NYAPRS Note: Even as it appears that several factors my eliminate prior plans to hold a special session of the NYS Legislation to consider raising the minimum wage rate and legislator pay raises, it’s important to call Albany leaders to focus them on the minimum wage hike.
Please call the following leaders today
- Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos at 516-766-8383
- Governor Cuomo at 518 474-8390
- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver at 212 312-1420
and leave the following message
“Please raise the state minimum wage (to $10) during the special session.”
Special Legislative Session To Boost Lawmaker Salaries And Minimum Wage “Highly Unlikely,” Gov. Cuomo Source Says
By Ken Lovett New York Daily News November 19, 2012
The continued uncertainty surrounding which party will control the state Senate next year makes it highly unlikely the Legislature will hold a special session in 2012, a source close to Gov. Cuomo said.
“It’s weeks of work” to negotiate the issues that is not only complicated by the uncertainty over the Senate but also the governor’s heavy focus on the Superstorm Sandy recovery right now, the source said.
If the GOP loses its Senate control – it could go either way – they will be disinclined to hold a special session to take up liberal issues Cuomo is seeking, like a minimum wage hike and campaign finance reform, the source said.
That would kill a push for legislative pay raises.
There was talk a coalition government deal between the GOP and four breakaway Democrats could be completed as soon as Monday, though several insiders suspect it won’t be until after Thanksgiving, if it gets done.
The Cuomo source said the governor doesn’t believe a special session is needed to address the worsening budget caused by Sandy until a decision on federal aid is received – something that is unlikely to arrive before the end of the year.
“If we don’t get the [federal assistance], then we could need a state economic package,” the source said. “But you need to know first if we’re going to get [the help].”