© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Clergy Urge NYS Minimum Wage Hike

Money

Religious leaders rallied at the State Capitol to push for an increase in the state’s minimum wage. They urged Governor Cuomo to get off the fence and advocate for passage in the legislature.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…

Singing “We Shall Not Be moved”, clergy from a variety of religious faiths gathered at the Capitol’s million dollar staircase to urge Governor Cuomo to use his influence to convince the Senate to approve an increase in the state’s minimum wage before the session ends next week.

Pastor Will Seton, of Brooklyn, says morally, it’s the “right thing” thing to do.  And he took a shot at the business funded lobby group allied with Cuomo, the Committee to Save New York, which also has remained neutral on the issue.  

“Mr. Governor, we happen to know that you are taking money from your cronies to help your election campaign,” said Seton, who urged the governor to use his political clout to get the minimum wage increased from $7.25 an hour to $8.50.  

 “We are asking you to please, be just,” Seton said.

Governor Cuomo has said he personally supports a minimum wage hike, but that philosophical differences with Republicans in the Senate are too great to overcome.  

In Albany, I’m Karen DeWitt.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of public radio stations in New York state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.