Letter: Job Killing Raises

Original Article: https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-letter-march-24-20230324-5plreuienbbsnd2op3rnpmwofu-story.html

  • Author: Rebekah Paxton

  • Publication Date: March 2023

  • Newspaper: New York Daily News

Arlington, Va.: In his March 19 op-ed, “N.Y.ers deserve a real raise,” state Sen. John Liu ignores the price tag of $21.25 hourly minimum wage. It would cost thousands of employees their jobs.

The New York minimum wage has more than doubled the rate of inflation over the last two decades. This proposal would not only place New York in uncharted territory as the country’s highest state minimum wage, but would also subject businesses to uncapped inflationary increases every year. The 40-year-high inflation during the pandemic shows how doing so could expose businesses to extreme volatility.

Three decades of economic evidence finds steep wage increases put employees out of work. Existing wage hikes have already wreaked havoc. Roughly 80% of upstate N.Y. counties experienced year-over-year job losses in the hospitality industry prior to the pandemic, which employs the majority of minimum-wage earners. New Yorkers deserve a better deal.