Victory! Senator Panepinto Praises Fast-Food Wage Panel’s Historic Decision

Panepinto: “While this marks an important first step, our work does not end here.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Senator Marc Panepinto (D-Buffalo) praised the historic decision made by the fast-food workers wage board led by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown today. Their decision to raise the minimum wage to $15 comes two months after being empaneled and will help lift millions of hard-working men and women out of poverty.

A lifelong advocate for a livable wage for all New York State residents, Senator Panepinto is the prime sponsor of legislation (S.5602) to raise the minimum wage to $15 for all workers. Introduced in May 2015, S.5602 overwhelmingly passed the Assembly while members of the Senate Republican Majority failed to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote.

Standing on the steps of Buffalo City Hall Wednesday, Senator Panepinto made the following remarks:

“For months, fast-food workers in Buffalo and Western New York have been at the epicenter of a national movement. Today, those hard-working men and women forced to work long hours for little pay in order to make ends meet get the economic justice they deserve. Today, they made history. While this marks an important first step, our work does not end here. Raising the minimum wage for all workers in New York State is long overdue. We must empower the hundreds of thousands more minimum wage earners still left behind and lift them up to a fair and livable wage. As the prime sponsor of legislation to raise the minimum wage for all workers, that dream is finally within reach. The time for playing games with the lives of 1.1 million hard-working New Yorkers is over. It is time to end this injustice. Raise the minimum wage for all and let New York State make history once again.”

Senator Panepinto’s legislation (S.5602) accomplishes the following:

• Provide a higher minimum wage by increasing the statutory minimum wage in areas with a high cost of living over a period of three years

• Increases would be broken down as follows:
•  
  • Dec. 31, 2016; $12.50 in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties and $10.50 in the rest of the State
  • Dec. 31, 2017; $13.75 in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties and $11.55 in the rest of the State
  • Dec. 31, 2018; $15.00 in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties and $12.60 in the rest of the State

• Index the minimum wage to the rate of inflation on and after December 31, 2019

• Raise the tipped wage for workers over a period of three years to be broken down as follows:

•  
  • Dec. 31, 2016; $10.40 in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties and $8.75 in the rest of the state
  • Dec. 31, 2017; $11.45 in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties and $9.65 in the rest of the state
  • Dec. 31, 2018;  $12.50 in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties and $10.50 in the rest of the state

• Index the tipped wage to the rate of inflation on and after December 31, 2019.

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