In his inaugural address, de Blasio said he wouldn’t wait to push his tax plan in Albany. He reiterated that point yesterday at a press briefing in Manhattan.

“I’ve been very clear about this -- this is a five-year plan,” de Blasio said. “It has to be sustained. We need all of the resources that we’ve asked for in order to sustain it, and the only way to do that is with a very specific and dedicated tax on those who make a half-million or more. That’s our mission, and we’re committed to it.”

To get the plan approved, de Blasio will have to navigate Albany, where both Cuomo and Skelos have said they want to lower property and corporate levies in a state with the worst tax climate for business in the U.S., according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit research group. Cuomo appointed two commissions to study how to cut taxes.

Klein, Silver

Jeff Klein, the Bronx Democrat who co-leads the senate with Skelos, said in an interview that getting de Blasio’s plan passed is a priority for him heading into the legislative session that starts next week. Skelos must agree on any measure that comes up for a vote, though Klein said it ought to be part of the state budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1.

“In the legislature, we give localities taxing authority all the time,” Klein said. “This is not just taxing the rich for the sake of taxing them. The money goes to a very important place, to provide universal pre-K.”

Sheldon Silver, the Manhattan Democrat who leads the Assembly and supports the plan, also said it should be included in the budget.

“I have championed universal pre-K for nearly two decades now,” Silver said today in a statement. “I am fully committed to seeing Mayor de Blasio’s plan pass.”

De Blasio has a 20-year friendship with Cuomo, including years spent working for Cuomo when the governor served in Clinton’s cabinet as housing secretary.

“There’s no doubt that it’s the right idea and it’s where we want to go,” Cuomo told reporters Nov. 11 before marching up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in the Veterans Day Parade. “There’s also no doubt that money is tight nowadays. So that’s going to be the balance.”