Opinion: NYS Proposed Minimum Wage Hike Threatens People with IDD & Field

Bravo Laura Kennedy, president of NYSARC, Inc., and Steven Kroll, its executive director, for this op-ed in Albany Times Union.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $15 minimum wage contains a serious flaw that threatens the financial viability of an entire field of caregivers and the people and families those caregivers support.While the governor has appropriately decided that New York needs to champion the rights of hard-working, low-income wage earners by requiring a higher minimum wage, he has not provided any funding for the many not-for-profit agencies that depend almost completely on the state for their funding. Among the 2.3 million workers who stand to benefit from a minimum wage increase are more than 100,000 workers who provide support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people with developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and neurological impairments. No funding is provided for this increase.