Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D - Manhattan),
whose liberal, tax - and - spend - friendly conference is expected to be Cuomo's biggest
budget opponent, has indicated he wants to continue a soon - to - expire «millionaire's tax» that actually hits single
wage earners making $ 200,000 and up.
However, the
budget will also add to the cost of doing business by extending assessments on electric, natural gas and steam energy, for a total cost of nearly $ 1.5 billion, half of which will be paid by business, and by increasing the minimum
wage — a measure
whose impact will be felt by many business, with total cost estimates as high as $ 2 billion per year once fully implemented.