New York’s $229B spending plan to increase minimum wage

Albany lawmakers approved a $229 billion spending proposal to raise the minimum wage, change bail regulations, and crack down on illegal marijuana shops.

Her office says New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will sign the 10 legislation Wednesday.

The governor and her fellow Democrats in the Legislature reached a resolution late Tuesday that included many left-center compromises.

One plan would raise the minimum wage to $17 in New York City and its suburbs and $16 elsewhere in the state by 2026, indexed to inflation.

The state’s bail statute was also amended to allow judges to detain certain criminal offenders before trial if they cannot post bail.

Hochul persisted despite liberal Democrats’ objections that the measures partially roll back 2019’s pretrial incarceration ban for most nonviolent felonies.

Since recreational marijuana was allowed, unregulated pot shops have flourished. Another bill allows state inspectors to seize their products.
The budget raises the state’s cigarette tax by $1 to $5.35, but lawmakers rejected Hochul’s menthol cigarette ban.

Budget talks were stalled by bail law reforms and other policy problems, delaying the voting until a month after the April 1 deadline. New York state budgets typically pass substantial legislative measures.