As previously discussed here, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's prior efforts to accelerate an increase in the state's minimum wage were tabled when the state legislature failed to take any action last summer. New York's current minimum wage is $8.75/hour, and is scheduled to rise to $9.00/hour at the end of 2015. Governor Cuomo also had sought to grant municipalities the authority to raise wages even higher on their own, but this too was not acted upon by the legislature. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio repeatedly has requested such authority from the state. These issues arose again in Governor Cuomo's State of the State address earlier this week, where he outlined a proposal to raise the state's minimum wage to $10.50/hour by the end of 2016, and a separate minimum wage of $11.50/hour for New York City. However, the authority to set minimum wage rates would remain in the hands of the state, and not municipalities. If approved, New York would have the highest minimum wage in the United States, though it is anticipated that the state legislature will continue to oppose, or not act upon, these issues.
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