Advocacy Groups Calling for $15 Minimum Wage to Apply to Nonprofit Staffs

A group of New York nonprofits wants to see the minimum wage for state social service contract workers increased to $15 an hour.

The move, if paid for by the state in contracts with nonprofit service providers, would cost the state about $300 million when fully phased in, according to a Fiscal Policy Institute estimate. That's an increase of about 20 percent from the current $1.5 billion in state contracts for human services.

“We need to make sure that the government contracts are adjusted … because there’s no way philanthropic giving can pay for this increase,” said Allison Sesso, executive director of the New York City-based Human Services Council. “We would like to see this underlying challenge for people in New York be addressed, but we absolutely want to make sure our workforce is included."