Abinanti Responds to Senate Leader's Minimum Wage Comments

Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh/Mt. Pleasant) recently responded to comments made by Deputy Senate Majority Leader John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) regarding the Wage Board recommendation to raise the fast food minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Here are Senator DeFrancisco’s comments, as reported by Time Warner Cable News’ State of Politics blog:

In an interview on Capital Tonight on Friday, the Syracuse Republican came out swinging at the wage board convened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, decrying the move to increase the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 “lunacy” and a way to apply political pressure to opponents.

“To me, that is not democracy,” DeFrancisco said. “That position ought to be expressed and discussed in a reasonable way.”

“It’s not a wage board. It’s one individual making that decision,” he said. “It clearly is a decision not based on logic. How does it make sense to have a minimum wage for one class of workers when state workers — there’s many that don’t make $15 an hour. It’s lunacy.”

Assemblyman Abinanti responded, highlighting the need for a $15 minimum wage in the downstate region that has a high cost of living:

“I respectfully disagree with Senator DeFrancisco. However, I do appreciate the Senator highlighting that underpaid state workers also need a $15 minimum wage.

Maybe to some it is ‘lunacy.’ I say hard working people deserve a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Could this be upstate not understanding the full implications of the high downstate cost of living?

I look forward to ‘expressing and discussing’ a statewide $15 minimum wage with the Senate ‘in a reasonable way.‘“

Abinanti initially applauded the Wage Board recommendation, adding ”Now let’s ensure all New Yorkers receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

The Westchester Assemblyman then went further, calling for Westchester County to be included in the expedited New York City fast food minimum wage timeline.

“By some standards, Westchester’s cost of living is higher than New York City’s and far higher than the rest of the state and the rest of the country,” said Abinanti. ”Westchester workers who put in an honest day’s work should be paid enough to keep their families out of poverty.”

During the 2015 legislative session, the Assembly passed legislation which would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour for all workers in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island. Abinanti voted for and spoke in favor of the legislation on the floor. View his full comments HERE.