Calling it a “matter of dignity” for working men and women, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) introduced a bill on Monday, January 30, to raise the New York State minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8.50 an hour, with an index to inflation that would slightly increase it each year to coincide with inflation. Citing NY’s rising cost-of-living expenses, Mr. Silver’s bill has both cheerleaders and critics: many feel a raise to this hourly wage is justifiable, humane and necessary, while others think an increased minimum wage would cripple the labor budgets of companies whose staff are predominantly minimum-wage-earners, causing them to hire less in the long run.
