In the annual wrangling over the New York State budget, socialists and other left forces just won far more than anyone expected. The state legislature agreed to temporarily raise taxes on New Yorkers earning more than $1.1 million, with a tax rate of 10.9 percent on incomes over $25 million. This is happening even though Democratic scion Andrew Cuomo is still the governor. After years of Cuomo’s elevation of coddling the rich into a matter of liberal principle, in New York, as at the federal level, decades of austerity are grinding to a halt.

In 2018, education activist and actress Cynthia Nixon ran for governor on a progressive platform in a bid that seemed like a long shot, not only to most of the political class but even most progressives. Nixon ran on a 10 percent increase in taxes on incomes over a million, and a 40 percent increase for incomes over $10 million. Josh Mason of the Roosevelt Institute, who helped Nixon develop her economic plan, pointed out on Facebook last week “how close this is to what the legislature just approved.” (As an aside, it is worth noting that Nixon also campaigned on legal marijuana, another bright spot of this legislative season.)

Some of the highlights of the budget include a $2.1 billion excluded workers fund (relief for undocumented New Yorkers left out of the federal COVID-19 stimulus package) and $2.4 billion in rent relief. Probably the most significant progressive victory is the $1.4 billion foundation aid to public schools, which education advocates — groups like Alliance for Quality Education — and public school parents have been demanding for years. Unlike many other provisions in the budget, the legislature committed to fully funding schools in the future, not just during this crisis, so this win, even more than the others, feels like an acknowledgement of the failure of austerity and a dramatic milestone marking its obsolescence.