a game-changer, saying simply, “Remote work changed everything.”
The problem with this explanation is the data. A Fiscal Policy Institute study found the 2017 SALT cap had “zero effect on millionaire migration.” The same group found that over 75% of wealthy New Yorkers who left during the pandemic moved to other high-tax states — places like Connecticut, New Jersey, and California — not to low-tax Florida or Texas. That undercuts the idea that taxes were the main reason people left. It also means Hochul’s SALT blame game doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
The Mamdani Problem: Democrats Fighting Democrats
While Hochul says she won’t raise taxes on the rich, New York City’s incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani is pushing hard to do exactly that. Mamdani wants a 2% income tax on anyone earning over $1 million, along with corporate tax hikes. This puts Hochul in an awkward spot — she’s telling millionaires the state won’t squeeze them harder, while her own party’s rising star is promising to do just that. It’s hard to recruit wealthy residents back when the political winds are blowing in the opposite direction.
NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani's Tax Plan Sparks Debate as Report Warns of Wealthy Residents Leaving New York
A new report has raised concerns that New York could lose billions of dollars in tax revenue if more high-income residents leave the state, as New York City mayoral… pic.twitter.com/F8e0EP567Z— Voice of Germany (@NewsVOG) July 16, 2026
This internal Democratic fight reveals the real problem. New York’s progressive wing wants to spend more and tax more. Hochul knows that drives people away but lacks the political strength to stop it. The result is a governor begging millionaires to return while her own party works to push them out. IRS data shows millionaire departures peaked at 3,330 in 2020 and dropped back to 1,837 by 2023 — close to pre-pandemic norms. The exodus was real, but it was temporary. The bigger threat now may be what comes next under Mamdani’s tax agenda.
What This Means for New York’s Future
New York’s top earners already carry a huge share of the state’s budget. Millionaires now account for roughly half of all personal income tax revenue — up from about 40% before the 2021 tax hikes. That makes the state extremely vulnerable if even a small number of high earners leave. Hochul knows this, which is why she’s making the pitch. But knowing the problem and fixing it are two different things.
The governor has not proposed a single concrete reform to make New York more competitive. No tax cuts. No rollback of regulations. No plan to close the gap with Florida or Texas. Instead, she’s asking millionaires to return out of loyalty — calling it patriotism — while her state continues to run some of the highest income and property taxes in the country. That’s not a strategy. That’s a governor out of options, hoping goodwill fills the budget hole that bad policy created.
Sources:
redstate.com, youtube.com, finance.yahoo.com, foxnews.com, yahoo.com
