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This NY Republican Is On The Front Lines Against The $15 Minimum Wage

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Republican New York state Sen. John DeFrancisco responded to a union attack ad Friday which targeted him over his opposition to a $15 minimum wage.

DeFrancisco has been one of the more vocal lawmakers in the state to oppose the policy. Supporters claim increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour could help address income inequality. DeFrancisco, however, fears it could actually hurt workers by putting undue stress on businesses.

SEIU Local 32BJ released an attack ad Thursday denouncing the senator for his opposition.

“Its nice to say to everyone you’re going to help the poor,” DeFrancisco said at a press conference, reports the Syracuse Media Group. “The fact of the matter is, if what actually happens is jobs are lost and what actually happens is people loose jobs and employees, employers find it difficult to continue to work, that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has put the $15 minimum wage at the forefront of his agenda. He announced a proposal in September designed to phase in the policy statewide over a few years. He has also given numerous speeches and has embarked on a campaign-style road trip to advocate for his proposal. Local 32BJ has praised the governor for his work.

Republicans hold a majority in the state Senate making the passage the proposal uncertain. Multiple factors make the outcome of enacting a $15 minimum wage fairly unpredictable. It has the potential to actually hurt the poor by forcing businesses to cutback on their workforce or increase prices to overcome the added cost of labor.

Cuomo has proposed and implemented a number of tax cuts to help relieve costs for small businesses in the state. He has also found ways to unilaterally and partially enact the policy by utilizing his executive authority. He has bypassed the state legislature to raise wages for fast-food workers, state university workers and state employees.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found both positive and negative results when it investigated minimum wage increases in the past. Research found any increase of the minimum wage will likely result in at least some job loss — the higher the increase, the more impact it will have on employment.

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