FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 5, 2013

Speaker Silver Announces Assembly Expected
To Pass $9 Minimum Wage
Indexing Will Protect Low Wage Earners From Future Wage Erosion


Javascript is required to view the video...
$currcap
\n"); echo('

'); // else // echo("
\n"); for ($vidloop = 1; $vidloop<=$numvid; $vidloop++) { echo("
\n"); echo(""); echo("$viddescrip[$vidloop]"); echo("
"); echo("
\n"); } echo("
\n "); ?>
Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright joined with Labor Committee Chair Carl E. Heastie and members of the Assembly Majority to announce plans to pass legislation (A.38a) today to raise the minimum wage in New York to $9 an hour. The legislation includes indexing which will tie future increases to inflation.

"Our proposal will directly benefit more than 925,000 New Yorkers. It will benefit families trapped between the desire for financial independence and the constant erosion of their wages. By passing this legislation, we will be rewarding hard work with a wage families can live on," said Silver. "Opponents say that raising the minimum wage will hurt small businesses. But let me point out that the majority of low-wage workers are employed not by mom-and-pop shops but by the large chains which have posted steady profits even during recent periods of economic hardship."

"The people of New York have spoken and today, our house will respond loud and clear. I am pleased to sponsor this responsible and progressive legislation and am elated to see it come to a vote, bringing us one step closer to improving the lives of so many hardworking New Yorkers. It is my hope that today's aggressive action by the Assembly will spur movement on this vital issue in the otherwise stagnant State Senate," said Wright, sponsor of the bill with Silver.

The minimum wage in New York State has increased only ten cents in the last six years. It has remained stagnant at $7.25 an hour since 2009. At this rate, a full-time worker is earning just over $15,000 a year. This salary is so low that most full-time employees supporting a family on minimum wage are eligible for taxpayer-funded public assistance programs.

"This legislation will help working families that are struggling to make ends meet, but it will also help all the future young professionals of New York State. We owe it to them. We need to show them that this is a progressive state and New York will provide them with the opportunity to succeed in life," said Heastie.

"By passing an increase in the minimum wage with regular adjustments thereafter, Speaker Silver, Assemblymembers Wright and Heastie, and their colleagues are sending a loud and clear message to low wage workers that they understand just how difficult it is to survive in New York on the state's paltry minimum wage," said Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO. "New York workers and their families literally cannot afford to wait for an increase; they need it now. In addition, the Assembly's thoughtful plan which provides predictable increases to reflect the cost of living will ensure that hard working New Yorkers never have to endure the devastation of wage stagnation again."

photo
Silver explained to the Capitol press corps that unless the minimum wage was raised families would be trapped between the desire for financial independence and the constant erosion of their wages. Silver said the Assembly's bill is committed to rewarding work to help families meet the steady rise in the cost of gasoline, education, medical care and groceries.

"Far too many working people in New York are struggling just to survive. They worry how they will afford to house and feed their families. The working poor go to work each day, and still they can't provide the basic necessities of life. When wages don't keep pace with rising costs and prices, survival becomes more and more difficult. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can do something about it," said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). "We call on the State Senate to follow the Assembly's lead and pass a strong minimum wage bill, with indexing. New York's working poor can't afford to wait any longer."

Through the course of 2012, several public opinion polls showed increasing support to raise the minimum wage. In January, a Quinnipiac University poll showed that more than 80 percent of New Yorkers support an increase.

"A $9 minimum wage with cost-of-living indexing is really the least that New York can afford. Since many states with lower costs of living are pushing increases well above $9 per hour with indexing, there's no excuse for New York to hesitate in taking this small step. The Senate and Governor Cuomo should act quickly to deliver this raise that 80 percent of New Yorkers want," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.

"New Yorkers simply can't wait for John Boehner to change his mind and pass a much-needed minimum wage increase. We thank Speaker Silver and the Assembly for passing this move to combat inequality and lift New York's working families out of poverty," said Bill Lipton, deputy director of Working Families.

"Raising the minimum wage makes good business sense in three ways: productivity, profitability and prosperity. With more adequate wages, businesses experience decreased worker turnover and greater worker morale and productivity. Nothing drives business owners like me to hire additional workers more than increased consumer demand. And raising the minimum wage puts more money in the hands of the very people who most need to spend it. That means more revenues for businesses, and a stronger, more prosperous economy creating lasting new jobs. Our workforce, businesses and communities need a minimum wage raise now," Darius Ross, managing partner of D Alexander Ross Real Estate Capital Partners and a member of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

Eighty-four percent of those affected are adults and 87 percent work more than 20 hours per week. Nationally, African-Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately represented among low-wage earners. Women represent approximately two-thirds of the minimum wage earning population and 61 percent of the full-time minimum wage earners.

Boosting the minimum wage will have a positive effect on the economy. States that have enacted minimum wages above the federal rate have experienced higher rates of growth in companies, job creation and payroll. Low-wage workers are likely to spend extra earnings immediately on basic needs or services. They support their families by spending their income at businesses located closest to home, in their communities.

photo
Advocates for raising the minimum wage traveled to Albany from across the state to join Silver and members of the Assembly Majority to show their support for a higher minimum wage that is also indexed to the consumer price index.

"Raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour not only helps 1.7 million New York workers but it will add more than 10,000 badly-needed jobs and boost the state's economy by $1.2 billion because consumer spending will rise in every community in our state. This also helps the parents of over 900,000 children, and one out of three single parents will see their wages rise. This is a real boost for New York families," said James A. Parrott, deputy director and chief economist of Fiscal Policy Institute.

"I work for the minimum wage, so I can tell you from personal experience that it's not enough to make ends meet, much less raise a family," said Amador Rivas, a member of Make the Road New York's Workplace Justice Committee. "I'm very encouraged that the New York State Assembly will vote to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour with cost-of-living indexing. Now it's time for the Senate to do the same."

The legislation calls for the minimum wage to increase to $9 an hour in January of 2014. Beginning in 2015, the minimum wage will be indexed, requiring an increase each year to adjust for inflation according to the Consumer Price Index. The measure will also set wages for food service workers who receive tips at $6.21.

The District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and 16 other states have higher minimum wage rates than New York State.

Ten other states have passed legislation indexing the minimum wage.