By MAURY THOMPSON [email protected]: <mailto:[email protected]>

Published on 4/19/2006

Local News

THE POST-STAR

Middle class families are being hit with a "hidden tax" that was intended as a way to close tax loopholes for the wealthy, Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand said Tuesday.

Gillibrand called for adjusting the parameters for the federal Alternative Minimum Tax to account for inflation.

Initiated in the early 1970s, the Alternative Minimum Tax was intended to make sure the wealthy paid at least some federal income tax, she said.

Because income levels in general have risen to keep pace with inflation, more and more middle class families with children are now required to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax, Gillibrand said in a telephone interview after she announced her proposal at a press conference in Albany.

"I am very concerned that we make an adjustment, and we need to do it right away," she said.

Unless current parameters are changed, half of all households in the New York will be subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax within five years, she said.

Gillibrand is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park.

Gillibrand must not be aware that Sweeney has already supported legislation addressing the Alternative Minimum Tax issue, said his spokeswoman Melissa Carlson.

That overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in December, and he now is attempting to attach stand-alone legislation to a package of tax bills now being considered by a joint House and Senate conference committee, she said.

"This is yet another example of her lack of understanding of the legislative process ...," Carlson said. "Sweeney already knows that New York ranks second in the nation in taxpayers affected by this crushing, unfair tax and he has a record of working to address it."

Gillibrand merely stated she would make middle class tax cuts a priority, and was not directly criticizing Sweeney, said her campaign chairman, Bill Hyers.

"They're (Republicans) egos are getting a little out of control here if they think every press conference has to be about them," he said.