PLAN IS DOA

Nixon’s millionaires tax gets no love from Dems

ALBANY — A tax on the wealthy proposed by Mayor de Blasio, gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon and others to help fund needed subway repairs appears highly unlikely even if the Democrats win the state Senate majority in the coming elections.

At least three Senate Democrats say such a move would hurt their members in the suburbs and upstate and fear it could quickly land the Dems back in the minority.

With no Republican likely to back a “millionaires tax,” the loss of at least three Democrat votes could make it extremely difficult for such a plan to pass, even if the party wins the majority.

The three Senate Dems opposed to the idea point to how the party lost its brief time in the majority in 2009-10 after imposing a payroll tax on businesses throughout the 12-county MTA region.

“I’ve been there, done that,” said Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island). “I’ve seen this movie, and I know how it ends. It’s the fastest route to the minority.”

De Blasio said last week that a plan he and Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) are pushing would only target the wealthy in New York City, not the rest of the state, which he insisted could make it easier for suburban and upstate lawmakers to back it.

The mayor also argued that polls show taxing the rich has widespread bipartisan support throughout the state and is a much more popular approach to help fund the cash-strapped subway system than imposing a congestion-pricing plan that would directly affect suburban drivers.

Nixon spokeswoman Laura Hitt suggested “it’s ridiculous to suggest that asking the wealthy to pay their fair share will turn off voters, especially in a blue wave year.”

Savino countered that the push for a millionaires tax is more “an ideological pursuit . . . not a fiscal plan.”

“People like Cynthia Nixon, and even the mayor, want to do it for the sake of just doing it so they can check off that box,” she said.

Even if it only affects those in New York City, Savino and the two other Senate Dems, who asked for anonymity, said hiking taxes out of the gate “is bad optics” that plays into the hands of Republicans who already aggressively seek to tie the suburban and upstate Democrats to de Blasio and his liberal agenda.

“If we’d like to keep the majority, we need to listen to (marginal members) this time instead of ignoring their needs, which would be the fastest way to lose those seats and wind back in the minority,” she said.

In addition to the three opposing the tax, two Senate Dems who actually support it nonetheless say the issue shouldn’t be on the front-burner next year.

“I would say to the conference that we should not even entertain something like this so quickly,” said one of the two.

Gianaris wouldn’t commit to passage of a millionaires tax next year should the Democrats grab control of the chamber.

“There are a number of ideas that are being considered (to help the MTA),” Gianaris said. “I imagine that it’s something we’ll discuss as a group in January and come to a conclusion at that time.”

With the legislative session winding down and work in the Senate having ground to a halt last week when no bills passed, there was no progress reported over the weekend toward ending the stalemate.

Sources say there was little discussion between the two warring sides about how to move forward, leaving open the possibility of more chaos this week.