De Blasio Calls On State Legislatures To Raise Taxes On Wealthy
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday urging state lawmakers to raise taxes on the state's wealthiest residents.
De Blasio traveled to Albany Wednesday to call on the Legislature to increase income taxes on millionaires -- and authorize his proposal to tax the sale of high-end real estate in the city.
The mayor said is the only way to avoid deep cuts to New York classrooms and hospitals.
De Blasio and some top Democratic lawmakers said it is especially important to protect public investments in those programs now that Washington Republicans have proposed cuts in federal spending.
"We see this incessant move in Washington towards greater tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses," de Blasio said.
As WCBS 880's Myles Miller reported, de Blasio is specifically proposing a mansion tax on buyers of homes in New York City costing $2 million or more to help fund affordable housing programs.
The proposal to raise taxes in New York faces significant challenges with the Republican-led state Senate. A spokesman said Senate Republicans want to cut taxes, not raise them.
The group Reclaim New York, a conservative-leaning good-government organization, said the proposals to raise taxes would hurt the economy.
"Lazy politicians with a spending addiction rallying to loot more from taxpayers, who pay the highest taxes in the nation, is nothing short of sad and appalling," the group said in a statement.
Lawmakers are now negotiating the details of the new state budget and hope to vote before the next fiscal year begins April 1.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat from the Bronx, also spoke at Wednesday's rally. He is pushing a plan to raise income tax rates on multi-millionaires that would generate an estimated $5.6 billion in new revenue and impact some 66,000 taxpayers.
Lawmakers are still going over the details of the new state budget. The Fiscal Year begins April 15.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
