Bill Text: NY A02204 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Increases the minimum wage annually; provides for the enforcement of the minimum wage; repeals certain provisions of law relating thereto.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 60-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-10 - enacting clause stricken [A02204 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A02204-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         2204--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 24, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. JOYNER, BRONSON, DINOWITZ, HEVESI, COLTON, GIBBS,
          L. ROSENTHAL, DICKENS, ARDILA, BORES, EPSTEIN, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, KELLES,
          MAMDANI,  RAGA,  SHRESTHA,  REYES,  SIMON, DARLING, THIELE, SEAWRIGHT,
          BURGOS, CRUZ, GLICK, STECK, ALVAREZ, LUNSFORD, BENEDETTO -- read  once
          and  referred  to the Committee on Labor -- committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee

        AN  ACT  to amend the labor law, in relation to raising the minimum wage
          annually by a percentage which is based on inflation and providing for
          the enforcement of such minimum wage; and to repeal subdivision  6  of
          section 652 of the labor law relating thereto

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "raise  the
     2  wage act".
     3    §  2.  Legislative  findings. As New Yorkers struggle with the rapidly
     4  rising cost of living, their paychecks are not  keeping  up.  The  state
     5  minimum  wage  has  been flat at $15 in New York city since 2019. In the
     6  New York city suburbs it is also stalled at $15 and  under  current  law
     7  will not increase further. And in the rest of the state, years after the
     8  legislature  last  acted to raise the minimum wage it is still gradually
     9  inching up to $15, but will not increase further until  the  legislature
    10  acts.
    11    At  the  same  time, record inflation is causing the real value of the
    12  minimum wage to plummet across the state as consumers struggle with  the
    13  rapidly  rising  cost  of  necessities.  In New York city, its value has
    14  already fallen more than 15%, and is projected to fall a further 15%  by
    15  2027, or even more if consumer price inflation does not moderate in 2023
    16  and  2024 as expected. This steep decline in the minimum wage is revers-
    17  ing the historic reductions in poverty and earnings inequality that  the
    18  state  achieved  with  the  $15  minimum  wage.  And even once inflation

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04134-03-3
        A. 2204--A                          2

     1  returns to more typical levels, workers will continue to lose real wages
     2  as long as our minimum wage remains stagnant.
     3    While  in  2016  New York led the nation as the first state to adopt a
     4  $15 minimum wage, today it has fallen behind the many other  cities  and
     5  states that are raising their minimum wages well beyond $15. About fifty
     6  cities  and counties and two states will have minimum wages above $15 an
     7  hour as of January 2023, and a growing group will have minimum wages  of
     8  more  than $17 or $18 an hour. The fact that Yakima, Washington, Fresno,
     9  California, and Denver, Colorado will all have higher minimum wages than
    10  New York shows how far pay has fallen in the state.
    11    To fix this, first, the value of New York city's minimum wage needs to
    12  be restored by "catching it up" to where it would have been  if  it  had
    13  been  adjusted  steadily  each  year since 2019 to keep pace with rising
    14  prices and workforce productivity. That translates to raising the  mini-
    15  mum wage to $21.25 an hour by 2026.
    16    Second,  because  the  state  minimum wage in New York city's suburbs,
    17  including Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, is also stalled  at
    18  $15  and  those regions have housing and living costs that are almost as
    19  high as New York city, the minimum wage there  should  increase  at  the
    20  same rate.
    21    Third,  the  minimum  wage  in  the remainder of the state should also
    22  eventually catch up with the state-wide rate, but at a slower pace since
    23  wages and costs are lower there.
    24    Finally, once the minimum wage across the state catches up, it must be
    25  automatically adjusted or "indexed" each year so that  it  doesn't  fall
    26  behind  again.  That is the approach that 18 states and Washington, D.C.
    27  are already using to keep their minimum wages up to date. For  adjusting
    28  the minimum wage each year, the legislature should adopt the same formu-
    29  la  that  the  department  of  labor and the division of the budget used
    30  successfully to increase New York's upstate minimum  wage  in  2022  and
    31  2023. They have been adjusting the minimum wage so that it keeps up both
    32  with  rising  prices and also with any increases in worker productivity.
    33  This best practice ensures that underpaid  workers'  paychecks  maintain
    34  their  purchasing power and, that when there are gains in worker produc-
    35  tivity, that workers too share in  those  benefits.  This  approach  has
    36  resulted  in  steady, moderate increases in the upstate wage of 70 cents
    37  in 2022, and $1.00 in 2023. It should be  made  permanent  and  expanded
    38  state-wide.
    39    Many  of  our  lowest  paid  jobs across the state are publicly-funded
    40  human services jobs, in fields such as home care, childcare, and  mental
    41  health  care,  where  workers provide essential services on which we all
    42  rely. But the eroded minimum wage is holding down pay  for  these  vital
    43  caregivers  and making it impossible to fill these demanding jobs at the
    44  same time that demand for services has exploded  as  the  state's  popu-
    45  lation  ages  and the pandemic has stressed families and communities. To
    46  address this critical worker shortage, we need to  not  just  raise  the
    47  minimum wage significantly, but also to provide the state funding neces-
    48  sary  to  finance those raises in the state and city-contracted programs
    49  that employ these essential workers.
    50    New York's experience phasing in the  $15  minimum  wage  showed  that
    51  significant  wage  increases have been manageable for employers and that
    52  higher paychecks have put money back into  local  communities,  boosting
    53  consumer  spending  at  neighborhood  businesses. Studies by the federal
    54  reserve bank of New York of the impact in upstate counties, and  by  the
    55  New  York  city-based new school both found that New York's last minimum
    56  wage increase raised pay significantly without hurting employment - even
        A. 2204--A                          3

     1  in counties along the New York-Pennsylvania  border  where  the  minimum
     2  wage in our neighboring state is just $7.25.
     3    With the value of New York's minimum wage plummeting and rising prices
     4  squeezing  New  York's  working  families,  we  cannot afford to wait to
     5  restore a strong minimum wage for all New Yorkers.
     6    § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 652 of the  labor  law,  as  amended  by
     7  section  1  of  part  K of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016, is amended to
     8  read as follows:
     9    1. Statutory. Every employer shall pay to each of  its  employees  for
    10  each hour worked a wage of not less than:
    11    $4.25 on and after April 1, 1991,
    12    $5.15 on and after March 31, 2000,
    13    $6.00 on and after January 1, 2005,
    14    $6.75 on and after January 1, 2006,
    15    $7.15 on and after January 1, 2007,
    16    $8.00 on and after December 31, 2013,
    17    $8.75 on and after December 31, 2014,
    18    $9.00 on and after December 31, 2015, and until December 31, 2016, or,
    19  if  greater, such other wage as may be established by federal law pursu-
    20  ant to 29 U.S.C. section 206 or its successors or such other wage as may
    21  be established in accordance with the provisions of this article.
    22    (a) New York City. [(i) Large employers.] Every employer [of eleven or
    23  more employees] shall pay to each of its employees for each hour  worked
    24  in the city of New York a wage of not less than:
    25    $11.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2016,
    26    $13.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2017,
    27    $15.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2018,
    28    $17.25 on and after January 1, 2024,
    29    $19.25 on and after January 1, 2025,
    30    $21.25  on  and after January 1, 2026, or, if greater, such other wage
    31  as may be established by federal law pursuant to 29 U.S.C.  section  206
    32  or its successors or such other wage as may be established in accordance
    33  with the provisions of this article.
    34    [(ii)  Small  employers. Every employer of ten or less employees shall
    35  pay to each of its employees for each hour worked in  the  city  of  New
    36  York a wage of not less than:
    37    $10.50 per hour on and after December 31, 2016,
    38    $12.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2017,
    39    $13.50 per hour on and after December 31, 2018,
    40    $15.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2019,
    41    or,  if  greater, such other wage as may be established by federal law
    42  pursuant to 29 U.S.C.  section 206 or its successors or such other  wage
    43  as  may  be  established in accordance with the provisions of this arti-
    44  cle.]
    45    (b) Remainder of downstate. Every employer shall pay to  each  of  its
    46  employees  for  each  hour worked in the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and
    47  Westchester a wage not less than:
    48    $10.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2016,
    49    $11.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2017,
    50    $12.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2018,
    51    $13.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2019,
    52    $14.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2020,
    53    $15.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2021,
    54    $17.25 on and after January 1, 2024,
    55    $19.25 on and after January 1, 2025,
    56    $21.25 on and after January 1, 2026,
        A. 2204--A                          4

     1    or, if greater, such other wage as may be established by  federal  law
     2  pursuant  to  29 U.S.C. section 206 or its successors or such other wage
     3  as may be established in accordance with the provisions of this article.
     4    (c)  Remainder  of  state.  Every  employer  shall  pay to each of its
     5  employees for each hour worked outside of the city of New York  and  the
     6  counties of Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester, a wage of not less than:
     7    $9.70 on and after December 31, 2016,
     8    $10.40 on and after December 31, 2017,
     9    $11.10 on and after December 31, 2018,
    10    $11.80 on and after December 31, 2019,
    11    $12.50 on and after December 31, 2020,
    12    [and  on each following December thirty-first, a wage published by the
    13  commissioner on or before October first, based on the then current mini-
    14  mum wage increased by a percentage determined by  the  director  of  the
    15  budget in consultation with the commissioner, with the result rounded to
    16  the nearest five cents, totaling no more than fifteen dollars, where the
    17  percentage increase shall be based on indices including, but not limited
    18  to,  (i)  the  rate of inflation for the most recent twelve month period
    19  ending June of that year based on the consumer price index for all urban
    20  consumers on a national and seasonally unadjusted basis  (CPI-U),  or  a
    21  successor  index as calculated by the United States department of labor,
    22  (ii) the rate of state personal income growth  for  the  prior  calendar
    23  year, or a successor index, published by the bureau of economic analysis
    24  of the United States department of commerce, or (iii) wage growth;]
    25    $13.20 on and after December 31, 2021,
    26    $14.20 on and after January 1, 2023,
    27    $16.00 on and after January 1, 2024,
    28    $18.00 on and after January 1, 2025,
    29    $20.00 on and after January 1, 2026,
    30    or,  if  greater, such other wage as may be established by federal law
    31  pursuant to 29 U.S.C. section 206 or its successors or such  other  wage
    32  as may be established in accordance with the provisions of this article.
    33    (d) Annual increases. On January first, two thousand twenty-seven, and
    34  on  each following January first, the wages set forth in paragraphs (a),
    35  (b) and (c) of this subdivision  and  any  other  wages  established  in
    36  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this chapter and set forth in any
    37  minimum wage order, shall be the wages  published  by  the  commissioner
    38  pursuant to this paragraph. The commissioner shall publish such wages on
    39  or  before October first, two thousand twenty-six, and on each following
    40  October first. The commissioner shall base each such published  wage  on
    41  each  then  current  wage  increased  by  the  sum  of:  (i) the rate of
    42  inflation, if greater than zero, as measured by the change in the  aver-
    43  age  for  the  twelve months through June of the current year divided by
    44  the average for the twelve months through June of the preceding year  in
    45  the consumer price index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers
    46  on  a  national  and seasonally unadjusted basis (CPI-W), or a successor
    47  index, as calculated by the United States department of labor; and  (ii)
    48  labor  productivity  growth,  if  greater  than zero, as measured by the
    49  change in the average quarterly index for the four quarters through  the
    50  second  quarter  of  the  current  year divided by the average quarterly
    51  index for the four quarters through the second quarter of the  preceding
    52  year  in  national  labor productivity (output per hour) of all employed
    53  persons in the nonfarm business sector, or a successor index, as  calcu-
    54  lated  by the United States department of labor, with the sum rounded to
    55  the nearest multiple of five cents. The commissioner shall publish  such
    56  wages  on  or  before  October first, two thousand twenty-six, and on or
        A. 2204--A                          5

     1  before each following October first.  Provided, however, that  the  wage
     2  set  forth  for  paragraph (c) of this subdivision that the commissioner
     3  publishes on or before October first, two thousand  twenty-six  to  take
     4  effect  on January first, two thousand twenty-seven shall be a wage that
     5  is equal to the wage that the commissioner publishes to take  effect  on
     6  January  first,  two thousand twenty-seven for paragraphs (a) and (b) of
     7  this subdivision. Thereafter, beginning with the wage that  the  commis-
     8  sioner  publishes  for  paragraph  (c)  of this subdivision on or before
     9  October first, two thousand  twenty-seven  to  take  effect  on  January
    10  first, two thousand twenty-eight, and that the commissioner publishes on
    11  or  before each following October first to take effect on each following
    12  January first, the commissioner shall adjust the current wage for  para-
    13  graph  (c) of this subdivision using the formula specified above in this
    14  paragraph. For  purposes  of  subdivision  two  of  this  section,  each
    15  published  wage  that  increases each then current minimum wage shall be
    16  deemed to be an increase in hourly minimum  wage  as  provided  in  this
    17  subdivision.
    18    (e) The rates and schedules established [in paragraphs (a) and (b) of]
    19  under  this  subdivision  for New York city and for Nassau, Suffolk, and
    20  Westchester counties shall not be deemed to be the  minimum  wage  under
    21  this  subdivision for purposes of the calculations specified in subdivi-
    22  sions one and two of section five hundred twenty-seven of this chapter.
    23    § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 652 of the labor law is REPEALED.
    24    § 5. Section 665 of the labor law is renumbered section 669 and a  new
    25  section 665 is added to read as follows:
    26    §  665. Local wage enforcement authority.  A city with a population of
    27  one million or more, acting through its  comptroller,  may  enforce  and
    28  investigate  violations  of  the  state  minimum  wage, other state wage
    29  requirements established pursuant to this article, and any  other  local
    30  law,  ordinance,  or  regulation  requiring payment of a minimum wage or
    31  compensation, or establishing a labor standard for work performed within
    32  the city's geographic boundaries. The comptroller shall be empowered  to
    33  adopt  further  enforcement  provisions,  remedies, penalties, and other
    34  implementing regulations. Provided, however, the commissioner of consum-
    35  er and worker protection of such a city or any successor to such  office
    36  may  also  enforce  and investigate violations of the state minimum wage
    37  and other state wage requirements established pursuant to  this  article
    38  in  the course of enforcing other laws that such commissioner is charged
    39  with enforcing and may  order  any  authorized  remedies  or  penalties.
    40  Provided,  further, nothing in this section shall limit the authority of
    41  the department of labor or any other government agency  to  enforce  the
    42  state  minimum wage and other state wage requirements established pursu-
    43  ant to this article or any other law within the geographic boundaries of
    44  a city with a population of one million or more or elsewhere.
    45    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.