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Assembly approves raising minimum wage to $9 per hour, St. Lawrence County representatives divided on vote

Posted 3/6/13

North Country representatives are in disagreement over a bill that would raise minimum wage to $9 per hour. Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, who represents northern St. Lawrence County, …

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Assembly approves raising minimum wage to $9 per hour, St. Lawrence County representatives divided on vote

Posted

North Country representatives are in disagreement over a bill that would raise minimum wage to $9 per hour.

Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, who represents northern St. Lawrence County, supported and sponsored the bill, which passed yesterday in the state Assembly, while Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, R-Black River, says the move would be detrimental to local businesses.

Blankenbush, who represents much of southern St. Lawrence County, voted against the measure, as did freshmen Assemblyman Marc Butler, R-Newport, who represents eastern and southern parts of St. Lawrence County.

Russell said the move is necessary to ensure the minimum wage is a livable wage.

"Today the Assembly voted to raise the minimum wage to $9 per hour beginning in January 2014. This is an important step toward ensuring that workers receive a living wage so they can provide for their families. The bill also indexes the wage to inflation beginning in 2015,” she said in a release issued Tuesday. "This is a matter of fairness and sound economic policy. The current minimum wage is failing to keep up with increasing costs of living. Whether it is buying gas or groceries, paying for medical services or heating costs, minimum wage workers cannot make ends meet. With this increase, workers will see a rise in their purchasing power, which will provide an economic boost for the North Country. Every $1 increase for minimum wage workers results in $3,500 in new consumer spending over the course of a year. That is what businesses need – consumers to spend more dollars locally.

In a statement released by Blankenbush, he said called the measure a job killer.

“Time and time again, the downstate-controlled Assembly has put forward job-killing legislation and their minimum wage bill – which has an escalator tied to inflation and no credits for job creators or exemptions for family farms – could cost nearly 30,000 jobs here in our state. We need a better regional approach to living wages, one that takes into account the local cost of living, includes a youth training wage and seriously looks at how we can lift regulatory and tax burdens on our mom-and-pop shops so they can better afford to hire more workers and offer higher wages to their employees.”

While the bill passed in the Assembly, it is expected to be voted down or stalled in the Republican-controlled state Senate.