April 5, 2013. Unless disclosure requirements are clarified, we’ll probably never know exactly how much Walmart and other large, low-wage employers receive in government subsidies under New York’s new Minimum Wage Reimbursement Credit (MWRC). But based on the best data available, we estimate that Walmart is likely to receive MWRC subsidies of between $53 million and $85 million over the next five years.

New York’s new MWRC will provide employers a tax credit for the hours worked by students between… (read more)

March 25, 2013. This was to have been the year New York caught up with the 19 other states and the District of Columbia with a minimum wage above the $7.25 an hour federal level. Minimum wage legislation that passed the Assembly also would have indexed the minimum wage in future years—as 10 other states do—so that inflation would not steadily erode its purchasing power. However, the agreement reached over the weekend in Albany falls far short. It increases the… (read more)

March 13, 2013. A report by the National Employment Law Project and the Fiscal Policy Institute shows the dangers of watering down the $9.00 plus indexing minimum wage proposal, which has the backing of most New Yorkers and majorities in both the Senate and the Assembly.  The report details the greater benefits for workers and the state economy from an increase to $9.00 an hour with indexing compared to the proposal for an $8.75 an hour increase without indexing:… (read more)

January 28, 2013. A minimum wage increase included in Governor Cuomo’s budget proposal, released last Tuesday, would raise the paychecks of over 1.5 million low-paid New Yorkers, according to a new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute and the National Employment Law Project. The Governor’s proposal would raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75 per hour on July 1, 2013, and the increased wages would generate more than $1 billion in new consumer spending, supporting the creation… (read more)

August 14, 2012. One of the best ways to speed up economic growth is to give a lift to the wages of the lowest paid workers.

Legislation awaits action now in Washington, D.C., that would boost the federal minimum wage in three 85 cent steps from $7.25 to $9.80 an hour. According to new estimates released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), this proposal would benefit 1.5 million New York workers, raising their pay by… (read more)

May 29, 2012. FPI’s analysis and commentary on the minimum wage issue has been highlighted in a number of recent news stories:

• Report: 880,000 Workers In NY Would Benefit From Higher Minimum Wage – an article by Joseph Spector, Gannett News Service, May 24, 2012.
• Wage Bill Would Benefit Bronx More than Other Counties, Report Says – an article by Patrick Wall, DNAinfo.com, May 24, 2012.
• The minimum wage, tax cuts, and

… (read more)

May 24, 2012. This new brief shows that among several of the state’s larger upstate counties, the share of workers who would benefit directly is well above the statewide average – 10.1 percent of all resident workers. In Broome County 12.6 percent of workers would benefit, in Oneida 12.5 percent, Erie County 11.4 percent, Monroe 11.1 percent and Onondaga 10.9 percent. Downstate, 352,000 New York City workers would benefit directly, as would 126,500 Long Island workers and 72,500 workers… (read more)

May 21, 2012. Last week, following Assembly passage of legislation to increase New York’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos argued that the minimum wage increase would harm minimum wage workers because they would pay more in taxes and some might lose eligibility for Family Health Plus. In this brief, The Fiscal Policy Institute and the National Employment Law Project review the facts and show that, on an after tax basis, all minimum wage… (read more)

May 1, 2012. Today the New York Times mentioned FPI in their editorial in favor of increasing the minimim wage. The Albany Times-Union did the same last week.

• New York on $15,000 a Year – an editorial from the New York Times, May 1, 2012.
• At a minimum, have a debate – an editorial from the Albany Times Union, April 25, 2012.

An excerpt from the Times Union:

Here’s how a higher minimum wage creates jobs, as economist… (read more)

April 23, 2012. Testimony presented to the New York Assembly Labor Committee by James A. Parrott. Ten reasons: (1) to restore the minimum wage’s lost purchasing power, (2) to raise New York’s wage floor, (3) to help low-income families. And because it (4) won’t reduce employment, or (5) hurt taxpayers. But, it will (6) boost the economy (and jobs), (7) complement the EITC, and (8) reduce burgeoning income inequality. Increasing the minimum wage will (9) restore New York’s leadership… (read more)