In the face of a political road block in Albany, progressive groups continue their last-minute push to force an increase in the minimum wage, this time targeting Gov. Andrew Cuomo who they say can do it alone.

The groups cite comments by Yale and Fordham professors who argue Cuomo’s labor department already has the power by law to raise the minimum. The groups including the Strong Economy for All coalition and the National Employment Law Project note Cuomo recently used his executive order to enact President Barack Obama’s health care program in New York, which avoided Senate Republican opposition.

“It’s not a close call at all,” said Professor Michael J. Wishnie of Yale Law School. He said New York and several other states have provisions of law to raise the minimum wage in the face of a changing economy that can be less costly, faster and less political than setting wages through legislatures.

Cuomo says he supports increasing the wage to $8.50 from the current $7.25 an hour, but New York has never bumped it up for all workers without the Legislature’s consent. The labor commissioner raised the minimum wage most recently in 2009, by a dime, for restaurant workers…..

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