text: Cuomo's $15 minimum wage React-O-Mat™ - Capitol Confidential
  Cuomo's $15 minimum wage React-O-Mat™
  By Rick Karlin, Capitol bureau on September 10, 2015 at 3:15 PM
  Capital Region activists and Democrats gathered briefly in front of the McDonald's on the Empire State Plaza Concourse to cheer news that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with a lengthy "attaboy" from Vice President Joe Biden, will push for a phased-in, across-the-board $15-per-hour minimum wage during next year's legislative session.
  The news came as Cuomo put his stamp of approval on the recommendation to move toward a $15 hourly rate for fast-food workers, as developed by the state wage board.
  While the governor in New York can convene a wage board to look at pay in a particular industry such as fast food, a more global approach would need legislative approval. The Democrat-dominated Assembly has already passed an across-the-board $15 minimum, but it hasn't gotten through the Republican Senate.
  By putting the proposal to the Llegislature, Cuomo is forcing an income inequality debate on the Senate before the 2016 elections.
  Vice President Joe Biden and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo talk prior to speaking at a labor rally on Thursday in New York. (Mark Lennihan, AP)
  With a potentially large Democratic turnout — especially if Hillary Clinton is the nominee — GOP Senators may feel unusual pressure to go along, at least in some purple suburbs where voters swing back and forth from Democrat to Republican.
  "I think it will be an election issue," said Citizen Action's Jessica Wisneski, who helped organize the concourse rally. Also in attendance were local Democratic Sen. Neil Breslin and Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy.
  This isn't to say the Senate will be a slam-dunk on the issue. Earlier in the day, members of the Republican-led Senate convened a hearing at which many speakers expressed skepticism about the phased-in $15-an-hour wage for fast food workers, with some in the restaurant industry saying it would drive up prices and reduce employment.
  Here are statements from a bevy of state stakeholders on today's action, starting with the state Business Council:
  Earlier this year, as part of our commitment to put the needs of families first, the Assembly Majority passed a comprehensive proposal that would lift the minimum wage across all sectors. Today's action by the state Labor Commissioner will greatly improve the lives of thousands of fast food workers in New York, and I am glad that Governor Cuomo is joining the Assembly in our fight for a substantial increase in the statewide minimum wage for all workers.
  Each day that goes by without a stronger wage floor means that some will continue to thrive on low costs of labor while many more will slip into poverty. No one who works a full time job should have to live in poverty. A significant increase in the state minimum wage will help our families grow and enable neighborhoods to thrive. The Assembly has long led the fight for a substantial minimum wage increase and it's time for the Senate to finally act so that all workers can climb the ladder of economic opportunity.
  From the Senate's Independent Democratic Conference:
  "Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein wholeheartedly supports Governor Cuomo's proposal for a statewide $15 minimum wage. The State Wage Board's examination of fast food workers illustrated a hunger for a higher wage in that industry. We cannot leave other minimum wage workers behind."
  From state GOP Chair Ed Cox:
  Governor Cuomo had it right the first time when he said raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour was a 'non-starter.' His reversal is for purely political reasons and his concern for a primary challenge from his left, despite the consequences that it will drive even more residents and small businesses out of New York. We are already ranked at the bottom of the barrel in every major economic category, including the highest taxes, worst business climate, highest energy costs and more. How many more people or jobs need to leave New York before the Governor wakes up?
  from Associated Builders and Contractors — Empire State President Brian Sampson:
  The construction industry is always striving to find ways to be cost-effective. But by pushing for a reckless minimum wage boost, Governor Cuomo has guaranteed taxpayers will pay more to repair our crumbling roads, bridges, and sewers. The cost to repair schools, libraries and other municipal buildings will force local taxes to skyrocket due to these increased costs on public construction. Taxpayers will now be asked to subsidize the "progressive" agenda while driving on unsafe roads and bridges. It's simply not acceptable.
  Rather than try to fix the problem by reducing the burden on small business enabling them to succeed through free innovative markets, the Governor has decided that New York State will once again impose its will on the backs of small business and taxpayers."
  We don't need a lot more political debate over the ample evidence that raising wages would be beneficial for working people and New York's economy as a whole.
  It would also send an important message to both local governments and private sector businesses, who seriously undervalue their employees.
  The Governor's call for a $15 minimum wage statewide is a huge step backwards for the Upstate economy.
  The businesses, non-profits, consumers and local governments of Upstate New York – where we are working hard to recover from a half century of job and population loss – simply cannot afford an unprecedented 67 percent minimum wage increase.
  New York State is already considered one of the worst states in the nation in which to start or grow a business; this new wage mandate will only make the state's business climate more toxic.
  We need Albany to enact policies that will allow businesses to grow and create new jobs, not provide more reasons to leave New York for economic opportunities elsewhere.
  The call for a statewide $15 minimum wage is another example of Albany's failure to understand a basic reality about New York State – policies that might work in Manhattan destroy jobs Upstate.
  From Working Families Party New York State Director Bill Lipton:
  "Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are getting a raise because of what's happening today, and millions more are getting new hope that they could be next in line. If Governor Cuomo succeeds in raising the minimum wage to $15 statewide, it will be one for the history books. From the WFP's founding in 1998, ensuring that all work has dignity and pays a fair wage has been central to our mission. It was only a few years ago that the fast food workers demanding $15 an hour were written off. But they spoke with one voice demanding basic fairness and dignity, and they changed the world. Today, any politician who wants to talk about lifting up struggling families should know: it's time to support $15 and a union."
  From Mike Durant, State Director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses:
  Today's announcement of a new push for a statewide minimum wage of fifteen dollars is an affront to small employers in every corner of this state. The continued efforts to increase the minimum wage ignores the value of small business to New York's economy, especially upstate, and undermines most of the economic efforts by Governor Cuomo over the last five years. Today's event is a perfect example of the dichotomy between Corporate America and Main Street being ignored with public policy and awkwardly merged together in political rhetoric.
  Arbitrarily increasing labor costs absent the consideration of the fiscal and regulatory reality small employers face in New York will lead to employment loss. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has publicly stated that a national increase of the minimum wage to $10.10 would ultimately lead to approximately 500,000 Americans losing their job. The proportional impact of job loss with a fifteen dollar wage would be substantial nationally, and potentially devastating in a high cost state like New York.
  Additionally, a dramatic escalation of the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour will have a significant impact on New York's taxpayers. From municipalities and school districts to nonprofits, this proposal will ultimately impact the bottom line of every New Yorker.
  We strongly urge the Governor to reconsider venturing down this unprecedented path and to put forth efforts to comprehensively help and promote small business, rather than threaten their present and future.
  From Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the state Restaurant Association:
  We are disappointed with the decision today to sign off on a recommendation from a wage board that was created to target a single industry and will cause a host of negative unintended consequences. From the very beginning this process has been nothing but a farce with a predetermined outcome. Bad process leads to bad policy, and at the end of the day that is what we have here."
  Raising the minimum wage is an obvious lever for the governor to pull in response to frustration with income inequality among many of his constituents. We supported a phased-in and graduated increase in the state minimum wage, as the governor outlined in his last budget, but a precipitous increase that threatens the most vulnerable businesses and employees would not find a lot of supporters in the business community.