ALBANY – Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver found himself up against a surprise adversary yesterday when the new state Senate Democratic leader publicly challenged his claim that an income-tax hike would not force wealthy taxpayers from the state.
Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith of Queens said a millionaire’s tax had “the potential of driving some people back into a shelter” because the rich could move more easily.
“Obviously, taxes have the ability to shift people’s desires and interests,” Smith said yesterday.
“I’m not sure that we want to explore that possibility by instituting an income tax and then wait to see what happens.”
Smith’s remarks came just moments after Silver offered his most impassioned argument yet for a tax on the wealthy.
“We did it after Sept. 11,” Silver said. “Unequivocally, there’s no evidence that anybody left the state as a result of it.”
Meanwhile, in her annual State of the City address today, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) is expected to call on the state to increase taxes on New Yorkers earning at least $300,000, according to excerpts from the speech.
She will also make a three-tiered proposal that would eliminate the city’s personal-income taxes for low- and moderate-income families who do not pay state or federal income taxes.