Minimum Wage in New York
Issue Overview: In 2004, New York increased the state minimum wage to its current rate of $7.15 per hour. This legislation also provided that New York would rise to match any prospective increase in the federal minimum wage over the current state rate. In May, the federal minimum wage was set to increase from $5.16 to $5.85 in 2007, $6.55 in 2008 and $7.25 in 2009. Legislation (A.9618A) has been proposed to increase New York's minimum wage even further to $7.75 in 2008, $8 in 2009, and $8.25 in 2010. It would also increase the minimum wage for years subsequent to 2011 by indexing the rate based upon inflation and the consumer price index.
NFIB Position: We oppose this proposal to increase the New York State minimum wage and to index future minimum wage rates to inflation. In our most recent Member Ballot, 84 percent of NFIB/New York members opposed increasing the minimum wage and 67 percent opposed indexing any such increase. Increasing the minimum wage does not just affect wage rates -- it also affect employer costs by increasing unemployment insurance rates and Social Security taxes. This worsens the already adverse business environment in New York in which employers bear costs that are much higher than in most other states. It might also actually decrease the number of entry-level positions available, since businesses buy less labor as its cost rises. Indexing the minimum wage would ensure that it would rise every year, further adding to the burden placed on employers, causing New York to continue to have a minimum wage that exceeds the federal rate and that of other states, and placing our state at an even greater competitive disadvantage.
Issue Status: This legislation has been introduced in the Assembly. NFIB strongly opposed it. It did not advance last year, but is currently moving through the Assembly Committee process. We continue to voice our opposition. No similar bill has been introduced in the Senate.
