Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an increase in the minimum wage on September 10, the same day Acting State Labor Commissioner Mario Musolino signed an order designating a $15.00 per hour statewide minimum wage for fast-food workers – the level recommended by a State Department of Labor wage board over the summer, according to a press release from Cuomo’s office.
Advertisement
Cuomo nearly sounded like some kind of progressive when he boldly proclaimed, “A minimum wage of $8.75 [the current state minimum] in New York is not a minimum wage at all”.
Women are more supportive of the increase than men, Greenberg continued.
The push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in New York is getting some help from union financed advertising, but it still has its opponents. A majority of Republicans are opposed to the idea, the poll found, but Republican senators will be chasing swing voters and moderates in an election year that is expected to heavily favor Democrats. Vice President Biden, who is weighing a potential 2016 bid, has backed Cuomo’s push to raise the wage in New York. With a Democrat, still expected to be New Yorker Hillary Clinton, at the top of the ticket, Senate Democrats are banking on riding her coattails to victory, with the minimum wage as a top campaign issue.
Schramm added the increase in minimum wage is building a fence that will keep new businesses out of New York. They make up the core of support for the Democratic governor who, until recently, was viewed as a moderate.
“There is strong overall support from voters for the governor’s proposal to increase the minimum wage to $15”, said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.
The other noteworthy favorable-unfavorable numbers are those of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, both of whom ascended to power in the last legislative session.
And if Andrew Cuomo has anything to say about it, the Republicans will go right on controlling the state Senate-because it saves him from awkward things like raising the minimum wage.
“The politics of this are shifting”, Mr. Figueroa said.
“Nearly three-quarters of New York city voters support the increase, as do 56 percent of downstate suburbanites – however, upstaters are almost evenly divided”, Greenberg said.
Advertisement
“$15 an hour especially over a quick period of time, will destroy these businesses”, Astorino predicts.
