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

May 3, 2023 Maysoon Khan, Associated Press/Report for America

Members of the New York Senate work on legislative bills in the Senate Chamber before Gov. Kathy Hochul presents her executive state budget at the state Capitol on Feb. 1, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File

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Lawmakers in Albany passed a $229 billion spending plan that will increase the state’s minimum wage, tweak its bail laws and attempt to curb illegal and unlicensed marijuana shops.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will sign the 10 bills into law Wednesday, according to her office.

Negotiations between the governor and her fellow Democrats who control the Legislature produced a deal late Tuesday that is packed with compromises, including many between the party’s left and center.

Under one of the bills, the minimum wage would increase to $17 in New York City and its suburbs, and $16 elsewhere in the state by 2026, with future hikes pegged to inflation.

Lawmakers also approved a revision of the state’s bail law that will give judges more discretion to jail certain criminal defendants before trial unless they are able to come up with cash guaranteeing their return to court.

Hochul insisted on the changes despite an outcry from some liberal Democrats who see it as partially rolling back changes approved in 2019 that eliminated pretrial incarceration for most nonviolent offenses.

Another bill gives state regulators power to confiscate marijuana products from unlicensed pot shops, which have proliferated since the state legalized recreational marijuana.

The budget will also increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1, to $5.35, though lawmakers rejected Hochul’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes.

The votes came a little over a month past the initial April 1 deadline, with budget talks largely held up over the changes to the bail law and other policy issues. In New York, the state budget often serves as a vessel for passing major policy legislation.