Some New York legislators are advocating for uniformity between the minimum wage in New York City and upstate NY, bringing upon a common baseline to $17 per hour statewide under the Upstate Parity and Minimum Wage Protection Act.
Westchester County, Long Island, and New York City all have minimum wages of $16 per hour as of January 1. In upstate New York, the hourly wage is stuck at a lower $15.
Advocates of the measure, spearheaded by Democratic state Assemblymember Harry Bronson and co-sponsored in the state Senate by Sen. Jessica Ramos, contend that the minimum wage that businesses are required to pay should be commensurate with the minimum amount that the state believes a person can live on in New York City.
Bronso, the head of the Assembly’s Labor Committee, emphasized that workers in upstate New York cannot fully benefit from recent increases in the minimum wage due to the present arrangement.
“We need to have universal minimum wage because it’s the floor, it’s the bottom, so it should be even across the state,” he said. “I just think we need more work on minimum wage so our families are receiving what they need.”
Legislation that would begin to link the minimum wage to inflation in 2027 was enacted by the Legislature in 2023 and adopted by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2027. It contains a provision stating that the minimum wage does not rise in the event of an increase in unemployment – a norm that would be repealed under the Upstate Parity and Minimum Wage Protection Act.
Many business leaders, however, disagree and conted there is indeed a reason behind the wage disparity between the Big Apple and the northern portion of the Empire State.
The Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO, Bob Duffy, stated that while his group is in favor of paying workers more, it should only do so when the market permits it and if employee demands change the expectations of companies regarding hiring candidates. claiming that it is logical to have separate standards since the economies of upstate and downstate differ significantly.
“The cost of living, housing, everything is much more expensive in New York City but it doesn’t translate upstate, and I do believe it would have a harmful effect on so many businesses,” he claimed.
“If a business leaves in New York City, it’s like a tree falling in the woods. If a business leaves upstate New York, it’s like a tree falling on your house,” he said. “It’s a very, very visible difference and you see the very clear disparities upstate.”
In order to avoid having to be reintroduced during the next legislative session, the law must pass by the end of the year.
