But the budget agreement also includes off-ramps that could scuttle minimum wage increases during years when consumer prices fall, unemployment spikes or the state loses jobs, according to budget documents released this week.
Details of the plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 at the start of 2024 and then increase it by 50 cents an hour during each of the next two years were disclosed last week as portions of the budget deal became public. The minimum wage in the New York City area will rise to $17 an hour in 2026.
Beginning in 2027, the increases in the minimum wage will be linked to an inflation gauge for the Northeastern U.S.
But the deal also includes exceptions that could slow the increases if the New York economy sputters.
The increases could be stopped during any year when the inflation index shows that prices are falling. The minimum wage also would not rise if the state lost jobs during a pair of three-month periods in any year from January to March and April to June.
The increase also could be blocked if the three-month moving average of the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumps by 0.5 percentage points during a period that concludes at the end of July.
The planned rise in the minimum wage falls short of the steeper increase favored by progressives that would have pushed the minimum above $20 an hour.
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