Directs the department of labor to post on its internet website and annually update the names of employers who employ 50 or more employees who receive public assistance

BILL NUMBER:S5291

Title of bill

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring the department of labor to publish the names of employers which employ 50 or more employees who receive public assistance

Purpose

Establishes disclosure requirements for certain employers whose work- force receives public assistance.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends the Labor Law to include a new section 12a, which mandates the publication of employers with employees receiving certain forms of public assistance. The department shall on its internet website post and annually update the names of employers which employ one hundred or more employees who work not less than twenty six weeks a year and not less than ten hours a week and who receive public assistance. Section 2 determines the date the law shall take effect.

Justification

An April 2015 report, published by the University of California/Berkeley)s Center for Labor Research and Education, analyzed state spending for Medicaid/Children)s Health Insurance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and federal spending for those programs as well as food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit. It found that the American taxpayer in general, and the New York State taxpayer in particular, are subsidizing companies that pay low wages to its employees to an alarming degree. Quoting from the Report: "Overall, we find that between 2009 and 2011 the federal government spent $127.8 billion per year on these four programs for working families and the states collectively spent $25 billion per year on Medicaid/CHIP and TANF for working families for a total of $152.8 billion per year. In all, more than half ---- 56 percent ----of combined state and federal spend- ing on public assistance goes to working families." Further, 52 percent of the all state spending supported working families, defined as working for 26 weeks a year and 10 hours a week. UC Berkeley concluded that in New York $3.3 billion of public assistance went to working families.

It is clear that the New York taxpayer is thus subsidizing people who work because their employers do not pay a living wage. New York taxpayer have a fundamental right to know where their tax dollars are spent, and for what reason. While the struggle to increase wages in New York State continues, this bill would add much-needed transparency to how our taxes are spent. It mandates that the Department of Labor will disclose on its website the name of any employer in the state that has 50 or more employees on any of these types of public assistance.

Legislative history

New bill

Fiscal implications

To Be Determined

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.