Assemblyman David Buchwald (D-Westchester) helped the New York State Assembly pass significant legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage to $9.00 per hour in January 2014, and index it to inflation beginning in 2015 (A.38-A) reflecting annual changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The bill, which he sponsored, also sets wages to $6.21 per hour for food service workers who receive tips.
“I’m proud to have sponsored and voted for the minimum wage increase that passed the Assembly. The ability to put more money in the pockets of lower-income families has significant effects for our community in Westchester, whether it’s a parent who can worry less about making next month’s rent or mortgage, or a family that has just a little more purchasing power to provide a boost to our local economy,” Assemblyman Buchwald said.
New York’s minimum wage has increased just 10 cents per hour in the last six years, and was last raised in 2009 when the federal minimum wage increased from $7.15 to $7.25 per hour. More than 80 percent of New Yorkers polled in January supported efforts to raise the minimum wage.i The change would directly benefit 925,000 New Yorkers currently earning below $9.00 per hour – over 10 percent of the state’s employed population.
Currently 19 states and the District of Columbia, including the neighboring states of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont, have higher minimum wages than New York. Ten additional states have already passed legislation indexing the minimum wage to inflation.
“Hardworking Westchester families currently making minimum wage are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living steadily rises,” Assemblyman Buchwald said. “By indexing the minimum wage to inflation, we will ensure that, as costs of living rise, so do wages.”
From 2002 through 2012, the percent increase in CPI ranged from 1.6 percent to 3.8 percent annually. Over that time, gasoline prices rose 169 percent; education 72 percent; household energy costs 49 percent; medical care 45 percent; groceries 32 percent; and clothing 2 percent.ii
“It all comes down to doing the right thing for struggling families who need this the most. No one working full time in New York State deserves to live in poverty,” Assemblyman Buchwald said.
i. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, January 31, 2013
ii. www. assembly.state.ny.us/ssspolicy/2013minwage.pdf
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