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Albany May Raise Minimum Wage, But Not For Kids
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 18, 2013
Modified Mar 18, 2013
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 18, 2013
Modified Mar 18, 2013
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Minimum wage has been a hot topic this year. Obama wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 and Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to raise it locally to something similar. But before that happens there may have to be some compromises—politics!—and in the case of New York State that may mean the creation of a "training wage." Y'know, for kids!
According to reports a "training wage" for workers under 20 is one of the issues on the table in Albany this week as lawmakers try to wrap up the state budget for the fiscal year starting next month. And according to reports, Senate Republicans "have warmed to the idea of a minimum-wage increase, after more than a year of opposition, to $7.25 per hour, but only if it is linked to tax breaks, including possibly raising the dollar amount for deduction of dependents on state income tax filings or to boost the child tax credit." Not to mention creating a lower class of workers.
But don't think of the "training wage" as a way for businesses to keep more money out of the hands of their employees. Think of it as a way for the state to save the Empire State's younger workers from the horrors of unemployment. "It’s really a youth wage. A lot of businesses, whether it’s agriculture or camps, those types of things, they have many young people that work there, [and] if we do a full minimum wage of some sort, it could negatively impact them," Republican leader Dean Skelos told Capitol on Sunday. Skelos and other Republicans are therefore pushing the idea as a boon for tots: "For young people who have high unemployment, especially in the minority communities, a youth wage would protect them if there’s an increase in the minimum wage."
Ehhhh. We're of mixed minds on this one. A livable minimum wage is something that New York (and the rest of the country) seriously needs. But is it something worth throwing younger workers under the bus for? Just because some kids are using their summer camp counselor cash on crap doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of young workers out there who can use the dough.
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Albany
dean skelos
governor cuomo
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minimum wage
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training wage
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