By Jillian Bannister
Buffalo, NY – Nearly 40 activists held an Alternative State of the County Address outside the Buffalo Convention Center Thursday. A coalition of religious and community groups offered what they described as a big picture analysis of the local budget crisis.
Maria Whyte, Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Justice, says one of the problems is that federal and state tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations are bankrupting local government.
"This community should have the public good as it's priority. But the truth is we can't look out for the public good when tax cuts at the federal and state level for both the corporations and wealthy Americans have left local government bankrupt," Whyte said. "I think part of our purpose of being here is that there's a big picture at stake here. And we can't just look locally for solutions because the problem is not just a local problem."
The Coalition also announced that they will be working with Buffalo State College and Cornell School of Industrial Labor relations to offer a community economic analysis of the county budget.