Issues: Local Government

Citing overwhelming support and outsize need for higher wages in communities of color, lawmakers seek hike to $8.75, plus indexing to inflation

ALBANY — Members of the Black, Puerto-Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus called Tuesday for the state Legislature to raise the minimum wage to $8.75 and allow for annual increases to keep up with the rising cost of living. Workers of color are the majority of minimum-wage workers in New York State. More than half of the 1.5 million New Yorkers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage are Black, Latino or Asian. 

Honorable Andrew Cuomo Executive Chamber State Capital Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

We write to request changes to your state budget and also to highlight specific changes that would support education, the justice system, MWBE, ELL, minimum wage, and school age children. However, we begin by acknowledging our support for a number of your proposals. We appreciate that your budget reflects an increase in minimum wages, as well as a 4.4% growth in education aid. 

Less than three months after Senate leaders launched the New York State Senate Bipartisan Task Force on Hurricane Sandy recovery, the Task Force has released its preliminary report and recommendations on Sandy relief and storm planning. The preliminary report and recommendations come after Task Force members toured storm damaged communities across the New York City Metro Area, including Freeport, Island Park, Oceanside, The Rockaways, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Hudson Valley.

Senator Patrick M. Gallivan (R,C,I – Elma) joined with fellow members of the Senate Republican Conference and leaders of statewide business organizations to urge Governor Cuomo to remove the proposed extension of the utility tax surcharge from his Executive Budget. The 18-a surcharge, which has increased utility bills for every ratepayer in the state,  is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2014.  

“Extending this surcharge will cost ratepayers almost $3 billion. Small businesses, working families and seniors, all struggling to keep up with high energy costs, cannot afford this burdensome utility tax any longer,” said Senator Gallivan. “Allowing the 18-a assessment surcharge to expire will also help to create jobs and make New York more economically competitive.”

Port Washington’s new theatre group, the Cow Bay Theatre Company, held its first presentation on January 24 with a production of “Love Letters,” a play written by Pulitzer Prize-winner A.R. Gurney.

Senator Jack M. Martins attended the production at The Jeanne Rimsky Theater at the Landmark on Main Street to thank the Cow Bay Theatre Company for their commitment to the art and to wish them much success in the future.

Senator Martins presentation Senate Proclamations to actor Burt Young, the Peter and Jeri Dejana Family Foundation and Angela Susan Anton, publisher of Anton Community Newspapers for their contributions to the arts in the community and for being the recipients of the Cow Bay Theatre Company’s first annual awards.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Sen. O’Brien received his committee assignments today, including the position of ranking Democratic member of the Banks Committee.

O’Brien will also serve on Insurance; Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business; Health; Codes; Cultural Affairs, Tourism and Parks and Recreation; and Local Government.

As a former mayor of village, a member of the Governor’s Mandate Relief Council and chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Local Governments, Senator Jack M. Martins is all too familiar with the challenges facing local governments, the greatest of which are skyrocketing pension rates.

“It’s the number one concern of local officials who must meet these enormous obligations while also complying with our new tax cap,” Senator Martins stated this past summer while attending Mandate Relief Council meetings, where he listened to testimony of numerous officials from local government and school districts. “It’s the way the system is set up – requiring ever increasing contributions precisely when the economy is at its worst and municipalities are least able to pay.”