New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is standing by his proposal to raise taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents and corporations to fund free buses and universal childcare.
Under Mamdani’s plan, the personal income tax rate on the city's wealthiest 1% would rise by 2 percentage points, while the corporate tax rate would increase to match New Jersey’s 11.5% rate, he told Martha MacCallum on Wednesday on Fox News' "The Story."
"I've said time and time again that I believe these are the most straightforward ways that we can actually fund universal childcare, making buses fast and free, and I've said that the two clear ways to do so: raising personal income taxes on the top 1% by 2% and raising the corporate tax to match that of New Jersey's corporate tax of 11.5%," Mamdani said. "Now, if there are other ways to raise this money to fund this agenda, the most important thing is that we fund the agenda."
He said he was "thankful" to have the support of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, as well as the fact that she highlighted their shared commitment to universal childcare for New Yorkers.
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"Well, what Andrew Cuomo said is that if he had $959 million he'd give it to Elon Musk in tax credits because that's exactly what he did. And I bring that up to you to say that it's often a question of whether you have the willingness to spend that money to benefit working-class people, not where that money is in the first place," Mamdani added, in response to a question about how he is going to pay for his proposed programs if Governor Hochul refuses to raise taxes.
