A plan by state Democrats to impose higher taxes on the rich was shot down Tuesday by Republicans, who said the state should be moving in the opposite direction.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie introduced a measure that would hike the state’s top tax rate to 8.82 percent for those making $1 million or more, and raise it to 9.32 percent for people earning more than $10 million.
The top rate is currently 6.85 percent, although millionaires face a temporary surcharge up to 8.82 percent through 2017.
The Republican-controlled state Senate not only slammed the idea, but called for a tax reduction.
“We should be talking about lowering taxes,” said Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-LI).
“Look at states like South Carolina, Texas and far away. They’re coming and imploring our companies to leave New York right now,” he said. “The discussion should be what are we doing for economic development? What are we doing to help people grow their business? That generates money for the state of New York, and helps give us an opportunity to cut taxes.”
Heastie said the tax hike would produce $1 billion a year that would be devoted to education.
Under his proposal, those at the bottom of the economic ladder who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit would see their annual benefits boosted from an average of $641 to $750 over a two-year span.
Tax rates for those making $40,000 to $150,000 would decline from 6.45 to 6.25 percent.
“It’s not even just about raising revenue,” Heastie said. “It gives a tax cut to middle-class families and to lower-income families. Many advocates say the minimum wage is one way to help families in poverty. The other way is through the Earned Income Tax Credit. So, we also did that in the bill.”
Heastie told The Post he ultimately wants more money to go toward education.
“The Assembly has long championed wanting to give the districts around the state the resources they need to take care of our children,” he said.
“What we would like to see, and we all believe — the amount of money that the governor put for education in his budget is not enough.”
When asked about Heastie’s plan, Gov. Cuomo’s office side-stepped the issue and referred to a statement he made last month on raising taxes.
“I’m thinking about this year, this year’s [budget] act, and then I’ll think about next year and next year’s act, and I’ll think about the year after next year and the year after the next,” he said at the time.
In 2014, Cuomo opposed a city tax hike on the rich proposed by Mayor de Blasio to fund pre-K programs.