- The Washington Times - Friday, January 3, 2014

Tax the rich; pay for kindergarten. That’s the song being sung by New York City’s newest mayor, Bill de Blasio, as a means of paying for kindergarten.

But his plan, via a proposed five-year budget, is already receiving some pushback, Bloomberg reported. State politicos from both parties aren’t eager to embrace tax hikes, especially in a highly charged election season.

“We have said we’re supportive of universal pre-K,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for Sen. Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican, in the Bloomberg story. “The question is, how do you pay for it?”

Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo has similar worries, Bloomberg said. And both would rather look for other revenue sources in the already massive budget — $70 billion — to fund kindergarten programs.

Mr. de Blasio’s idea is to raise income taxes on those in the city who earn more than $500,000 a year from 3.9 percent to 4.4 percent. He says his plan would bring in more than $530 million in five years, and would only impact the 27,300 taxpayers in the city who earn between $500,000 and $1 million annually.

It’s only another $973 a year each would have to cough up, Mr. de Blasio argues.

“That’s less than three bucks a day — about the cost of a small soy latte at your local Starbucks,” he said, right after being sworn into office on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported. “We do not ask more of the wealthy to punish success. We do it to create more success stories.”

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

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