By Casey Seiler, Capitol Bureau Chief
Capitol Confidential, Albany Times Union, March 19, 2013
As Albany grapples with the push to raise the minimum wage statewide, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to see the federal wage — which hasn’t gone up in four years — boosted to $10.10 over the next three years, with indexing to inflation for future increases.
In a Tuesday conference call with reporters, the Democrat noted that for low-wage workers the record-high closings for the financial markets “doesn’t put food on the table or gas in their cars — they’re just trying to keep their heads above water day after day.”
Her proposal outdoes both the $9 an hour by 2016 that’s likely to be folded into the state budget, without indexing, and President Barack Obama’s similar timeline for a federal increase to $9, with indexing.
The senator tried to dispel what she described as myths that small business and farmers would stand firm against such an increase: She said the first group wants to be able to retain workers while remaining competitive with companies that currently pay lower wages, while farmers are already paying higher than the state’s minimum. ...
The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 has broad support across the business community, including the Main Street Alliance, U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Business for Shared Prosperity, American Sustainable Business Council, and employers like Costco, along with New York-based organizations, including the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Eileen Fisher, ABC Home and BALCONY.
Copyright 2013 Times Union