By Andy Medici
The Business Journals, June 23, 2023

Minimum wages are set to increase July 1 as debate rages on. ... On July 1, Nevada, Oregon and Washington D.C. will raise their minimum wages alongside Chicago, San Francisco and Montgomery County, Maryland, among others. ...

Some small-business owners are welcoming the wage increases.

Jared Meyers, owner of Legacy Vacation Resorts in Reno, Nevada, and elsewhere, said the coming increase in the minimum wage will help boost hiring and retention.

“And when employees are paid fairly and aren’t distracted by a second job or continual...

By Stacy Wescoe
Lehigh Valley Business, June 21, 2023. Also in Central Penn Business Journal.

The State of Pennsylvania is moving towards a higher minimum wage. The House of Representatives has voted to raise the minimum wage in a proposal that would gradually increase the minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour by 2026. ...There would be annual cost-of-living increases beginning in 2027.

The plan has also received support from some business owners in the state, including John Schall, owner of El Jefe’s Taqueria in Bethlehem.   

“Raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is...

By Maggie Mancini
Philly Voice, June 21, 2023

Pennsylvania's minimum wage, which has remained stagnant for 14 years, could be increased to $15 by 2026 under a bill passed by the Pennsylvania House on Tuesday night. ...

"Paying employees a fair wage is good business," said Amy Edelman, owner of Night Kitchen Bakery in Chestnut Hill. "Employees who aren't continually stressed about making ends meet can focus on taking care of our customers and producing delicious baked goods, which translates into the returning customers that drive small business success. Raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage will boost spending at local...

By Taylor Tosheff
ABC27 WHTM, Harrisburg, PA, June 21, 2023

The Pennsylvania House passed a bill Tuesday to eventually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Employers who rely on tips would also see an increase. ...

“I feel like as employers, it’s our responsibility to pay a living wage and take care of our employees the best way we know how to,” said Jennie Groff, co-owner of Lancaster Sweet Shoppe and Stroopies Inc.

Groff employs refugee women living in Lancaster. Employees start at $13 an hour and move up to $14 after...

By Victor Ocasio
Newsday, May 4, 2023

... But while many in the business community predict headwinds, other groups said the increases aren't enough.

New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a coalition of around 300 businesses and organizations, had been pushing for a more ambitious increase — to $21.25 by 2026, with cost of living adjustments thereafter.

“I think it should have been increased right away,” said Phil Andrews, president of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and a member of the coalition. “This has been the highest inflationary time we have probably...

By Tania Savayan
Rockland/Westchester Journal News, May 2, 2023

Bloomy Cheese and Provisions owner Jessica Galen supports a minimum wage of $21.25, above the level Gov. Hochul is supporting.

WATCH VIDEO

By Thomas C. Zambito
lohud/ Gannett, May 3, 2023. Also Yahoo News, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Utica Observer Dispatch, Poughkeepsie Journal, Ithaca Journal, Times Herald Record (Middletown), The Leader (Corning), more

The state’s minimum wage will increase to $17 per hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County over the next three years and $16 farther north as part of New York's final budget deal. ...

A coalition of 300 businesses calling themselves New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage pushed the administration for a $21.25 minimum by 2026.

The group cited statistics...

Yonkers Times, April 28, 2023

Westchester small business owner Jessica Galen, owner of Bloomy Cheese & Provisions in Dobbs Ferry, spoke in support of raising the state minimum wage to $21.25 plus indexing at a press conference today in White Plains with State Sen. Shelley Mayer, Assembly Members Chris Burdick and Steve Otis, and Westchester County Legislators Damon Maher, David Imamura, Erika Pierce and Terry Clements, as well as community leaders.

Galen is a member of the growing New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coalition, which includes more than 300 businesses and business...

By Martin Wilbur
The Examiner, April 22, 2023 

Most of Westchester’s state legislature delegation has thrown its support behind a proposal that would increase the minimum wage to $21.25 by 2026 to help thousands of lower-paid workers keep pace with inflation. ... State Sen. Shelley Mayer (D-Yonkers), a Senate co-sponsor of the bill, led a press conference on Friday in White Plains. ...

Jessica Galen, a Dobbs Ferry village trustee and the owner of BLOOMY Cheese & Provisions in her home community, said she is part of a coalition of 300 small business owners that support a...

By Josh Durso
FingerLakes1, April 22, 2023

As negotiations over the state budget intensify, over 300 businesses and business organizations across New York have joined the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition calling on Gov. Hochul and the State Legislature to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $21.25, followed by annual indexing to keep up with the cost of living, as proposed in the Raise the Wage Act. Supporters include business leaders across the state from Buffalo and the Finger Lakes to the Capital Region and the Hudson Valley to New York...

By Dave Wolf
News12 Westchester, 4/21/23

Business leaders joined Senator Shelley Mayer and Assembly Member Steve Otis in Westchester to call to the governor to include minimum wage hikes in the final state budget. ... Those speaking in favor of minimum wage increases are part of the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coalition. ...

WATCH

By Rod Watson
Buffalo News, April 19, 2023. Also in the Post Star (Glens Falls)

Who knew that Albany’s inability to do its primary job – pass a budget on time – could turn out to be good news for nearly 2.9 million people, or roughly a third of the state’s workforce?

That’s how many people the Economic Policy Institute estimates could benefit if state leaders use the extra time to include in the budget the Raise the Wage Act that would gradually hike New York’s minimum wage to $21.25 an hour and index it...

By Danielle Church
WGRZ 2 NBC, Buffalo, April 14, 2023

Inflation has been raising the prices of just about everything except salaries. 

On Friday, 50 small businesses in Buffalo advocated for raising the minimum wage, but they're part of more than 300 across the state making the request. ...

Small business owners who already pay their employees above minimum wage say it's both a benefit to the employee as well as the business. 

"Our employee turnover is very low, so we save money and time by not having to train new people, and our employees get...

WKBW 7 ABC Buffalo, April 14, 2023

... Today in Buffalo business leaders called on the legislature to pass the Raise the Wage Act. ...  [Fitz Books & Waffles Owner Aaron Bartley said], "We have better retention ... We don't have a lot of turnover. ... It's in our self-interest as a business to have a decent living wage as a minimum wage." ...

WATCH

WIVB-TV News, 4 CBS, Buffalo, April 14, 2023

As the state budget debate continue in Albany without resolution, Buffalo business leaders are calling on the governor and legislature to once again raise the minimum wage. The New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coaliton says they're supporting a plan to raise minimum wage to $21.25 and then be indexed in the future to coincide with inflation. ...

[Da’Von McCune, Owner, D Real McCoy Entertainment LLC said], "It creates a looming sense of despair for people to spend more and more time working and still...