NEW YORK MINUTE: Democratic state lawmakers want to increase taxes on some of the wealthiest New Yorkers — setting up a potential clash with Gov. Kathy Hochul in the state budget. The Democratic-led Senate’s budget resolution released Monday night proposed increasing the personal income tax rate for filers who make more than $5 million. The top rate would hit 11.4 percent for people who earn more than $25 million. Hochul’s budget in January left income tax rates untouched. — Nick Reisman COVID COMMISSION: Dick Gottfried is retired from the state Assembly. But he’s still striving to have an impact on what happens in Albany. Gottfried, the former longtime chair of the chamber’s Health Committee, wants his ex-colleagues to approve a commission to review and investigate governmental decision-making during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Manhattan Democrat on Sunday sent an email to members of the Assembly urging them to include funding for the commission in the state budget, due to pass by the end of the month. “The Covid experience really cries out for a thorough review of what we got right, what we didn’t get right, what lessons we need to learn for next time,” Gottfried, who was first elected in 1970, told Playbook. “And there will certainly be a next time.” The email from Gottfried to Assembly lawmakers was a timely one: It came a day before the fourth anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the world is in a pandemic. If approved, New York’s Covid commission would join multiple formal efforts to get a better understanding of how the pandemic was handled by officials, especially in its initial weeks when New York was the virus’ epicenter. The goal, in part, is to take some of the politics out of the charged issue of how schools, businesses, hospitals and other public gathering spaces were affected by the once-a-century crisis. “I think it will help to make sure that this is an objective and professional analysis aimed at learning lessons and not pointing fingers or patting ourselves on the back,” said Gottfried, who helped draft the bill and was the longest-serving Assembly member before he left office in 2022. That could be a challenge given the other pandemic probes that have been accused of having more than a whiff of politics. The Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic subpoenaed Democratic former Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week to testify before the panel in May. The former governor, a national figure during the pandemic, came under scrutiny for his handling of nursing homes during the crisis. His spokesperson decried the subpoena and accused lawmakers of trying to “weaponize people’s pain and loss of loved ones.” Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, has tapped an outside consultant to review a range of actions by officials during the pandemic. Gottfried wants the proposed state commission to be different. Unlike Hochul’s consultant, the commission would have subpoena power. It would also have a wider range of people who could be appointed, including public health experts. And the commission would be designed to have some teeth, he said. “It would have broad membership,” Gottfried said. “It would have legal authority to delve into areas that a private group would not have authority.” The Democratic lawmakers backing the bill, state Sen. Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, are also pushing for funding this month. “Let’s learn from our past,” González-Rojas said. — Nick Reisman HAPPY TUESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
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