Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to stay neutral when it comes to the debate over raising New York's minimum wage. Capital Tonight's Nick Reisman reports.

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NEW YORK STATE -- Increasing the state's minimum wage to $8.50 is facing an uphill climb. Senate Republicans are cool to the idea. Governor Andrew Cuomo is a Democrat, but has aligned himself with the state's business interests who are generally opposed to the idea.

“I'm going to be reviewing the proposal. We're talking to a number of economic groups around the state who have expressed some concerns. And I want to hear what their concerns. Then I'm going to talk to the Assembly leadership and the Senate leadership as the year goes on,” Cuomo said.

New York's minimum wage currently stands at $7.25, the base federal standard. Among the bordering states, New York is tied with New Jersey and Pennsylvania while it's higher in Vermont and Massachusetts, Connecticut. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver introduced a bill this week that would make New York's wage one of the highest in the country and then index it to inflation.

“This could be a job killer, rather than a job promoter and we should point out that in the state right now, under the earned income tax credit, there's about a billion dollars that come from the state coffers to,” Senate Majority Leader Sean Skelos said.

In revealing his minimum wage plans last month, Silver called it a top legislative priority. He says it can actually create jobs by injecting more cash into the economy.

“There have been studies showing that it doesn't kill jobs, that it's economic stimulus, that people who make minimum wage if they make additional money they put it right back into the economic activity that takes place,” Silver said.

Meanwhile, business groups and Cuomo are both pushing a new less generous pension tier for new public workers. Though Silver in the past has supported linking different measures such as rent control for New York City and a property tax cap for everywhere else, he says this bill stands on its own.

Silver said, “It's not something that should be tied. It stands on its merit.”

There's also a political calculation to Silver's support for the bill. A minimum wage hike has been supported by the liberal Working Families Party and other groups important to his Democratic coalition dispirited by last year's austerity budget.