De Blasio’s Minimum Wage Hike May Face Resistance in Albany

Ross Barkan

Mayor Bill de Blasio declared today in his State of the City address that he will urge state lawmakers to grant New York City the power to raise its own minimum wage, setting up yet another struggle between progressives and right-leaning lawmakers in the state.

This campaign, however, could face even more resistance in Albany than Mr. de Blasio’s plan to hike taxes on the rich to fund universal prekindergarten, experts say.

One obstacle will be the Senate Republicans, who today threw cold water on the possibility that they’ll allow a vote on Mr. de Blasio’s pre-K proposal. They are likely to oppose the idea after agreeing to hike the state’s minimum wage last year.

“The current law is the result of a three-way agreement between the Governor, Senate and Assembly, and we have no plans to revisit that law,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for the Senate GOP, which controls the chamber along with a handful of breakaway Democrats. “Senate Republicans remain focused on policies that create new, good-paying jobs and reduce the high cost of doing business in New York.”

http://politicker.com/2014/02/de-blasios-minimum-wage-hike-may-face-resistance-in-albany/