- State leaders reach deal to raise minimum wage, By Thomas Kaplan, March 18, 2013, New York Times: “Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders reached a tentative agreement on Monday to increase the state’s minimum wage to $9 over the next three years. Increasing the wage had been a top priority of Democrats in Albany, including the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and one of the leaders of the Senate, Jeffrey D. Klein, who heads an independent faction of Democrats. Along with Mr. Cuomo, they had argued that the current minimum wage in New York, $7.25, was too low to support workers, and that the wage had not kept pace with the rising cost of living…”
- N.Y.’s minimum wage increase could push Congress to act, By Brian Tumulty, March 21, 2013, USA Today: “A deal in New York to raise the state’s minimum wage could provide a playbook for Democrats in Congress who are working along the same lines nationally. New York state lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo have agreed to increase the state’s minimum wage to $9 an hour. The plan, which would phase in the increase over three years, is a small piece of a much bigger pending agreement involving a budget for the state’s new fiscal year, which begins April 1. New York’s proposed minimum wage — which would amount to $360 a week or $18,720 annually — is significant because Congress typically raises the federal minimum after a significant number of states raise their rates…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty