The idea of allowing cities to set their own minimum wage has support from the head of the state’s black and Hispanic caucus, but the plan faces obstacles elsewhere.
New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio first proposed the idea of allowing individual cities in New York to set their own minimum wage higher than the state’s current $8 an hour. The legislature’s chair of the Black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, and Asian Caucus, Assemblyman Karim Camara says it would help the lowest income earners cope with higher costs of living.
“This will be one measure to close the inequality gap and move people out of poverty,” said Camara, a Brooklyn Democrat, in an interview with NYS- PBS's New York Now and public radio stations .
But Governor Cuomo has called the proposal “chaotic”, and the Co Leader of the Senate, Jeff Klein, who championed the state’s phased in minimum wage increase, says it’s time to move on to other issues. Camara says the phased in plan, which would raise the minimum wage to $9 in 2016, is “insufficient”.
The BHPA caucus is holding its annual President’s Dayconference weekend.