[NYAPRS Enews] Assembly, Business Groups Clash Over Minimum Wage Hike Proposal

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Klein: Minimum Wage Hike Good For Business; Business Group: No, It's Not

By Jon Campbell  Gannett News Service  April 02, 2012

 

A new report featuring analysis from a Washington D.C. think tank found
that an increase in New York's minimum wage could result in an economic
boost, but at least one business group is already pushing back.

The study, which was released Sunday by Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, and
based on analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, found that raising
the hourly minimum wage to $8.50 from $7.25 would infuse $600 million in
the state's economy, which would result in a net of 4,800 new jobs.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has made a minimum wage
hike one of his conference's top priorities for the 2012 session
<http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201230402
0012> . He's sponsored a bill to increase the wage to $8.50 and index it
to inflation; Klein sponsors the bill in the Senate.

"This report shows that money in the pockets of minimum wage earners
ultimately means a greater demand for additional jobs," Klein said in a
statement. "Raising the minimum wage is not only the right thing to do
for the thousands of New Yorkers who are struggling to make ends meet
every week, it also benefits New York State as a whole."

The state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business,
however, is skeptical, to say the least. Mike Durant, the group's state
director, said the study is based on a "highly dubious assumption" that
increasing pay for low-wage workers will offset the hit to their
employers.

"First, it falsely assumes that for employers, this money is
discretionary, like it's sitting in an account somewhere collecting
interest," Durant said in a statement Monday. "That's nonsense. That
money is dedicated to other business expense, including wages. So if you
raise the minimum wage, you're forcing employers to cut back on
something else, including wages for new jobs or work hours for existing
employees."

 

http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2012/04/02/klein-minimum-wage-hike-g
ood-for-business-business-group-no-it%E2%80%99s-not/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kilakwa.net/pipermail/nyaprs_kilakwa.net/attachments/20120403/6e4d7a17/attachment.html>