New York State Assembly passes $9 minimum wage

[Earth_First]

Source: AP

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York's Assembly has voted to increase the minimum wage to $9 an hour with automatic increases tied to inflation, putting pressure on Senate's Republicans who are seeking business tax cuts in a potential legislative deal.

The Assembly passed the bill 101-44 after four hours of debate Tuesday night. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate majority leaders are negotiating behind closed doors.

The minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour. Among the proposals being floated by legislative leaders is raising the wage to $8.50, then $8.75, then $9 over two or three years.

Read more: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=9017026

[otherone]

1. yes

[upaloopa]

2. I live in CA on the west coast, maybe if CA and NY on the east

squeezed the rest of the county we could push all the conservatives out

[Mnemosyne]

5. Please, please, please try! That would be so wonderful! nt

[appleannie1]

3. That would be a great thing for NY

[bhikkhu]

4. That's great! But I wsh there were a way to tie it to regions

to the point of promoting a balanced and liveable minimum wage in the various areas.

Not that I'm saying $9 an hour is too much anywhere, but rather the opposite - in a cheap-cost-of-living area it might be just adequate as a starting wage, but there are plenty of places where there's a lot of people, a lot of competition for jobs, and no humane way to get by on $9 an hour.

[Doc Holliday]

7. I lived in upstate NY

for five of the longest years ofmy life, crammed up against the border with Quebec and making some seriously shitty money working for a Quebec-owned multinational that had some of its operations in rural upstate NY...cheap labor, dontchaknow.... I was pulling down a whopping $23k as an office manager. Guys down in Albany were making $9.00/hr. working at Wendy's...this was in the late 90s.

[roxy1234]

6. Isnt a $9 in NY

Like a $7:25 in a midwest state? What is the average rate for a one bedroom in NY? Oh well, welcome NYers to the minimum wage, it took you guys a while but you made it

[Angleae]

11. Depends on where in NY

[NYC Liberal]

12. New York State, not just New York City.

[roxy1234]

14. Makes sense

So whats the minimum wage like in NY city? I bet it was already $9 plus before this

[NYC Liberal]

16. Same as the state. But our Comptroller wants the city's minimum wage to be raised to $11.50

(then adjusted annually with the Consumer Price Index), since the cost of living here is much higher than the rest of the state.

Albany would have to pass it though.

[Historic NY]

8. Still not enough for a single person to rent an apt...

in Orange County thats not ghetto or section 8 area. The average is $730 a month, after 2 weekly checks of 360.00 minus taxes...its still not much.

[Earth_First]

9. I'm sure those living in Central New York will welcome an addition $70 per week...

It's better than nothing; and still outpaces the national average.

Small gains beat squat.

[Pterodactyl]

10. Good! Now we'll get some better people in service jobs.

Honestly, how hard is it to hold the pickles? Now Instead of high school kids, we'll be able to employ graduates with these higher wages.

[brooklynite]

13. Now it goes to the State Senate...

...The Republicans control the chamber, but with the support of an "Independent Democratic caucus" which has demanded a vote on minimum wage increase.

[eggplant]

15. What about waitstaff? Do they continue to get screwed? n/t

[In_The_Wind]

17. I live in New York. Any increase is a help.