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Senate GOP Pushes Middle Class Tax Breaks

Senate Republicans are pushing for middle class tax breaks in the new state budget, including a return to the STAR property tax rebate checks curtailed in 2009.

Senate GOP Leader Dean Skelos wants to increase the tax break for dependents and the child tax credit , and return to the rebate checks for home owners part of the  STAR  property tax program. He says the average family of four could end up with $1000 more dollars each year.

“It always seems that middle income family is the family that is getting choked in this state,” Skelos said.

Senate Republicans say the money could come from Governor Cuomo’s $2.5 billion dollar pool of discretionary funds. The governor did not completely rule out the idea of further tax cuts in the budget, saying it’s too early in negotiations to decide the details of a final plan.

Later, following a private budget meeting with Cuomo, Senator Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said that they were no longer considering the governor’s plan to site at least three more gambling casinos in New York as part of the state spending plan.

“It’s not part of the budget right now,” Speaker Silver said.  

“We don’t need to have that whole gaming issue, it’s not time sensitive right now,” said Skelos.

But Cuomo says that is not “accurate”.

“There’s nothing in, there’s nothing out until you have a budget,” Cuomo said.