Laila Pinaranda testifies in support of tax for CUNY and public services
Laila Pinaranda, a CUNY staff member and union member, supports the tax arguing housing should be for living, not parking wealth. She urges the council to stand with public sector workers and ensure the wealthiest contribute to public institutions like CUNY.
Next.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the City Council.
My name is Laila Pinaranda, and I'm here today as a worker, a co-op resident, and a public sector union member to speak in support of the Piedad Terra tax.
Today, we stand under the emblem, a government of the people, for the people, by the people, a principle which should hopefully inform today's hearing.
I am a full-time CUNY staff member, a member of the PSC CUNY Union, a researcher at the CUNY Research Foundation, and a CUNY alum.
Everything I am, I am thanks to CUNY and public education institutions of New York City.
CUNY, as well as many public services, are the infrastructure that makes private and commonwealth possible.
The question before us is simple.
Who should pay for that infrastructure?
I believe those who have accumulated the greatest wealth
should contribute the greatest share.
That is not an attack, contrary to what we've heard today, on ordinary homeowners.
It is a recognition that housing should be a place to live, not simply another vehicle for accumulating and parking wealth.
As a CUNY worker, I see every day what public investment makes possible.
CUNY is one
of the great democratic institutions of New York.
It gives working class New Yorkers like myself access to education, research, economic opportunity.
But higher education has been asked to do more and more while operating under enormous financial pressure.
And CUNY is only one example.
Our public institutions are the common wealth of the city.
We should reject the idea that government must constantly make working class people choose between the services that allow for dignified life and other basic necessities.
The wealth exists.
Today's city council hearing asks, are we visionary, bold, and courageous enough to organize our tax system so that wealth contributes to the society that produces and sustains it?
I urge the city council to stand with public sector workers and stand with CUNY.
City council, stand for the principle that the wealthiest among us should pay their fair share.
Thank you.