For the first time in more than three decades, the State Legislature has acted to raise the state minimum wage above the federal level.

This will make it possible for more New Yorkers to feed and house their families from the wages they earn. Hunger Action Network of New York State looks forward to the day when the minimum wage is finally set at an adequate level and then indexed to inflation.

Of the 900,000 plus New Yorkers who turn to emergency food programs each week, an estimated 40% are from households with at least one member who is working.

If the state minimum wage had merely kept pace with inflation since New York last raised its minimum wage above the federal level more than three decades ago, it would be $8.83 an hour today.

Most states in the northeast routinely have a higher minimum wage than the federal level. That only makes sense since housing and utility bills are much higher in the northeast than in places like Texas and Arkansas.

There are now a dozen states with a minimum above the inadequate federal level of $5.15, including our neighbors Vermont ($6.75), Massachusetts ($6.75), and Connecticut ($7.10).

Minimum wage schedule of increase:

Jan. 1, 2005. Increase from $5.15 to $6.00.

Jan. 1, 2006. Increase from $6.00 to $6.75.

Jan. 1, 2007. Increase from $6.75 to $7.15.