Obama Turns Up The Heat On Republicans After New York Enacts $15 Minimum Wage

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation today giving 12 weeks of paid family leave and increasing the minimum wage throughout New York.

President Barack Obama commended Gov. Cuomo and the state of New York for supporting working families and then made sure to reiterate his call on Congress to raise the minimum wage.

“I commend Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state of New York for taking the historic step of creating a paid family leave program in the state and raising its minimum wage to support New York’s working families,” President Obama said in a statement. “This action means more parents won’t have to choose between their job and caring for their new children. It means more workers can earn a higher wage to help make ends meet.”

The President has been working on raising the federal minimum wage since 2013 and when Congress refused to act, he took matters into his own hands and started working directly with states and cities to raise the wage regionally.

“Since I first called on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage in 2013, 18 states and more than 40 cities and counties have acted on their own — thanks to the strong leadership of elected officials, businesses, and workers who organized and fought so hard for the economic security families deserve,” Obama said.

“Now Congress needs to act to raise the federal minimum wage and expand access to paid leave for all Americans,” President Obama urged.

President Obama knows that this Republican-led Congress will under no circumstances entertain the idea of raising the minimum wage. But he is holding them accountable for their failure to act for the people, for their failure to even consider the plight of the people, when incomes have not kept up with cost increases.

Gov Cuomo thanked President Obama for his leadership on these issues:

As usual, the President has had to go around Republicans to get anything of worth done, since they refuse to work until they can have everything their way 100% of the time, which is pretty much the opposite of the way our checks and balances are supposed to work.

Sarah Jones

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