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...

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

As state lawmakers continue to debate the state budget some Buffalo business owners are throwing support behind a plan to raise the minimum wage. The New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coalition say they are supporting a plan to raise the minimum wage within a few years to $21.25 an hour ... 

WATCH business owner Aaron Bartley and others say why they support.

By Emyle Watkins
WBFO-FM 88.7 (NPR), April 14, 2023

In Western New York, some business owners are calling for the state to raise and index the minimum wage as part of the final budget and pass the Raise the Wage Act.

Annie Adams, owner of the consignment store Second Chic, says that she realized her employees were struggling and decided to increase wages.

“About a year ago, I gave my team a bonus. Then I doubled it because they had done so much higher than their goal," Adams said. ...

Adams said her workers now start...

By Jimmy Jordan
The Ithaca Voice, April 10, 2023

As negotiations continue over the New York State budget after missing its initial April 1 deadline, business owners, workers, and labor advocates in Tompkins County are all waiting to see what becomes of the state’s minimum wage. ...

Joe Wetmore, the former owner of Autumn Leaves Used Books, said he supported further increasing the minimum wage and tying it to inflation. He criticized Hochul’s proposal to give the governor’s office the power to cap the increases to the minimum wage that would come as a result...

WUFO/Power 96.5 FM Buffalo, The Public Good, 4/4/23

Andrea Súilleabháin interviews business owners Brandi Barrett and Annie Adams about raising New York's minimum wage.

LISTEN

Yonkers Times, April 3, 2023

As debate over raising the minimum wage in the state budget continues, over 300 businesses and business organizations across New York have signed a letter from New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage calling on Gov. Hochul and the state legislature to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $21.25, with annual indexing, as called for in the Raise the Wage Act (S1978A/A2204A).

Supporters include business leaders across the state from Buffalo and the Finger Lakes to the Capital Region and the Hudson Valley to New York City and the Long...

By Sasha Jones
New York Business Journal, April 3, 2023

More than 300 New York businesses sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie calling for the state's minimum wage to be incrementally raised to $21.25, with annual indexing to inflation.

“We can’t build a resilient economy and thriving communities on a minimum wage that’s too low for people to live on,” the letter reads.

The business owners and executives who have signed onto the letter include several prominent New York City companies, including Michael Lastoria, founder and CEO of &pizza; Aaron Seyedian, owner...