Huffington Post: Raise Minimum Wage, NY Business Leaders Urge Cuomo, GOP

By Dave Jamieson

Huffington Post, May 24, 2012

As lawmakers in Albany, N.Y., contemplate a boost to the state's minimum wage, a group of business leaders came out Thursday in support of hiking the wage floor from $7.25 to $8.50, putting unusual pressure on state Republicans and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to shepherd the raise into law.

It's typically low-wage worker advocates and labor unions urging lawmakers to raise the minimum wage. So the statements made Thursday by business figures, including the head of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and an executive of big-box wholesaler Costco, undermine the stated concerns of some GOP lawmakers and industry lobbies that a $1.25 raise to the minimum wage would be an unfair burden on state businesses.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/minimum-wage-new-york-cuomo-gop_n_1542984.html