As the New York Daily News reported last Wednesday, nearly one million New Yorkers work full-time jobs, year round, for poverty level wages. A new New York law may help change conditions for some of these people as New York joined the growing list of states requiring that their workers be paid a minimum wage higher than the level set by the federal government, which is $5.15 an hour.

Last week, the New York state senate overrode Republican Governor George Pataki’s veto of the increase, with 50 of the 62 senators voting for it, and only 8 against — well above the 2/3 needed to override a veto. The bipartisan support — especially from the Republican majority — was due largely to pre-election campaign promises senate candidates had made. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, stated, “The increase will help the working families at the lowest income levels make ends meet, without putting an undue burden on small businesses and the economy.”

The law will gradually raise the state minimum wage level 38 percent by $2 an hour. It will increase from the current $5.15 to $6.00 on January 1, 2005, and to $6.75 on January 1, 2006. The final increase, to $7.15, will be implemented on January 1, 2007. The wages of food service workers who receive tips will also rise gradually from the current $3.30 to $4.60 per hour by 2007 .

According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, this wage increases will directly benefit 691,000 workers or roughly 8.8 percent of New York’s workforce; another 509,000 workers who make between $7.15 and $8.15 will indirectly benefit from the law. (See the FPI analysis.) Pataki stated his opposition to the wage increase stemmed from worries the state would lose jobs to neighboring states who still pay their workers only $5.15. However, the increases will most likely boost New York’s economy while helping hundreds of thousands of people make ends meet and providing neighboring states some incentive to follow its example.

New York was far overdue for a wage increase. The 1968 state minimum wage of $1.50 would have increased to $8.72 per hour by 2003, had it been adjusted for inflation. New York’s move is only a step in the right direction. Now the Bush administration should act to raise the minimum wage for all American workers to boost the economy, and to help millions of working families achieve a greater standard of living.