[phd514]

The state tax rate in NY has nothing to do with this response (that seems quite good) to the COVID-19 pandemic. The labs that will be performing these extra tests are private labs, not labs funded by NY state taxes. I wish people could separate their criticism of the different governmental responses to this pandemic from their preferred stance on domestic tax policy.

[dev1n]

We have a well-funded state university system paid for by tax dollars which provides these labs with competent, well-educated employees. But yes, these labs are not directly funded by state dollars.

[alkibiades]

yes private universities like stanford and harvard would have no way of creating competent well educated employees. do you have proof the employees even when to state schools?

[akiselev]

AFAICT the State of New York is contracting out these labs directly and paying for all of the testing.

[phd514]

The expenses involved in the response to the pandemic aren't in any state's budget. All the states are going to petition the federal government for aid and the Fed is going to print money to cover it. In other words, we're all going to pay for it through inflation. Honestly, that's probably not the worst outcome, but there's no way any individual state, high tax rate or not, was going to be in a position to respond to a severe pandemic like this.

[akiselev]

The California and New York legislatures were already seriously looking at funding single payer healthcare in their states, largely pending a cooperative federal government. Covering the cost of hospitalization for at most 15% of their states would be a drop in the bucket. I wouldn't be surprised if California, Texas, and New York would be able to raise $100+ billion each in state bonds on rather favourable terms for healthcare expenses and direct stimulus despite the federal liquidity injections (or because of them, I can't figure whats going on there right now). It's not enough to keep the economic regions from collapsing and taking the rest of the country down with them long term, but it's probably enough for the people there until the federal response is adequate enough to take over.

If we're talking about the massive bailouts that'll need to happen for national security's sake, then I agree fully. There is no way any state can go it alone and at that point at least inflation spreads the pain a little bit more fairly, considering how bad multiple metropolitan regions collapsing would be for the rest of the country.