Mayor de Blasio dropped another hot political potato in Gov. Cuomo’s lap Monday by announcing he’ll ask Albany for permission to raise the minimum wage for city businesses.
“We want to ensure that New Yorkers aren’t relegated to the ranks of the poor when putting in a full week’s work,” de Blasio said in his first State of the City speech in a packed auditorium at La Guardia Community College in Queens.
“Next week, we will ask Albany to give New York City the power to raise the minimum wage in all five boroughs.”
Cuomo and state leaders reached a deal last year to hike the minimum wage statewide from $7.25 to $8 an hour as of Jan. 1. It is scheduled to jump to $8.75 at the end of the year and $9 by the end of 2015.
Although legislation was introduced in the state Senate last week to allow municipalities to set their own wage floors, some officials are saying last year’s deal was meant to serve as the final word.
“Current state law is the result of a three-way agreement between the governor, Senate and Assembly, and we have no plans to revisit that law,” said a spokeswoman for state Senate GOP co-leader Dean Skelos. “Senate Republicans remain focused on policies that create new, good-paying jobs and reduce the high cost of doing business in New York.”
A Cuomo administration source quickly dismissed de Blasio’s idea as “Been there, done that.”
Neither de Blasio nor his staffers put a figure on how high he would seek to raise the minimum wage here.
But city Comptroller Scott Stringer has proposed setting it at $11 an hour.
De Blasio is already at odds with Cuomo over how to fund universal pre-K programs in the city.
In his speech Monday, the mayor also committed to expanding “living wage” legislation, which currently requires firms that get city subsidies to pay employees a minimum of $10 per hour, plus $1.50 in benefits.
De Blasio’s address, titled “A Fair Shot for Everyone,” touched on many of his campaign initiatives without providing much additional detail.
He touted his efforts to save faltering city hospitals, his commitment to job-training through the City University and other partnerships, and his push for Albany to approve a tax hike on wealthy New Yorkers to fund universal pre-K and after-school programs in the city.
Income inequality took center stage in the 42-minute speech.
“Our middle class isn’t just squeezed,” the mayor said, “it’s at risk of disappearing altogether.”