State Assemblyman Andy Goodell and Governor Andrew Cuomo do not see eye to eye when it comes to eliminating the wage gap.

As one of Gov. Cuomo’s ideas for 2015, he has proposed raising the minimum wage to $10.50 per hour in 2016. The minimum wage currently stands at $8.75 and is slated to increase to $9 at the end of the year.

Cuomo recently emphasized the importance of the increase because the wage gap continues to grow.

In a phone interview Monday, Goodell said increasing the state minimum wage will do more harm than good, especially in areas like Chautauqua County.

“Almost every empirical study shows increasing the minimum wage equals a reduction in the number of entry-level jobs. A recent Cornell University study on increasing the minimum wage calculated a loss of 28,900 jobs in New York state,” he said. “New York state needs to focus on increasing the number of jobs available to residents, rather than driving jobs out of the state by increasing the cost to do business here.”

Referring back to the Cornell University study, Goodell said it showed around 11 percent of poor households would benefit. Around 12 percent of others that would benefit would not be below the poverty line, and therefore, according to the report, increasing the minimum wage would not address the wage gap.

“The study also reports vastly different impacts across the state, where it would not affect wealthier communities. For instance on Long Island the average entry-level wage is $9 per hour, whereas in western New York it is minimum wage. So, it would hurt Chautauqua County, there would be less jobs, fewer people working and more people leaving,” he said.

Goodell said he has a more efficient and accurate way to address the wage gap – the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The EITC is a state and federal program that provides a tax refund to low and moderate income individuals and couples, especially those with children. The amount of the refund is based on income and the number of children claimed.

“The Earned Income Tax Credit does not destroy entry-level jobs because it does not force employers to pay above market,” Goodell explained. “The Earned Income Tax Credit helps people who need it most. It is important to remember most entry-level employees are students and people above the poverty line. Increasing the minimum wage decreases the number of jobs available to the poor and results in fewer employment opportunities.”

He added increasing the minimum wage will only impact a small number of people below the poverty line, according to studies, whereas the EITC is only given to the working poor.

Goodell said the topic of minimum wage needs to be a federal discussion, not a New York state discussion.

“Increasing the minimum wage on a federal level does not result in companies leaving New York state to relocate to a more business-friendly area,” he said.

He said his focus in Albany will be increasing the number of opportunities locally.

“Unfortunately New York has led the nation in the number of people leaving the state because the jobs are not here. This has resulted in New York dropping to number four in population. My focus in Albany is to help reverse that trend so more young people can find good-paying jobs in Chautauqua County,” he explained.

Another of Cuomo’s proposals is a 4 percent state tax reduction for small businesses to 2.5 percent.

Goodell said he supports reducing taxes, but does not see that the tax cut and minimum wage increase are related in that they would offset each other.

State Senator Catharine Young could not be reached for comment for this article.