Silver Non-Committal on Tax Commission Plan

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, said he's encouraged by one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tax commission proposals — to enact a circuit-breaker mechanism limiting the amount of property taxes paid by lower income New Yorkers. But he said he doesn't want to sacrifice money for schools in order to pay for tax cuts.

"We have to look at the whole thing on balance, and remember that we still have to support schools in this state, and a lot of other things that are necessary," Silver said.

Republicans, who lead the state Senate in a coalition government, support the tax commission's recommendations for business tax cuts, but they said they wish they had gone even further.