U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
WASHINGTON – As discussions have all but wrapped up in Albany regarding an adjustment to the state minimum wage, there is now an effort underway to increase the federal minimum wage.
On Tuesday New York’s junior Senator in Washington, Kirsten Gillibrand, said she wants to see the federal wage — which hasn’t gone up in four years — boosted to $10.10 over the next three years. Future increases would be indexed to the rate of inflation.
Her plan tops what President Barack Obama has proposed, and comes as lawmakers at the state Capitol are grappling with the push to raise the minimum wage in New York.
In a Tuesday conference call with reporters, Gillibrand noted that the current minimum wage earners are just trying to keep their heads above water day after day. She feels that with new record gains on Wall Street, now is the time to discuss raising the minimum wage at the federal level.
Meanwhile in Albany, state lawmakers are negotiating a three-year phase-in of $9 an hour, without indexing for inflation; Obama proposed a similar timeline for a federal hike to $9, with indexing.
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