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Pay Raises Aren’t Always A Good Thing

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to create more $15 per hour jobs in New York state. While kickstarting the economy to generate business growth and high-paying jobs would sound commendable, the governor’s approach will likely have severe negative consequences for New Yorkers and for school districts in particular.

Cuomo circumvented the state Legislature to spike the minimum wage for fast-food workers and state employees to $15 an hour, phased in throughout the coming years. By doing so, the governor has lit a fire under workers with other low-paying jobs, placing pressure on legislators to inflate wages for all industries to $15. New York would be the nation’s first state to implement such a massive hike.

The forthcoming increase in pay for state workers will cost $20.6 million annually when fully implemented in 2021, according to the governor’s office. If that figure concerns taxpayers, consider how an all-inclusive $15 minimum wage would impact school districts.

The increase would affect more than 33,000 school employees. Wage hikes would cost districts $276 million statewide for an average tax increase of 2.6 percent, according to a New York State Association of School Business Officials survey. The study did not consider additional costs, including substitute teacher expenses or pay increases for those who currently earn wages in the $15-per-hour range.

Potentially significant increases in food and gas costs would further bloat district budgets. The tax base will suffer as employers relocate to business-friendly states, and jobless Chautauqua County residents will have to follow.

“Does our governor believe that if we pay entry-level workers $15 that it will spur the economy so much that we’ll have more diesel engine sales out of Cummins?” asks Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-C-I-Jamestown. Regardless of what Cuomo thinks, that won’t happen.

To create high-paying jobs without negative economic consequences, Cuomo should fight to make New York truly “open for business,” as he likes to pretend it is now. The governor should respect the views of legislators who represent corners of the state far from his purview instead of circumventing their power. Cuomo visits Chautauqua County only slightly more often than the King of Sweden. We don’t trust this proposal would help spur the economy in our area of Cuomo’s realm.

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