N.Y. TIMES
Mayor Bill de Blasio rose to power with a promise to increase taxes on wealthy New Yorkers to pay for prekindergarten classes, an idea, rich with symbolism, that many hoped would galvanize liberal causes across the country.
But two months into his tenure, the tax-the-rich part of his plan appears to be all but dead in Albany, where Mr. de Blasio’s poetic calls for reducing inequality have run up against a highly transactional culture.
State leaders appear headed for a compromise that forgoes a tax increase but gives Mr. de Blasio at least some of the money he is seeking to expand prekindergarten and after-school programs in the city.
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To build pressure on Albany, Mr. de Blasio has waged a vigorous campaign, marshaling public opinion and winning endorsements from labor unions, celebrities and wealthy executives.
But he has struggled to change minds inside the halls of power, finding a shrewd opponent in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and facing the recalcitrance of Republicans, who partly control the State Senate.
As Mr. de Blasio’s allies vow to return to Albany next year to rally once more for his tax plan, the mayor faces more immediate challenges. He may be left without the long-term financing for education programs that he has said is vital. And he still must work to find classroom space and teachers for tens of thousands of 4-year-olds before the fall.
“He fought the good fight and came out with half a loaf,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic consultant. “He looks like a warrior for the people who supported him. But he learned a constant theme in state politics: Albany has to prove it has the power.”
Mr. de Blasio’s aides said he would continue to push for the tax increase, noting that he had the support of the State Assembly.
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Mr. de Blasio’s allies, who include Assembly Democrats and a faction of independent Democrats in the Senate who share power there with Republicans, said that whatever the final outcome in Albany, the mayor had already prevailed by making universal prekindergarten — an idea long discussed by lawmakers but never fully funded — an urgent priority.
“De Blasio set the table for something that’s been talked about but ignored for decades,” said Bill Lipton, the state director for the Working Families Party. “Because of him, hundreds of millions of dollars are going to give poor children the education they deserve.”
By pursuing the tax increase, Mr. de Blasio may have positioned himself to win more money for his education programs. Mr. Cuomo initially proposed setting aside $100 million for prekindergarten programs across the state, an amount Mr. de Blasio assailed as insufficient.
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