Gov. M. Andrew M. Cuomo and top state lawmakers are looking ahead to election year politics with a proposal for a second extension of higher tax rates on wealthy New Yorkers as part of budget negotiations that were still under way Wednesday.

Also called the millionaire’s tax, the higher rate first adopted in 2009 during Gov. David Paterson’s administration had been scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, but the so-called temporary tax hike on wealthy New Yorkers was extended at an 8.82 percent rate.

It cleared the way for the governor and legislators to raise tax revenue in the 2012-13 fiscal year without having to say they had hiked taxes during budget talks. Since the December 2011 deal also included middle-class tax breaks, it was cast as a tax cut. Now that same strategy is being used in 2013-14 budget discussions.

The current extension does not expire until the end of 2014, but state lawmakers are planning to keep the higher rate on millionaires in place to raise about $2 billion in revenue in 2015. Although it would not bring in any additional money in the fiscal year starting April 1, it is tied to about $700 million in proposed middle-class and business tax cuts beginning in 2014.

The tax relief proposal would send rebate checks of $350 to middle-class homeowners with at least one child and a household income of between $40,000 and $300,000. Those checks would also go out in 2014.

The higher tax on the wealthy is also intended to make more tolerable a proposed increase in the minimum wage over the next three years to $9 an hour, now at $7.25 an hour. Businesses oppose the hike as a job-killer…..

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