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Proposal: Increase New York Minimum Wage To $8.50
By
Carrie Dennis
Published Jan 30, 2012
Modified Jan 30, 2012
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By
Carrie Dennis
Published Jan 30, 2012
Modified Jan 30, 2012
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Assemblyman Democrat Sheldon Silver introduced new legislation to increase New York State’s minimum wage today. The proposed law will increase the current $7.25 an hour to $8.50 an hour and become permanently fixed to the inflation rate by 2014. Silver said the increase would "give flight to the American dream."
The bump would put New York behind only Washington and Oregon and solidify us as having one of the highest minimum wage rates in the country. This would be the sixth increase that New York has seen, the last being in 2009 when it automatically increased by a dime-an-hour to meet the federal rate.
Silver first raised this idea in a January 4th speech when he suggested that an increase would affect 14% of the workforce, or 1.2 million people. At the time he stated, "Frankly, it is absurd to expect anyone - let alone a working family - to afford the cost of living today and be able to invest in their future on a salary of $7.25 an hour; or $15,000 a year," the Daily News reports.
Senate Republicans and business leaders are concerned that the legislation may impede job growth, but Assembly Democrats maintain the issue is of top priority this year. And although supporters agree the climb is necessary because salaries have not kept up with rising consumer costs in recent years, others are skeptical the rise still won't be enough.
According to the National Employment Law Project, had minimum wage kept up with inflation, the standard should be at $10.39. Paul Sonn, the legal co-director of the project, tells the Times that the motion "is a good start, but really is not enough for New York's cost of living and New York’s economy."
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Albany
living wage
minimum wage
sheldon silver
Carrie Dennis
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