New York poised to raise minimum wage to $9

New York politicians are forging a budget deal that includes a hike of the minimum wage to $9 per hour, over the course of three years.

“If we can get a minimum wage that ends in $9 in two years, I think we’ve done a tremendous service,” said Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, in The New York Post.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the current $7.25 rate would hit $8 next year; $8.75 in 2015; and $9 sometime before 2016, the Post says.

New York isn’t the only state pushing for a higher minimum wage. New Mexico lawmakers just sent a bill to the governor to raise the state’s level to $8.50 per hour — the fourth-highest level in the nation, The Associated Press reports. And Maryland groups are pressuring legislators to pass a bill that increases the minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2015, various media report.

Against this backdrop is a federal effort to hike the wage. Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, are on board for an increase in the wage level to at least $10 per hour. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, just came out in favor of an increase to $22 per hour.

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