State Legislators Call To Raise Minimum Wage

Also in Albany today, members of the Black, Puerto-Rican, Hispanic, and Asian legislative caucus called for the state legislature to raise the minimum wage. These state leaders say workers of color are the majority of minimum- wage workers in New York state. They are urging the state legislature to raise the minimum wage to $8.75 and allow for annual increases to keep up with the rising cost of living. They say that cost affects people who live downstate and upstate.

"Evidence tells us, it doesn't suggest, it tells us that raising the minimum wage is literally the most stimulative thing you can do to the economy. You have working class people across the stae that will spend that money, they will buy food, they will buy clothing, they will make sure it goes right back into the economy. So it is something that isnt only the moral thing to do but also the economically smart thing to do," says Senator Gustavo Rivera, 33rd District (D), Bronx.

These state leaders say at $7.25 per hour, New York's current minimum wage, leaves full-time workers in poverty. They say Albany has not raised the wage since 2006, and it's time make a change.