Cuomo watch: Tax code pressures

When Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo refused to support extending a surcharge on higher earners last spring, New York's leading business groups shouted huzzahs. And when Cuomo faced pressure from fellow Democrats to change the surcharge to a true "millionaires' tax," business groups responded in tandem with the governor, saying any tax increase would be a bad idea.

So it was noteworthy that none of them rebuked the governor's recently floated idea of restructuring the state's tax code.

The buzz is that the governor would eye raising tax rates for high earners while reducing them for middle- and low-income households. It might seem the first half of that equation would rattle some of the business groups. But they might be ready to line up up behind Cuomo again.

-- Yancey Roy