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Cuomo Non-Committal On De Blasio's Plan To Tax Wealthy New Yorkers For Universal Pre-K

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio campaigned on implementing universal pre-kindergarten, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not said whether he'd support a proposed tax on the rich to cover it.

As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported Tuesday, Cuomo voiced his support to the educational concept of de Blasio's plan.

"Universal pre-K is exactly the right direction. The question then becomes how do we pay for it and what is the capacity, and that's what we have to work through. There's no doubt that it's the right idea and it's where we want to go. There's also no doubt that money is tight nowadays. So that's going to be the balance," the governor said.

Cuomo Non-Committal On De Blasio's Plan To Tax Wealthy New Yorkers For Universal Pre-K

De Blasio said he'd tax those making $500,000 or more to cover the cost of universal pre-K. Any tax would have to be approved by the state Legislature and be signed by Gov. Cuomo.

The governor has previously said he's not interested in hiking taxes while running for re-election.

"I'm very excited about Bill de Blasio being mayor. I've known him for many, many years. This is an extraordinarily talented public servant. I'm excited about the relationship that we're going to have and we will work it out and we will work it through," Cuomo said.

He never said whether he would support adding that tax on the rich, Lamb noted.

Cuomo and de Blasio worked together at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The mayor-elect was Cuomo's deputy chief of staff. They also worked together when de Blasio was a city councilman.

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