BOLTON LANDING, N.Y. — Gov. Cuomo is willing to give businesses a tax cut to soften the impact of his plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Cuomo, speaking to the annual gathering of the state Business Council at a hotel on the shore of Lake George, said he was open to some sort of tax relief for businesses to offset the increased costs they would incur from the higher minimum wage.
“That could be a real win-win,” Cuomo told the gathering, arguing as well that the higher wage would pump $15.7 billion into the state economy. “And that’s what we have to think about because life and politics and this state is about balance and nobody gets everything they want.”
Cuomo, speaking to reporters afterward, offered few details about the sort of tax cut he would support, saying he was open to discussion on the issue.
“That’s just an issue I want to put on the table for them,” Cuomo said of the possible business tax cut. “I proposed tax cuts almost every year. I think that’s one of the most positive things we can do. It says to the business community we are serious about being open for business.”
Heather Bricetti, leader of the Business Council, said she was pleased by the governor’s remarks, but cautioned that any tax relief would have to be significant to offset the cost of a $15 minimum wage.
“There is a political reality that we are going to be having this conversation (about raising the wage) so I am really encouraged that there’s an opportunity to look at some alleviating measures.”
Bricetti added: “It would have to be meaningful and have to factor in the realities of the upstate versus downstate economies.”
Cuomo was received warmly by the Business Council members and received a standing ovation at the conclusion of his remarks from the 200 or so members who were in the ballroom.
State GOP Chairman Ed Cox, who was in the audience, was skeptical of Cuomo’s proposal.
“He may give a small tax cut so he can talk about it but it’s all about the political rhetoric. It’s not about the substance of what New York needs for economic development.”
