As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues a push for a statewide $15-an-hour minimum wage, small business owners are taking stock of how that could impact their operations.
Already, the state’s minimum wage will increase to $9 an hour, up from $8.75 at the end of the year.
“Governor Cuomo’s newly launched campaign for an unprecedented $15-an-hour minimum wage will reduce employment opportunities and harm the state’s economic outlook,” according to the Empire Center, an independent, nonpartisan think tank in Albany.
But the Empire Center’s E.J. McMahon notes that more than 300 blue-collar and clerical jobs have starting wages that are less than the $31,200 annualized equivalent of a $15 minimum wage. That means that such an increase would have widespread impact across New York industries.
Now, this debate has reached new heights as the Governor is putting enormous political will behind a new and unprecedented push to set New York’s minimum wage at $15.00,” said NFIB/New York State Director Mike Durant.
In July, the state approved a plan that would increase the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15.
