A deal has been struck among New York State legislators and Gov. Paterson to tax some higher income New Yorkers at a somewhat higher rate. See also the report in the New York Daily News. and the Albany Times Union

In my opinion this is a good deal for New Yorkers and a great victory for the complex coalition of labor unions, community organizations and social service agencies which lobbied for months. The irrational, unplanned and wildly harmful budget cuts proposed by Gov. Paterson will largely be avoided. The increased tax rate will produce about $4 Billion dollars which, while greatly needed is not quite enough.

The worst part of the deal is that the two-step rate increase expires in three years which means we will have to re-fight this fight then.

The coalition, One New York: Fighting For Fairness, will now have to face our Billionaire Mayor who proposes taxes on low and moderate income New York City dwellers. Mr. Bloomberg refuses to tax the personal income of higher earning City dwellers -- preferring instead much higher and very unfair sales taxes.  read more »

WFP's indefatigable Dan Levitan emails over this shot from this morning's pre-canvass rally at WFP Galactic Headquarters.

By any measure, WFP has launched an impressive effort today and added luster to its claim to be the state's premier GOTV organization. The Working Families Party took sides in four primaries today - SD-25, backing Squadron over Connor, SD-61, Joe Mesi over two others in an open-seat race that could get very hot, SD-21, Parker over two potentially disloyal challengers, and AD-64, where they've cast their lot with Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver - and in the course of their efforts by their own estimate knocked on 125,000 doors. In all, Dan Cantor has 400 ground troops active in these races.

Agree or disagree with WFP on a given race or issue, but don't ever doubt their effectiveness.

Via Liz,Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos has categorically ruled out tax increases on the super-rich to help balance the budget, relying instead on average New Yorkers to carry that burden.

Meanwhile, the Assembly has passed legislation incorporating the so-called circuit breaker, a prime objective of the Working Families Party, which is opposing the governor's plan of a tax cap. The legislation links property taxes to an owner's ability to pay. To that, via email, WFP's Dan Cantor said:

“Speaker Silver and members of the Assembly have offered a roadmap to solving the very real problem of property taxes that bear no relation to what working and middle class families can afford. They should be congratulated today for the triumph of common sense. The Assembly bill would provide real cuts in property taxes for working and retired families – paid for in a fiscally responsible way – while preserving our state’s commitment to quality public education.

“It’s time to let democracy work. It’s time the State Senate notices that more than 15,000 New Yorkers reached out to their legislators and the Governor to say that the so-called property tax cap is nothing more than an arbitrary restriction on local investment in public education that does nothing to address the property tax mess.”

I see competing one-house bills coming, what about you?

Via Liz, Tom Suozzi just upped the ante:

"The governor has this reputation throughout his entire public life of being not only pro-education, having been a strong supporter of CFE and other initiatives throughout his career, but also being pro-labor," Suozzi said.

"...It's really disconcerting to me that they're making such a personal attack against him."

Via email, Dan Cantor of WFP fires back.

“It’s not surprising that Tom Suozzi is trying to defend David Paterson’s tax gimmick. After all – it was Suozzi’s idea. But Suozzi is dead wrong to say the Governor has been personally attacked. David Paterson has been around long enough to know what’s personal and what’s about policy.

“Here’s what’s personal: the impact on 3 million kids around the state if the Governor and the legislature enact a property tax cap that devastates public education. It will be personal for the families whose children go to school in overcrowded classrooms. It will be personal for the teachers who are fired. It will be personal for the homeowners whose property values will go down with the quality of their local schools.”

“This property tax gimmick is the wrong answer. It will hurt our kids and our communities.”

So no, it's not personal at all, but we do feel that you need to know that the governor plans to devastate education for your kid, which by the way is a gimmick gimmick gimmick. Okay then.