Mayor Bill de Blasio has declared in his State of the City address that he will encourage state lawmakers to grant NYC the power to raise its own minimum wage instead of having to go through Albany.
This campaign, however, could face even more resistance in Albany to increase taxes on the rich to fund universal prekindergarten.
One obstacle will be the Senate Republicans who are likely to oppose the idea after agreeing to increase NYS’s minimum wage last year.
“The current 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 Scott Reif, a spokesman for the Senate GOP, which controls the chamber along with a handful of breakaway Democrats. “Senate Republicans remain focused on policies that create new, good-paying jobs and reduce the high cost of doing business in New York.”
The biggest hurdle is convincing major players in the state legislature to surrendering the power they have over local municipalities across the state and allowing these municipalities to make their own decisions.
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