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���������� Note: During a telephone town hall Thursday night for the residents of ���������� City, Governor Cuomo intimated that negotiations with the legislature have intensified with respect to his budget priorities, particularly key proposals including the $15 per hour minimum wage increase and the 12 weeks of employee-funded family leave.

Cuomo is joining with unions for the “Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice,” the name given to the coalition of unions and advocacy groups pushing for a $15 minimum wage. Over the next few weeks, the Governor will hold similar town halls across the state.

���������� strongly supports the $15 hike, but joins an array of advocacy groups that are calling for a significant investment in the nonprofit sector so that our members can both afford the raise and continue to attract and retain quality staff.

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Cuomo Pushes Progressive Agenda In Telephone Town Hall

By Josefa Velasquez ��Politico ������������ February 18, 2016

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ALBANY — In an effort to shore up support for a $15 minimum wage, Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a telephone town hall Thursday night, answering questions from voters throughout the five boroughs.

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“We’re now coming into the heat of the negotiating session with the Assembly and the Senate and now we’re going to determine whether or not our key legislative proposals actually pass,” Cuomo told listeners, highlighting his push to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour and his proposal for 12 weeks of employee-funded paid family leave.

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Cuomo also talked about the economic stress on the middle class and why a $15 minimum wage would be beneficial.

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“The economic anxiety that’s out there is real and palpable and it’s not a feeling, it’s a fact,” Cuomo said. “It is a fact that working families in this state and in this country have been going backwards. It’s a fact that the middle class is under stress and has been going backwards and it’s a fact that we have the worst income inequality and polarization of wealth than we’ve had.”

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Cuomo, along with George Gresham— the president of 1199 SEIU— took about half a dozen questions from participants, who asked how the governor reached the $15 figure, why was he able to raise the wage for fast food workers, and why the state is pushing to increase the minimum wage and not the federal government.

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Patricia from Manhattan, who told callers she was a home care worker, asked how she could get involved with the push.

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Gresham told callers that they’d be able to record a message to their legislators once the conference called finished and that the Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice — the name given to the coalition of unions and advocacy groups pushing for a $15 minimum wage — would be holding a rally in the state Capitol on March 15, just as budget negotiations begin in earnest.

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“We lost my father about a year ago. Really beautiful human being who I miss very much,” Cuomo said. “One of his main platforms was economic justice and providing for the middle class and government standing up for the little guy and that’s just what this is all about, this $15 campaign and standing up for the little guy and standing up to the powerful forces. And I’m sure my father is looking down and I’m sure he’s smiling because this is the right fight and this is the good fight and I’m pleased and proud to be in it.”

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Earlier this year, as he was delivering his annual state and budgetary address, the governor invoked the final moments he spent with his father to make an impassioned plea for paid family leave.

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The governor’s push for both a hike in the minimum wage and paid family leave faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate, and business groups argue that both proposals would be burdensome for small business owners.

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“This is a difficult proposal to get passed,” Cuomo said. “This would be the highest minimum wage in the country and rightfully so because ���������� is one of the most expensive states in the country and also because we believe in progressive politics and we believe in helping people do better.”

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Gov. Cuomo Takes Push For $15 Minimum Wage Directly To Voters

By Kenneth Lovett�� ���������� Daily News February 17, 2016

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ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo is taking his push for a $15 an hour minimum wage directly to the voters, the Daily News has learned.

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Cuomo will start a series of telephone town halls Thursday on the subject that will lead up to the enactment of the new state budget at the end of March.

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The call will target hundreds of thousands of ���������� City residents, a Cuomo aide said.

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A similar call will take place for Long Island within 10 days, with the goal being to eventually reach all regions of the state, the aide said.

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Cuomo will ask people to call their legislators.

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“Over the next few weeks, I’ll be speaking directly to residents across the state and urging them to make their voices heard in this fight to ensure a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work,” Cuomo told The News.

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The minimum wage push is one of Cuomo’s top priorities this year. He named it after his late father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo.

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“Raising the minimum wage will mean restoring opportunity and basic decency to workers and families across the state who are struggling to get by,” Cuomo said.

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The current minimum wage is $9 an hour, though fast-food workers will see their rate rise to $15 an hour over the next several years.

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Along with the governor, powerful union leader George Gresham, who is chairing the Mario Cuomo Economic Justice campaign, and some economists will also be on the call. Some listeners will be able to ask questions, the Cuomo aide said.

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