Brian there on WNYC.

So the New York State Budget debate got even more interesting this week when both leaders of the legislature came out in favor of Mayor Mumdani's tax hike proposals

for the wealthiest corporations and individuals. Have you heard that yet? But Governor Hockel remains

opposed. So we'll hear the arguments and the politics now from our Albany reporter Jimmy Veilkind,

and we'll also ask, is it okay for a judge to call the defendant an animal

that's a question in Albany now too hey Jimmy how you doing good Brian so the big headline

here is that the legislature is taking Mamgani side on raising taxes the mayor's proposed

raising income taxes on those making a million

or more a year by two percentage points and raising the top corporate tax rate from seven and a quarter

percent to 11 and a half. How close are the Assembly and Senate proposals to Mayor Ma'am Dhani's?

Well, the Assembly and Senate came in a little lower than what Mamdani had been seeking.

He wants to raise taxes for New Yorkers reporting a million dollars or more. And the State

Senate Assembly came in setting that bottom threshold at $5 million. I think that they've also

put forward a corporate tax increase that's a little less than what the mayor was hoping for.

But the sum total effect is the same. Mamdani is grappling with a $5.4 billion deficit in the city budget.

He's asking state lawmakers to step up to help him fill

that gap. He wants to raise taxes on the rich and on corporations to fill that gap. And by and large,

the Senate and Assembly have backed up that position. So state Senate majority leader,

Andrea Stewart Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Hasty,

are who we're talking about.

They've both been vocal about the need for new revenue.

Here is Speaker Hasty framing the legislature's priorities like this.

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