BILL NUMBER:S5291

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring the department
of labor to publish the names of employers which employ 50 or more
employees who receive public assistance

PURPOSE:

Establishes disclosure requirements for certain employers whose work-
force receives public assistance.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Labor Law to include a new section 12a, which
mandates the publication of employers with employees receiving certain
forms of public assistance. The department shall on its internet website
post and annually update the names of employers which employ one hundred
or more employees who work not less than twenty six weeks a year and not
less than ten hours a week and who receive public assistance. Section 2
determines the date the law shall take effect.

JUSTIFICATION:

An April 2015 report, published by the University of
              

California/Berkeley)s Center for Labor Research and Education, analyzed
state spending for Medicaid/Children)s Health Insurance Program and
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and federal spending for those
programs as well as food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit. It
found that the American taxpayer in general, and the New York State
taxpayer in particular, are subsidizing companies that pay low wages to
its employees to an alarming degree.  Quoting from the Report: "Overall,
we find that between 2009 and 2011 the federal government spent $127.8
billion per year on these four programs for working families and the
states collectively spent $25 billion per year on Medicaid/CHIP and TANF
for working families for a total of $152.8 billion per year. In all,
more than half ---- 56 percent ----of combined state and federal spend-
ing on public assistance goes to working families." Further, 52 percent
of the all state spending supported working families, defined as working
for 26 weeks a year and 10 hours a week. UC Berkeley concluded that in
New York $3.3 billion of public assistance went to working families.

It is clear that the New York taxpayer is thus subsidizing people who
work because their employers do not pay a living wage. New York taxpayer
have a fundamental right to know where their tax dollars are spent, and
for what reason. While the struggle to increase wages in New York State
continues, this bill would add much-needed transparency to how our taxes
are spent. It mandates that the Department of Labor will disclose on its
website the name of any employer in the state that has 50 or more
employees on any of these types of public assistance.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To Be Determined

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.