NY Governor Andrew Cuomo
ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo is upping the ante on Minimum Wage in New York State.
When state lawmakers left the Capitol in June, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to boost the minimum wage to $10.50 an hour and $11.50 in New York City was left to languish, blocked by Senate Republicans who raised concern about its impact on small business.
Now, Cuomo is vowing to push for a $15 wage floor even though the main obstacle, a GOP-controlled Senate, remains.
On Saturday the governor joined more than two dozen elected officials and advocates to kick off the Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice while marching in the 2015 NYC Central Labor Council Labor Day Parade.
In the coming months, the governor and his administration plans to work with elected officials, business leaders and community members to bring the Campaign across the state to build support for a $15 statewide minimum wage.
Business groups and conservatives opposed the proposal with equal fervor, warning about its potential to increase the costs of goods and services and its impact on labor costs for small businesses, particularly upstate. The minimum wage would increase by nearly 70 percent when fully implemented.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Cuomo acknowledged his previous proposal failed to gain traction in the Legislature. But he said his new proposal is “doable,” in large part because the boost would gradually ramp up to $15 by 2018 in New York City and July 2021 in the rest of the state.
The state’s current minimum wage is $8.75.
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