The New York State Legislature has proposed nearly $7 billion in new and increased taxes on businesses and the wealthiest state residents. The tax proposals were announced as more than $100 billion is being doled out to New York in federal aid as part of the COVID-19 stimulus bill that was passed and signed into law by President Joe Biden last week. The Democratic leaders of the Assembly, in a statement on March 14, said lawmakers are proposing a $208.3 billion budget for the coming fiscal year, including a 22.6 percent increase in spending over the previous fiscal year. It’s more than 10 percent higher than what Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, is proposing, according to The New York Post. Explaining that the CCP virus—which causes COVID-19—pandemic is not just a “health crisis” but an “economic crisis,” the office of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, said in a release that the …