May 18, 2011
By Stephanie West
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has introduced legislation (A.7802) aimed at stopping a tax reduction slated to benefit millionaires.
The legislation would prevent a lowering of the existing tax rate for the wealthy, help schools stave off the worst cuts, and give them the resources so that our children’s education will not be shortchanged. The Assembly’s proposal would affect only those earning more than $1 million in adjusted gross income, which constitutes less than one percent of all taxpayers.
“Quite simply, this is a moral imperative. We should not give a special handout to multimillionaires and billionaires while our children’s educational are in jeopardy,” said Silver (D-Manhattan), noting that the affluent are already reaping the huge benefits of the Bush era tax cuts extended by the federal government. “This legislation not only ensures that millionaires and multi millionaires remain in their current tax bracket until 2013, it also makes certain that a large portion of their contribution goes directly to our schools.”
Under the legislation, the current top tax rate of 8.97 percent would be extended through 2012.
“Even with the extension of the surcharge, millionaires and multi millionaires are seeing a significant net benefit as a result of the extension of the Bush era tax cuts that lowered the top rate to 35 percent from 39.6 percent,” said Silver. “There is no reason, in these troubled times, for New York to give the very rich an even greater tax break.”
