Silver says NY minimum wage boost in discussions

ALBANY -- Lawmakers are discussing a compromise to increase the minimum wage, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said Monday.

Silver said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo spoke to him Monday about searching for some kind of exchange with Senate Republicans. "He was trying to figure out if there is some of deal to be made on it." Silver said. "I indicated to him that . . . [an increase in the minimum wage is] something that's right in an election year."

The Assembly plans to vote Tuesday on a bill Silver sponsored to increase the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour from $7.25 and to link future increases to inflation.

The governor's office declined to comment. Cuomo has said he supports raising the minimum wage, but has not endorsed a specific bill.

Because the state and federal wage floors aren't pegged to inflation, their purchasing power declines over time. Had the federal minimum wage been linked to inflation in 2009 -- the last time it rose -- it would be $7.75 today, based on the consumer price index.

Scott Reif, spokesman for Senate Majority Speaker Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), said that "the speaker's minimum wage bill would not be coming to the Senate floor." Skelos has called the increase a "job killer" and has pushed for $200 million of tax breaks for small businesses.

When asked if they would consider a different minimum wage bill, Reif said, "It's not something we've focused on."

Both measures are popular with a majority of Democrats and Republicans, according to a Siena Research Institute poll Monday. The minimum wage hike is supported by 78 percent of voters. The proposed tax breaks for small businesses garnered support from 65 percent of voters.