Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour could do more harm than good, according to a new report released Thursday by two conservative think tanks.

The American Action Forum and Empire Center for Public Policy found that increasing the statewide minimum wage to $15 could cost the state 200,000 jobs.

Using other models, the report says there could be as many as 588,800 jobs lost in New York if the minimum wage hike is implemented.

E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, said the report is evidence that if the state raises the minimum wage, it will hurt low-wage workers.

“The impact on job creation and employment opportunities would be substantial in every region of New York, especially upstate,” he said.

Under the more conservative, low-impact model, New York City would lose 95,600 jobs if the state raises the minimum wage. Other regions of the state would lose thousands of jobs, including central New York, which would see an estimated 8,100 jobs disappear.

Those figures increase under the high-impact model, which estimates that a $15 minimum wage could cost New York City 273,800 jobs. Central New York would lose as many as 22,800 jobs if the pay rate is raised.

The report also questions the claim made by supporters of a hike that raising the minimum wage will help those living in poverty.

According to the study, less than 7 percent of those who would get pay increases with a $15 minimum wage have incomes below the poverty line.

“Pay increases for millions will come at the expense of lost employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people,” McMahon said. “That’s an unacceptably high price to pay for a policy that will significantly disrupt labor markets and business conditions throughout the state.”

The report’s release comes one day after a coalition of 26 groups, including the National Federation of Independent Business, New York Farm Bureau and Unshackle Upstate, announced they would lead a campaign against the minimum wage hike.

Cuomo, who announced in September he would pursue a minimum wage increase during the 2016 legislative session, knew he would face opposition from business groups and conservatives. But he questions those who believe such a wage hike will have a negative impact.

“We believe that raising the minimum wage is actually going to spur the economy, because the families that get that money are going to spend that money,” he said.

A Siena Research Institute poll conducted in October found 62 percent of New Yorkers support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. While upstate voters are split on the issue, more than three-quarters of New York City say they back the proposal.

© 2015 The Citizen

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