Democratic legislators in New York are advocating for an increase in the corporate tax rate as a strategy to alleviate Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s financial challenges, with the city facing a daunting $5.4 billion budget shortfall, insiders have revealed to The Post.

“There’s a strong desire to boost the corporate tax,” shared a source who recently engaged with state Assembly Speaker Heastie (D-Bronx) and Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers).

“Among the tax options on the table, this one is the most favored,” the city official noted.

An individual familiar with the budget discussions confirmed that lawmakers are “seriously considering” the proposal to raise corporate taxes.

According to an Albany insider, Assembly Democrats are “adamant” about implementing some form of tax increase.

It’s bound to put them at odds with Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has been opposed to a big tax hike as she seeks re-election this year and aims to keep wealthy New Yorkers and businesses from fleeing New York.

“Some in Albany may be pushing for a political win by raising taxes just to be able to say that they hurt corporations, but the reality is that New York’s economy takes the loss if we continue to raise taxes when it isn’t necessary,” said Steven Fulop, president and CEO of the pro-business Partnership for New York City.

“We are forcing jobs to leave New York as we saw with Apollo this week which only further deepens the affordability crisis. The governor is right to push back, and we hope she holds the line,” Fulop said.

It was revealed on Sunday that a major Wall Street firm, Apollo Global Management, a $900 billion asset manager, is plotting a second US headquarters in the Sunbelt as Mamdani pushes to hike taxes on deep-pocketed corporations.

Legislators in the Assembly and Senate have been poring over a list of tax hikes on the wealthy sought by Mamdani, including increasing the income tax levy on millionaires, on estates and on corporate taxes.

Lawmakers have particularly discussed the corporate tax in closed-door conversations, sources said.

During last year’s mayoral campaign, Mamdani proposed raising the top corporate income tax rate for major corporations from 7.25% to 11.5%.

Another proposal would increase the city’s corporate tax from 9% to 10.8% on financial sector firms and 8.85% to 10.62% on non-finance sectors. Mamdani’s team projected that such an increase would raise $1.5 billion a year.

The Democrat-run state Assembly and Senate have their own corporate tax proposals similar to Mamdani’s.

The Assembly estimates that its own proposal to increase the statewide corporate tax from 7.25% to 9.25% for companies making more than $10 million would generate around $1.9 billion per year in revenue.

The Senate proposes increasing the statewide corporate tax rate from 7.25% to 9% for businesses with $5 million in income.

But Hochul’s office said Monday she remains opposed to such increases as she seeks re-election to a second, full four-year term. She worries about businesses as well as wealthy New Yorkers who pay a disproportionate share of income taxes fleeing the city.

“The governor’s position has not changed. She has been clear she will work with Mayor Mamdani and the state legislature to find ways to support New York City and deliver on a shared affordability agenda,” said Hochul spokesperson Jen Goodman.

The state budget is due Wednesday, April 1. But Hochul and lawmakers are not close to an agreement and talks could drag on for weeks.

An Assembly Democratic source said Hochul still holds tremendous sway in budget negotiations, and agrees she’ll likely fight any tax increase this year.

The insider said Hochul and the legislature can tap into the state’s $14.6 billion to settle any differences, if necessary.

“The rainy day fund is in good shape,” the source said.

Hochul and the legislature drained $7 billion from the emergency fund last year to shore up the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund— to increase benefits for unemployed New Yorkers and cut costs to businesses.

The city budget, heavily reliant on Albany support, isn’t due until July 1.

Negotiations are so sensitive that that tax-happy Mamdani skipped a tax the rich rally Sunday headlined by democratic socialist mentor Sen. Bernie Sanders to avoid offending Hochul.

CHICAGO — Throughout this season, Illinois has been renowned for its offensive prowess, but during March Madness, it was their defense that truly shined.

Arizona and Michigan have consistently dominated the college basketball scene with their outstanding performances on both ends of the court. They have taken their offensive game to an even higher level during the NCAA Tournament.

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This formidable trio is now joined by UConn in the Final Four, set to take place this week in Indianapolis. The first semifinal on Saturday will feature a showdown between the Huskies and the Illini, followed by a clash between the Wolverines and the Wildcats.

All four teams are ranked within the top 10 in the comprehensive college basketball rankings compiled by KenPom, Evan Miyakawa, and Bart Torvik as they head into the Final Four. Notably, the Wolverines and Wildcats occupy the top two spots across all three rankings, boasting some of the most impressive net-efficiency scores ever recorded by KenPom.

Illini’s defense

Illinois, with a 28-8 record, entered the NCAA Tournament ranked second in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring an average of 131.2 points per 100 possessions. While they were just 28th in defensive rankings at 99.1, the South Region champions have stepped up defensively in the tournament, allowing only .976 points per possession, the best among the remaining teams.

“We’ve been very good throughout the season at times,” coach Brad Underwood said before the regional final win against Iowa. “We just haven’t been that consistent.”

Illinois allowed Penn, VCU, Houston and Iowa to score on just 41.2% of their possessions. The Illini also dominated the glass (plus-16.3 per game) to grab the rebounds that completed those defensive stops.

They’ve done it all with the nation’s tallest roster, with seven players from Saturday’s eight-man rotation standing 6-foot-6 or taller. That has included an influx of European talent, including Croatian twins Tomislav (7-1) and Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2), as well as 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro. The outlier among that big lineup, 6-2 senior guard Kylan Boswell, is a strong backcourt defender.

UConn (33-5), meanwhile, has scored on 52.2% of its possessions going back to the second-round win against UCLA, with a high of 54% in Sunday’s comeback from 19 down to shock top overall tournament seed Duke.

Terrence Oglesby, an analyst with ESPN and Field of 68, pointed to the Illini’s ability to play in the gaps to disrupt offenses trying to move the ball and space the floor to create mismatches or lanes.

“Positionally, they’re just elite on top of being massive,” said Oglesby, a former Clemson player. “You go to the Balkans to grab all these guys, and they’re huge and they’ve also been well coached coming all the way up. … The good part about being pretty gap-heavy is the fact that if you’re huge, you can still get out to shooters.”

Illini fans gear up for Final Four

David Scott works with the University of Illinois alumni publication. He says interest among alumni is at a nearly all-time high with the basketball team’s season.

“It’s all anyone can talk about!” Scott said.

And when the Illini beat Iowa on Saturday night to punch their ticket to the Final Four in Indianapolis, fans everywhere started making plans for watching the game against UConn.

Billy Kerstein’s son was on the wrestling team at the University of Illinois, but he is a huge basketball fan as well. And his dad is making sure they can go to the games in person this weekend.

“Throw it out the window, enjoy yourself, and have fun,” Kerstein said.

Final Four tickets are in great demand, which is good news for ticket broker Steve Buzil.

“There’s a lot of interest coming from my customers,” Buzil said.

But there is more interest this time around. His father graduated from the University of Illinois, and his daughter just got her degree from there in May.

“The family is going in honor of my dad. It means a lot to me as well. It’s really good,” Buzil said.

Offensive flow

Michigan (35-3) has the most efficient offense of the Final Four teams, averaging 1.361 points per possession in tournament wins over Howard, Saint Louis, Alabama and Tennessee to edge Arizona’s similar average (1.341).

The Midwest Region champion became the first team to score 90 points in every game through to the Elite Eight since UConn did it in 1995 before falling 102-96 to eventual champion UCLA. Dusty May’s Wolverines are shooting 55.9% through four games, including 44.6% (45 of 101) from 3-point range, and have scored on 60.4% of their tournament possessions.

Before the Sweet 16 win against Alabama, guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said May’s system allows the Wolverines to play “super free.”

“He does a lot of free-flow offense,” star Yaxel Lendeborg said. “He has certain sets, but the sets aren’t necessarily for shots. It’s just for movement, just to get the defense out of their shell, and then attack off those mistakes.”

Net efficiency

The Wolverines’ semifinal against fellow 1-seed Arizona (36-2) will pair teams with all-time great KenPom efficiency metrics.

KenPom bases efficiency on points scored or allowed over a standardized 100-possession pace to eliminate tempo as a factor. Overall rankings are determined by net efficiency in terms of how much a team’s offensive data outpaces its defensive numbers.

Michigan currently leads the country at plus-39.02 after the regionals, followed by Arizona at plus-38.76. By comparison, only two teams have finished a season with higher KenPom numbers going back to the 1996-97 season: Duke in 1998-99 (plus-43.01) and Duke last year (plus-39.29).

“These are these massive teams that also have enough shooting. but they’ve leaned into the everything else,” Oglesby said. “They’ve leaned into the controllable aspects: rebounding, being big, being physical. … I wouldn’t say that the championship game is Michigan and Arizona, but those two teams have just been a freight train going through.”

Neither of those high-efficiency Duke teams managed to cut down the nets. The first lost to UConn in the title game and the second fell a year ago to Houston in a late collapse in the national semifinals.

What’s ahead

The season’s final three games will pair strength-on-strength in the halfcourt.

The four teams have played man defense on 97.3% of their combined halfcourt possessions, according to Synergy. Arizona, Michigan and UConn all rated as “excellent” in the 91st percentile or better, while Illinois is rated “very good” in the 81st percentile.

Yet Synergy rates all of those teams as “excellent” in running halfcourt offense against man defense, with Illinois (97th percentile) and Michigan (96th) as the best.

The key for Saturday could be which teams can get out in transition to avoid tussling with set halfcourt defenses. That could favor Illinois (97th percentile) and Arizona (94th) as the top teams in transition offense with “excellent” ratings from Synergy.

ABC7 Chicago’s John Garcia contributed to this report.

FBI Director Kash Patel is reviving an investigation into a suspected Chinese operative accused of ensnaring Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell in a ‘honey trap’ as Swalwell campaigns for the governor’s seat in California.

According to The Washington Post’s report on Saturday, Patel is working to disclose files from the investigation, as shared by three insiders familiar with the situation.

Swalwell’s legal team issued a demand to the FBI on Monday, urging them to refrain from releasing any documents and warning of potential legal action if the bureau proceeds, as detailed in another Post article.

Typically, the FBI does not release files from investigations that conclude without charges, especially when no evidence of misconduct exists against Swalwell.

Swalwell’s notable actions include vocal criticism of former President Donald Trump and serving as an impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment, which focused on his involvement in the events of January 6 at the Capitol.

The Democratic congressman was listed as one of Patel’s ‘government gangsters’ in the FBI Director’s 2023 book.  

The FBI investigation looked into Swalwell’s relationship with suspected Chinese intelligence official Christine Fang or ‘Fang Fang,’ who courted the congressman and other California politicians from 2011 to 2015. 

Fang first reached out to Swalwell during his first Congressional run in 2012 and helped with fundraising during the 2014 cycle. The Post also said that she helped place an intern in Swalwell’s office. 

FBI Director Kash Patel (left) is pushing to have files released from an investigation into Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell (right), who was targeted in a ‘honey trap’ by an alleged Chinese spy named Fang Fang 

Christine Fang or Fang Fang courted California politicians and raised money for Representative Eric Swalwell’s Congressional campaigns, until authorities alerted Swalwell that she was a suspected Chinese spy 

Beyond California, Fang allegedly had romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors, Axios reported in December 2020. 

When the story broke, the President’s son Donald Trump Jr also accused Swalwell of having a sexual relationship with Fang – of which there is no evidence. 

‘So Rep Swalwell who spent years saying I was an agent of Russia was literally sleeping with a Chinese spy at the time,’ Trump Jr posted to Twitter in December 2020. 

By that time, Swalwell had cut off ties to Fang, having been alerted by federal authorities of her problematic behavior in 2015. 

The FBI found no evidence to charge Swalwell with wrongdoing and in 2023, the GOP-controlled House Ethics Committee closed a two-year probe into the Democrat, deciding to ‘take no further action,’ the Post reported. 

But with Patel, a top Trump ally, atop the FBI, the case is seeing new life. 

Patel has reassigned multiple agents in San Francisco to work on the Swalwell case and top FBI leaders have discussed sending agents to China to talk to Fang, in order to see if she has damaging information about the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, the newspaper reported. 

The FBI officials also floated giving Fang a US visa in exchange for information, the Post said.   

Representative Eric Swalwell (left) with Christine Fang (right) an alleged Chinese spy. The FBI previously investigated their relationship but never charged Swalwell with a crime. Now FBI Director Kash Patel is looking to release files from the probe as Swalwell runs for governor 

Representative Eric Swalwell speaks at the California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco in February. He’s pushed that FBI Director Kash Patel’s moves are politically motivated 

Giving a US visa to a suspected spy from a foreign adversary would also be a highly unusual move.

The FBI pushed back on the optics of a refreshed investigation looking politically motivated. 

‘The contentions in this story are incorrect,’ an FBI spokesperson told the Post. ‘This FBI, being the most transparent in history, prepares documents for numerous different reasons, including for release to different agencies and departments to further review investigations that may have been opened under previous administrations.’ 

Swalwell is a top candidate in a crowded field to replace term-limited California Governor Gavin Newsom. 

Currently two Republicans are topping the polls, due to the large number of Democratic candidates splitting the vote.  

The primary is June 2. 

In a statement to the Post, Swalwell hit back alleging campaign interference. 

‘We are at war. Gas prices are soaring. And the threats against the homeland are on the rise. But instead of concentrating on the issues most important to this country, Donald Trump and Kash Patel have decided to continue their revenge tour and to interfere in the California governor’s election,’ Swalwell said. ‘They believe they will get a servant in Sacramento.’   

A long-held Department of Justice policy has instructed the FBI to refrain from taking public steps in a probe against a political candidates in the 60 days before an election, though it’s not enshrined in law. 

Swalwell’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Mail. 

A tragic incident occurred at Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the weekend, resulting in the death of a 65-year-old woman who fell from a cliff, park officials confirmed on Monday.

The accident took place in Tennessee along the Alum Cave Trail, a popular hiking spot. The woman plummeted approximately 60 feet, according to local news station WJHL.

Upon receiving reports of the fall on Saturday, park rangers quickly arrived at the scene. Despite their efforts, they were unable to revive the woman, as reported by the park authorities.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, renowned for its rugged and scenic landscapes, stretches across the North Carolina-Tennessee border and ranks as one of the nation’s most frequented national parks.

The photo captures the breathtaking vistas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, taken on November 10, 2018. (Patrick Gorski/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

As one of the park’s most popular routes, the Alum Cave Trail offers a 4.6-mile round trip hike that winds past the Alum Cave Bluffs and through Arch Rock.

The National Park Service’s website warns that the path becomes very steep and leads to Mount LeConte, one of the highest peaks in the Smokies, which draws millions of visitors each year. 

The entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is viewed on October 18, 2016 near Cherokee, North Carolina. (George Rose/Getty Images)

Just a day earlier, on Friday, two park visitors were hospitalized after massive boulders slammed into their vehicle during a sudden rockslide, the Charlotte Observer reported, citing the National Park Service.

The enormous slabs reportedly tumbled past a blind curve along a winding road and heavily damaged the front end of the vehicle.

Visitors sit on Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, April 22, 2009. (John D. Simmons/Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Despite sustaining serious injuries, both victims are expected to survive, the outlet said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more information.