The Nassau chairman of the Long Island Business Council asserts his support for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos' (R-Rockville Centre) position that a bill to increase the minimum wage would be a "job killer" ["Wage hike is a 'job killer'," Letters, April 10]. However, both men are vastly mistaken.
Increasing the minimum wage would be the best step the State Senate could take right now to boost New York's economy and to better the financial situation of its workers. State Sen. Jeffrey Klein (D-Bronx) recently released a report showing that the slight increase in the minimum wage, from $7.25 to $8.50, would pour about $600 million into the state economy and create about 4,800 new jobs. This increase has the capacity to positively affect about 1 million New Yorkers. Among these are the hourly wage workers who are struggling to support their families on the current minimum wage.
With a higher bottom line, working people would have more money to spend in their communities -- including at local small businesses. These businesses, in turn, would have the means to create more jobs.
Many people would finally be able to afford their bills and would no longer need to rely on government assistance programs. This would free up money in the state budget to put into other initiatives and to deal with the unprecedented deficits we are facing throughout the state.
Eight states have recently raised their minimum wage, and have already seen these positive outcomes come to fruition. It is time to get New York back on track and to do the right thing for New York's workers.
John R. Durso, Hauppauge
Editor's note: The writer is the president of the Long Island Federation of Labor.
