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De Blasio Will Ditch Pre-K Tax Idea If Cuomo Guarantees $500 Million/Year
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 10, 2014
Modified Mar 10, 2014
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NYC Mayor's Office
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 10, 2014
Modified Mar 10, 2014
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The eternal fight between Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo over funding universal pre-K became a talking point during the mayor's appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe today. De Blasio showed he was open to some negotiation, declaring, "I’ve 100% said if we have a verifiable plan for five years at the dollar figure we need, we can accept that... “I’ve also said that I don’t believe given the vagaries of Albany - you’ve seen them - that we’re going to have anything as verifiable and consistent as the tax plan I’ve put forward."
De Blasio has proposed taxing those making over $500,000 to fund the program (it'd be "less than three bucks a day—about the cost of a small soy latte at your local Starbucks," he said). Cuomo, of course, hates that because, well, he's thinking about Election Year and broad partisan support, so he's said Albany would fund it, though he never specified how.
If Albany can fork over $500-530 million a year for five years, de Blasio would be willing to drop his mean tax. The NY Times reports that "Mr. de Blasio, who has been hailed as a national leader of an emerging left flank of the Democratic Party, took pains to present himself as fiscally hard-headed, saying, "I’m a progressive, but I agree with the critique that has been applied to many progressives: They like to forget the part about how you pay for it." He added it wasn't a "tax for tax’s sake...It was always about achieving the end."
Tagged
governor cuomo
mayor de blasio
pre-k
soy latte
tax the rich
universal pre-K
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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