There’s no deal to hike the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan said Sunday.
The top Republican denied reports that he’s close to signing off on Gov. Cuomo’s push to make New York’s minimum the highest in the nation.
“There is no deal. For anyone to suggest there’s some finality on this issue, that’s just inappropriate and it’s not accurate. We are having discussions about a wide variety of different things,” Flanagan said on the John Catsimatidis AM 970 radio show.
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“We have a lot of concerns about how this would be paid for, what’s the effect on small businesses, what’s the effect on not for profits,” the Long Island Republican said. “What does this mean for hospitals, nursing homes, home health care workers? And those things actually are very, very important.”
He said pols are discussing options including a lower wage for the youngest workers and provisions to cancel wage hikes if the economy tanks.
“One of the concerns that’s been raised is if you start ratcheting these numbers up to $15 an hour, that a lot of kids are not even going to get jobs, because if it’s a seasonal position, say a lifeguard at the county beach or a town beach, they’re just going to end up hiring adults,” he said. “So we could lose a whole segment of high school kids and college kids who are looking for employment.”
Not all Republicans oppose a wage hike. Sen. Phil Boyle (R-Long Island) said he’d support an increase but not as high as $15.
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“I think it’s far too high. It would make New York State’s by far the highest hourly wage in the country,” he said on “Effective Radio with Bill Samuels” on AM970 and WVOX 1460 “I do want to say that I do think we need an increase, without a doubt, (but) $15 an hour is too much.”
Sen. George Latimer (D-Westchester) also predicted a compromise number. “There will be an increase in minimum wage. It will be phased in over a couple of years. I don’t think it’s going to land at $15. They’ll probably come up with some number lower than (that),” he said on the Effective Radio.
But union groups have said they won’t settle for less than the full proposal. “Workers in all parts of our state need a living wage and that is why we can’t accept anything less than $15,” building workers union 32BJ president Hector Figueroa said last week.
