State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) will lead a series of legislative hearings in Albany about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour.
In the hearings, which will probably run from mid-November to the first week of December, the senate’s labor committee will assess the potential impacts of the wage hike, Martins said.
“It’s to make sure that we’re prepared, that the Legislature has all of the necessary information so that when the legislative session starts (in January) that we’re able to address the issue,” he said.
The most important questions for the committee to address, Martins said, is the governor’s basis for the $15 figure and how such a high wage floor would impact stakeholders such as small businesses and seniors living on a fixed income.
“Where’d that number come from?” he asked. “They couldn’t have picked it out of the air, right?”
While the witness list has not been finalized, Martins said, the committee will most likely hear from businesses, economists, labor leaders and representatives from non-profit organizations.
As chair of the committee, he will moderate the discussions and question the witnesses.
In September, Cuomo called for the minimum wage to rise to $15 statewide by 2021, but has yet to draft a bill for the Legislature to consider.
Martins, who voted for a 2013 law gradually raising the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 per hour, said he thinks the governor’s proposal is “interesting,” but the committee now needs to “do the hard work of bringing everyone together and trying to build consensus of what’s best for everyone.”
“When (Cuomo is) ready to propose actual language, I want to make sure that we’re not only ready to engage but also have a sense of where the community is on this issue as well,” Martins said.
