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WNYC Brian Lehrer Show: A $30 Hourly Minimum for NYC?

WNYC, Brian Lehrer Show, March 13, 2026

New York City Council member Sandy Nurse talks about her proposal to increase New York City's minimum wage to $30/hour, up from the current $17/hr. 

Council Member Nurse: ... We actually have a small business owner in our coalition. He runs an organization called [Well-Paid Maids]. And he actually came and advocated at our press conference recently. ... He came and explained how paying fair wages has actually helped his business. Because he's investing in his workers, his workers stay longer. They're invested in the company. They provide...

Wall Street Journal: New York City’s $30 Minimum-Wage Proposal Rattles Small Businesses

By Chao Deng and Kate King
Wall Street Journal, March 12, 2026

... A bill introduced this week in the City Council would ... take the current minimum hourly wage from $17 to $30 by 2030 for large businesses; businesses that employ fewer than 500 people would hit the $30 mark by 2032. ...

Many businesses already pay well above $17-an-hour minimum wage to compete for employees. ...

Aaron Seyedian owns a cleaning business that starts its maids at $27 an hour in New York City. He said a phased increase to $30 is fair...

1010 WINS News: New York City could have a nation-leading $30 minimum wage

By Mack Rosenberg
1010 WINS News, March 11, 2026

New York City could have a nation-leading $30 an hour minimum wage. The city council is now considering the bill that would nearly double the current $17 an hour rate and supporters and opponents are hashing it out. Aaron Seyedian pays his workers at Well-Paid Maids $27 an hour plus benefits. "Fair wages don't limit business growth. They enable it. We don't have trouble hiring and retaining workers like many low-wage businesses do." ... 

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1010 WINS News: NY businesses react to possible $30 minimum wage

By Mack Rosenberg
1010 WINS News, March 11, 2026

Worker morale and productivity would go up. That's the argument from supporters like Aaron Seyedian who runs Well-Paid Maids and pays his workers $27 an hour plus benefits. "Why do some businesses struggle with constant turnover? Why is consumer spending weak? Too many people are not getting paid enough to live on." ...

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PIX11 TV/ Yahoo News: NYC lawmakers push to raise minimum wage to $30

By Nicole Alarcon
PIX11 TV and Yahoo News, March 10, 2026

New York City officials are pushing to raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, according to a new campaign launched at City Hall on Tuesday.

Council Member Sandy Nurse introduced the “$30 for Our City” legislation alongside community groups, small business owners and other elected officials. Supporters said the proposal aims to address the growing gap between wages and the cost of living in the city. ...

City officials, workers, and leaders from ALIGN: The Alliance for a Greater New York...

Tucson Sentinel: Tucson's minimum wage workers got raises for 2026

By Jim Nintzel
Tucson Sentinel, January 8, 2026

Tucson’s lowest-paid workers started the year with raises. The minimum wage in Arizona rose by 45 cents, from $14.70 to $15.15 an hour. In Tucson, the minimum increased from $15 an hour to $15.45 an hour. Tucson’s minimum is higher than the state’s requirement because in 2021, voters approved the Tucson Minimum Wage Act ...

Pete Turner, who owns the Illegal Pete’s on University Boulevard west of the UA campus, said he’s happy to see the increase.

Turner, who started Illegal Pete’s in Colorado about three decades...

Business.com: Are You Paying a Living Wage?

By Adam Uzialko
Business.com, Updated January 7, 2026

Paying a “living wage” requires more than meeting state and federal minimum wage requirements. Living in certain communities is more expensive and requires people to earn more to sustain basic life necessities. As an employer, paying a living wage can feel like a burden to the bottom line, but it can be a powerful investment in your people that positively affects business outcomes. ...

“When you’re setting something like the federal minimum wage, you want to consider the averages,” said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a...

NJ Spotlight News: NJ minimum wage rises, but not for all

By John Reitmeyer
NJ Spotlight News, January 5, 2026

Workers making the minimum hourly wage in New Jersey saw a raise on Thursday, Jan. 1, an increase that establishes a statewide rate close to $16 for many workers.

The 43-cents-an-hour pay hike to $15.92 occurred automatically because the state Constitution requires annual cost-of-living adjustments to ensure New Jersey’s minimum hourly wage keeps pace with annual rates of inflation. ...

New Jersey is one of more than a dozen states that have such indexing rules on the books, according to Business for a Fair Minimum Wage...

Washington Times: Minimum wage hikes affecting hourly workers in 19 states

By Sean Salai
Washington Times, January 2, 2026

Hourly workers in 19 states will receive salary bumps in their next paychecks ...

“State and local minimum wage increases are crucial, wherever they are possible, as the federal minimum wage falls further and further behind the cost of living,” Holly Sklar, CEO of the advocacy group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said in a statement shared Friday with The Washington Times.

Ms. Sklar said regular wage increases foster economic growth, reduce employee turnover and mitigate the rising costs of living for these workers.

Since 2009...

NJ.com/ Star Ledger: How much are minimum wage workers actually making in N.J.?

By Jelani Gibson | NJ Advance Media
NJ.com/ Star Ledger, January 2, 2026

The federal minimum wage has not increased in more than 15 years. But New Jersey just hiked its minimum pay — again. New Jersey’s minimum wage increased by 43 cents to $15.92 per hour on Jan. 1. ...

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, an organization of business owners that supports the wage increase, said higher pay benefits everyone.

“Higher wages strengthen the economy — workers have more buying power and businesses see more consumer demand,” said Mitch Cahn, a member of...

San Francisco Chronicle: California minimum wage rises to $16.90 statewide January 1

By Jessica Roy
San Francisco Chronicle, January 1, 2026

Low-wage workers across California are set to get a raise in the new year. ... Starting Jan. 1, the minimum wage in California will be $16.90. ...

Some municipalities in California have higher wage floors. San Francisco is one of them: The hourly minimum wage in the city is $19.18 an hour and is not set to increase again until July. For some industries, California sets the wage floor higher as well: Certain California health care workers earn a minimum of $24 an hour, and fast...

KRCG-TV 13 (CBS): Missouri minimum wage to increase on Jan. 1

By Jonathan Lieber
KRCG-TV (CBS), December 30, 2025

JEFFERSON CITY — In November 2024, Missourians voted to pass a ballot initiative that increase the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026.

With the wage increase, Missouri will have one of the highest minimum wages of its eight bordering states. Illinois increased its $15 per hour minimum wage on Jan 1, 2025, while Nebraska will also increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour on Jan 1, 2026. ...

"Any thing you can do to increase health, flexibility and spending power of the population...

KOMU TV: Local business leaders prepare for Missouri minimum wage increase

By Payton Busselman
KOMU 8, December 30, 2025

COLUMBIA — Missouri's minimum wage will increase to $15 starting Thursday ... Some Columbia business owners said that the minimum wage increase will help their business and the economy, while other business leaders say it will hurt small businesses.

Starting Jan. 1, the minimum wage will change from $13.75 to $15, as set forth in Proposition A, which voters approved in the November 2024 general election. Proposition A passed by 57.6%.

Business For a Fair Minimum Wage issued a news release on Tuesday that said the increased minimum wage...

NJ.com/ Star Ledger: N.J. is raising its minimum wage again

By Jelani Gibson | NJ Advance Meda
Nj.com/ Star Ledger, Dec. 30, 2025. Also The Times of Trenton, South Jersey Times.

New Jersey workers will be ringing in the New Year with an increased minimum wage. The minimum wage will increase by 43 cents to $15.92 per hour on Jan. 1, under the state’s law. ...

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, an organization of business owners that supports the wage increase, said higher pay benefits everyone.

“Higher wages strengthen the economy — workers have more buying power and businesses see more consumer demand,” said...

Bridge Michigan: Michigan’s minimum wage is going up in 2026. Here’s why

By Jordyn Hermani
Bridge Michigan, December 29, 2025. Also Bridge Detroit, Iron Mountain Daily News, Manchester Mirror, WOOD-FM iHeartRadio, Daily Press 

LANSING  — Michigan’s minimum wage will jump by $1.25 an hour on Thursday under a new state law that sped up planned base rate increases but scaled back a bigger bump for tipped workers. The minimum wage will climb from $12.48 to $13.73 an hour on Jan. 1.  ... Wage increases are scheduled to continue in future years, with the standard minimum wage hitting $15 in 2027 and then being tied to inflation....