So what will the Law of Unintended Consequences have to say about this?
I figure that a man now earing $130K per year whos kid is just entering high school will do what he needs to do to make less than $125K. So he will work less overtime or quit his second job or work under the table to cut his documented income to less than $125K.
So the State of New York will be receiving less money in taxes from this mans family for probably 2 years before his kid enters college until his kid graduates from college.
Also the Feds will get less income from this man to SS, Medicare and income taxes.
In general people will be less productive so that their kid can go to college on the taxpayers dime. Everybody loses with these kinds of programs because it screws with natural incentives. These programs are guaranteed losers from the beginning. They start from the false premise and that some people dont go to college because they cant afford it and it is downhill from there.
And of course there will be the usual cheating on reporting of income.
Not to mention the fact that an upstate family with one child and an income of $125,000 is doing a whole lot better than most.