Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner for the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor of New York City, will on Wednesday promise to raise the city’s minimum wage to $20 an hour if he’s elected, putting the wages among the highest in the nation.
The former governor often touts the state’s minimum wage as one of his greatest achievements while in Albany, pointing out that New York was the “first state to pass the highest minimum wage in the United States,” reports The New York Times.
“New York City needs to be a place where working families can afford to live and thrive, and right now that’s out of reach for far too many in what is supposed to be the greatest city in the world,” Cuomo said in a statement.
He plans to announce his proposal during a campaign rally, with several unions that are endorsing his candidacy, including the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and the Amalgamated Transit Union. Most of the city’s major unions have endorsed the former governor.
Cuomo said his proposal is “an aggressive, progressive action that will help hourly workers and stimulate the economy.”
His plan would need approval from Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers, who raised the minimum wage to $16.50 in New York City, Westchester, and Long Island this year. Minimum wage in the rest of the state is now $15.50 and is expected to rise based on inflation.
Several communities in Washington state already have a minimum wage higher than $20 an hour. The minimum wage in Washington, D.C., is also one of the highest in the country, at $17.50 per hour, as compared to the federal minimum wage, which remains at $7.25.
Cuomo is calling for the new rate to start on Jan. 1, 2027, or one year into his first term if he is elected. It would raise wages for about 800,000 workers in New York City.
Other Democrat candidates have also announced plans to address income and affordability, including state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who has proposed raising the New York City minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.
In 2016, while governor, Cuomo signed a law raising the minimum wage to $15 for most workers after pushing for the change for years.
His campaign for mayor says the proposed minimum wage hike is similar to what it would have been if the increase in 2016 had been indexed for growth to the Consumer Price Index rate. With a compound annual growth rate of 2.7%, the minimum wage would have reached $19.57 in 10 years.
Cuomo has also suggested a tax credit for small businesses to help them pay the higher wage. The credit would apply to businesses that have 10 or fewer full-time workers, and would at first cover 30% of the wage increase but would drop over time.
Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent in November, said at his weekly news conference Tuesday that Cuomo would say “anything to get elected,” including changing his stance on cuts to public employees’ pensions.
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