NY State Senate Bill 2019-S1842

Senate Bill S1842

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Enacts the fair wage act, allowing localities to raise minimum wages by up to an additional thirty percent

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to local government
Jan 16, 2019	referred to local government

2019-S1842 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: Municipal Home Rule Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §11, Munic Home R L; amd §§654 & 662, Lab L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S7772
2015-2016: S3269
2017-2018: S4106

2019-S1842 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the fair wage act; raises the minimum wage and allows localities to raise minimum wages by up to an additional thirty percent.

2019-S1842 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1842

SPONSOR: SANDERS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the municipal home rule law and the labor law, in
relation to enacting the fair wage act, allowing localities to raise
minimum wages by up to an additional thirty percent

 
PURPOSE:

To increase the New York State minimum wage to $10.10 per hour effective
on and after July 1, 2018, create a yearly cost of living adjustment
beginning each year on and after July 1, and allow localities to set a
minimum wage of up to 30% above the statewide minimum wage.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 - Bill title.

Section 2 - Amends the municipal home rule law to provide for the excep-

tion pursuant to the new provisions of labor law relating to local
control over minimum wage rates.

Section 3 - Amends section 652 of the labor law to increase the minimum
wage to $10.10 per hour on and after July 1, 2017. On and after July 1,
2018, and every year thereafter, the minimum wage will be increased by
the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index-All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U) or a successor index used by the U.S. Department of
Labor.

Section 4 - Amends section 654 of the labor law to allow a county, city,
town, village, or public benefit corporation establish and enforce a
higher minimum wage standard than the statewide minimum wage within
their own borders, provided that no local minimum wage greater than 30%
more than the statewide minimum would could be enacted.

Section 5 - Amends section 662 of the labor law to provide that an
employer who fails to adhere to a local minimum wage shall be guilty of
violating the labor law in the same manner as a violation of the state-
wide minimum wage.

Section 6 - Provides that the effective date shall be immediately.

 
EXISTING LAW:

The current New York state minimum wage is $9 per hour.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

While New York adopted a minimum wage increase in 2013 from $7.25 to
$8.00 per hour in 2014 and up to $9.00 per hour at the end of 2015, this
increase will not provide for an actual living wage throughout the
state. In the intervening year, other high-cost states such as Califor-
nia, Connecticut, Vermont, Maryland and Hawaii have raised their minimum
wages to $10.00 or more, and others like Massachusetts and Illinois are
expected to follow shortly. Many economic advisors and officials at the
state and federal level, including President Obama, have urged increas-
ing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour to bring wages more in line with
the past rates of inflation and increase the standards of living for
those who are paid the minimum wage.

Similarly, the current minimum wage does not allow for regional vari-
ations that take into account the varied costs of living in the state.
One size does not fit all in a state that has an estimated 43% cost of
living difference between the most expensive and least expensive parts
of the state. Other states such as California, Maryland, Washington
State, New Mexico and Illinois have found that allowing high cost
regions to supplement the state minimum wage with higher local rates
allows communities to address local economic needs and living costs.

This bill will address both of these issues by raising the minimum wage
to in two steps to $10.10 per hour by July 1, 2017 and indexing future
yearly increases to inflation. Local governments will also be given the
power to raise the minimum wage within their own boundaries to no more
than 30% above the statewide minimum wage. Taken together, this bill
will increase the purchasing power of workers, aid small businesses, and
allow regional variations that will support the unique character of the
state.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

01/15/16 Print Number 3269A

02/15/16 Amend and Recommit to Local Government

01/06/16 Referred to Local Government

02/04/15 Referred to Local Government

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

2019-S1842 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1842
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 16, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
 
 AN ACT to amend the municipal home  rule  law  and  the  labor  law,  in
   relation  to  enacting the fair wage act, allowing localities to raise
   minimum wages by up to an additional thirty percent

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "fair wage
 act".
   § 2. Paragraph f of subdivision 1 of section 11 of the municipal  home
 rule  law,  as amended by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to
 read as follows:
   f. Applies to or affects any provision of paragraph (c) of subdivision
 one of section 8-100 of the election  law,  the  labor  law,  EXCEPT  AS
 PROVIDED  IN  SUBDIVISION  TWO  OF SECTION SIX HUNDRED FIFTY-FOUR OF THE
 LABOR LAW, sections two, three and four of chapter one  thousand  eleven
 of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  sixty-eight,  entitled  "An act in
 relation to the maximum hours of labor of  certain  municipal  and  fire
 district  firefighters and the holidays of firefighters and police offi-
 cers, repealing certain sections of the labor law relating thereto,  and
 to  amend the municipal home rule law, in relation thereto," as amended,
 the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, or  the  workers'  compensation
 law or changes any provision of the multiple residence law or the multi-
 ple  dwelling law, except that in a city of one million persons or more,
 the provisions of local law for the  enforcement  of  the  housing  code
 which  is  not  less  restrictive  than the multiple dwelling law may be
 applied in the enforcement of the multiple dwelling law.
   § 3. Section 654 of the labor law, as added by chapter 619 of the laws
 of 1960, is amended to read as follows:
   § 654. Basis of changes in minimum wage. 1.  In  establishing  minimum
 wages  and regulations for any occupation or occupations pursuant to the
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD06215-02-9

 S. 1842                             2
 
 provisions of the following sections of this article, the wage board and
 the  commissioner  shall  consider  the  amount  sufficient  to  provide
 adequate  maintenance  and  to protect health and, in addition, the wage
 board and the commissioner shall consider the value of the work or clas-
 sification  of  work performed, and the wages paid in the state for work
 of like or comparable character.
   2. COUNTIES, CITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES AND PUBLIC  BENEFIT  CORPORATIONS
 ARE  AUTHORIZED  TO ADOPT MINIMUM STANDARDS RELATING TO WAGES, HOURS, OR
 OTHER WORKING CONDITIONS, OR MECHANISMS  FOR  THE  ENFORCEMENT  THEREOF,
 THAT  ARE  AT  LEAST  AS FAVORABLE TO EMPLOYEES AS THE MINIMUM STANDARDS
 APPLICABLE UNDER THIS ARTICLE, PROVIDED THAT ANY  MINIMUM  WAGE  ENACTED
 PURSUANT TO THIS AUTHORITY FOR ANY CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES SHALL NOT
 BE  MORE  THAN  THIRTY  PERCENT HIGHER THAN THE MINIMUM WAGE ESTABLISHED
 PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE AND ARTICLE NINETEEN-A  OF  THIS  CHAPTER.  ANY
 SUCH  STANDARDS  MAY  ALSO BE ENFORCED BY THE COMMISSIONER USING ANY AND
 ALL ENFORCEMENT METHODS PERMITTED BY THIS  CHAPTER  FOR  ENFORCEMENT  OF
 WAGE STANDARDS AND PAYMENT.
   §  4.  Subdivision  1  of  section 662 of the labor law, as amended by
 chapter 564 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   1. Failure to pay minimum wage or overtime compensation. Any  employer
 or  his  or her agent, or the officer or agent of any corporation, part-
 nership, or limited liability company, who pays or agrees to pay to  any
 employee less than the wage applicable under this article, INCLUDING ANY
 MINIMUM  WAGE  ESTABLISHED  BY  A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN, VILLAGE, OR PUBLIC
 BENEFIT  CORPORATION,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  and   upon
 conviction  therefor  shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more
 than twenty thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than  one  year,
 and,  in  the  event that any second or subsequent offense occurs within
 six years of the date of conviction for a prior offense, shall be guilty
 of a felony for the second or subsequent offense,  and  upon  conviction
 therefor, shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more than twenty
 thousand  dollars or imprisoned for not more than one year plus one day,
 or punished by both such fine and imprisonment, for each  such  offense.
 Each  payment to any employee in any week of less than the wage applica-
 ble under this article shall constitute a separate offense.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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