Cuomo: Raising minimum wage impossible politically

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that raising New York's minimum wage is impossible this year because of the Republican-led Senate, although advocates for the poor claim the Democrat can force the change on his own.

"I don't think this, at this time, is in the realm of the possible," Cuomo said on public radio's "Capitol Pressroom."

"I support the concept of a minimum wage increase," Cuomo said. "The Senate feels quite strongly about their position."

The minimum is now $7.25 an hour. The Democrat-led Assembly wants it increased to $8.50, but Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos said the issue won't even get a floor debate. He said it will eliminate jobs in a fragile economic recovery and cost minimum wage workers more in taxes and lost benefits such as subsidized health care.

The state Business Council, the Farm Bureau, Unshackle New York and other business groups oppose the measure. The Committee to Save New York, a lobby group of business leaders that supports Cuomo and showcases his accomplishments with TV ads, hasn't taken a position.

The Hunger Action Network said the Cuomo administration could force the change through a provision in state Labor Law that hasn't yet been tested for the whole workforce.

Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said that legal interpretation is wrong and is intended for only narrow sectors of the workforce.

The Hunger Action Network has filed a petition seeking the administrative action.

"All Cuomo has to do is declare that the minimum wage is too low to provide for the maintenance and health of workers, convene a minimum wage board and within 45 days he can order the minimum wage raised to $10 an hour or whatever he feels is justified," said Mark Dunlea, executive director of Hunger Action Network of New York State and a leader in the progressive Green Party.

He referred to a section of state Labor Law that has been used to raise the minimum wage for certain sectors of workers, most recently those who receive tips: "The commissioner shall have power on his own motion to cause an investigation to be made of the wages being paid to persons employed in any occupation or occupations to ascertain whether the minimum wages ... are sufficient to provide adequate maintenance and to protect the health of the persons employed in such occupation or occupations."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who sponsored the bill, is counting on voter pressure after a recent Siena College poll found 78 percent of voters, including most Republicans and conservatives, support an increase.

Silver said Cuomo never told him the bill had no chance this session, which ends June 21, and had no criticism of Cuomo's effort.

"I think he's doing what he can," Silver said.

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AP Writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this report from Albany.

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