A LOT ABOUT WHAT MATTERS TO NEW YORK CITY IN THIS YEAR'S STATE BUDGET, AND THAT'S BECAUSE SOME OF THE BIG CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES THIS YEAR AFFECT NEW YORK CITY MORE THAN THE REST OF THE STATE.

LIKE HOW GOVERNOR HOCHUL AND LAWMAKERS ARE WORKING ON NEW FUNDING FOR THE MTA OR HOW CHARTER SCHOOLS WANT TO EXPAND 11 IN NEW YORK CITY.

THOSE ISSUES MATTER UPSTATE AS WELL JUST IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

BUT AS LONGTIME CAPITOL WATCHERS KNOW, WHEN NEW YORK CITY ISSUES COME UP, THEY HAVE A HABIT OF DOMINATING THE CONVERSATION AND SOMETIMES THAT CAN LEAVE UPSTATERS FEELING SHORT-CHANGED.

SO THIS WEEK, WE WANTED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE ABOUT WHAT MATTERS TO UPSTATERS IN THIS YEAR'S STATE BUDGET.

FOR THAT, WE TURNED TO JUSTIN WILCOX WHO LEADS UPSTATE UNITED, AN ADVOCACY GROUP FOR ISSUES UPSTATE.

TAKE A LOOK.

JUSTIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.

I APPRECIATE IT.

IT'S MY PLEASURE.

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

ANYTIME.

I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHAT UPSTATERS WANT IN THIS YEAR'S LEGISLATIVE SESSION.

I THINK YOU HAVE YOUR FINGER ON THE PULSE OF WHAT UPSTATERS ARE LOOKING FOR THIS YEAR MORE THAN A LOT OF PEOPLE.

TELL ME WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR.

YEAH, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE SIENNA POLL.

UPSTATERS REALLY CARE ABOUT THE COST OF LIVING AND THAT'S, FRANKLY, THE SAME FOR OUR BUSINESSES IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.

IT'S THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS IN THE STATE.

SO REALLY, THE CONCERNS THAT I'M HEARING ABOUT FROM TAXPAYERSS, FROM RESIDENTS, YOU KNOW, FROM BUSINESSES, FROM EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS, IT'S REALLY THE SAME.

IT'S THE COST OF LIVING IN NEW YORK AND THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS IN NEW YORK.

YOU KNOW, ONE ISSUE THAT NEW YORKERS ARE FACING RIGHT NOW 12 WITH INFLATION IS KIND OF THIS ISSUE OF WHERE WAGES ARE.

THE GOVERNOR HAS A PROPOSAL IN HER STATE OF THE STATE AND THE STATE BUDGET THIS YEAR, TO TIE THE MINIMUM WAGE TO INFLATION MOVING FORWARD, WHICH MEANS THAT BASICALLY AS INFLATION GOES UP, THE MINIMUM WAGE WOULD GO UP WITH IT.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT PROPOSAL?

HOW WOULD IT AFFECT UPSTATERS?

YEAH.

LOOK, YOU KNOW, LET ME JUST SAY, THE MINIMUM WAGE PROPOSAL, THE PROPOSAL TO INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE, WHICH IS REALLY CLOSE TO $15 ACROSS THE STATE-- WE'RE STILL A LITTLE BIT BEHIND IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.

I THINK WE'RE AT 14.25.

THE REST OF THE STATE IS AT 15.

YOU KNOW, AT A TIME WHEN WE ARE FACING INFLATION, THE FEDERAL RESERVE TO COMBAT THAT IS TRYING TO TAKE MONEY OUT OF THE ECONOMY.

RIGHT?

AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IN NEW YORK TO COMBAT INFLATION, RIGHT, IT'S NEGATIVE EFFORTS IS TO ADD MONEY INTO THE ECONOMY, RIGHT, TO PUT MORE MONEY IN PEOPLE'S HANDS AND TO DO THAT THROUGH EMPLOYERS WHO ARE GOING TO BE FORCED TO INCREASE THEIR PRICES, RIGHT?

SO THE PROBLEM IS THIS.

IT'S NOT A GOOD POLICY TOOL TO EVEN ADDRESS WHAT IT IS THAT POLICYMAKERS SAY THEY'RE ADDRESSING, RIGHT?

SO OFTEN, WE HEAR THAT WE NEED TO USE THE MINIMUM WAGE AS A POLICY TOOL TO ADDRESS POVERTY.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE MINIMUM WAGE IS A VERY BLUNT TOOL TO DO THAT, RIGHT?

BECAUSE IT'S OFTENTIMES GOING INTO HOUSEHOLDS THAT THE WELL ARE WELL ABOVE POVERTY.

THERE'S A MUCH BETTER POLICY TOOL THAT 13 MOST ECONOMISTS WOULD SAY DOES WORK TO END INFLATION-- I'M SORRY, NOT INFLATION, BUT POVERTY AND NOT ADD TO INFLATION AND THAT'S THE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT.

.

THAT'S GOING TO GO DIRECTLY INTO THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO NEED IT.

WE KNOW THAT IT'S GOING TO GO TO A CERTAIN, YOU KNOW, HOUSEHOLDS THAT HAVE CERTAIN LEVELS OF INCOME.

SO IT'S A PRECISE TOOL TO ADDRESS, TO ADDRESS POVERTY.

SO YOU THINK THAT WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE AND TYING IT TO INFLATION.

JUST HAVING A TAX CREDIT INSTEAD.

WOULD THAT BE ENOUGH, YOU THINK, TO KIND OF MAKE PEOPLE WHOLE, OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE THAN THAT?

LOOK, IN TERMS OF MAKING PEOPLE WHOLE, THAT'S GOING TO BE REALLY DIFFICULT, RIGHT?

BECAUSE, AGAIN, THERE'S INFLATIONARY PRESSURES HERE AT PLAY, BUT IF YOU ARE REALLY TRYING TO ADDRESS POVERTY, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY TRY TO GET MORE MONEY INTO THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO ARE IN POVERTY, RIGHT?

NOT JUST MORE MONEY INTO THE HANDS OF PEOPLE CURRENTLY MAKING MINIMUM WAGE.

THEY'RE NOT THE SAME.

I ALSO HAVE TO .

OUT, IN TALKING TO A LOT OF NOT-FOR-PROFITS, THIS IS GOING TO ACTUALLY SQUEEZE THEM AS WELL.

RIGHT?

BECAUSE A LOT OF THE FOLKS THAT WORK FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT AGENCIES DO MAKE AROUND THE MINIMUM WAGE, AND YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IS THESE NOT-FOR-PROFITS ARE GOING TO BE FORCED TO CONSTRAIN THEIR COSTS IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

EITHER BY LAYING OFF EMPLOYEES OR MAKING FOLKS PART TIME.

14 SO AS WE LOOK-- BEFORE WE WERE RECORDING THIS INTERVIEW, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT MANUFACTURERS IN NEW YORK AND KIND OF THE DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES THAT HAVE LEFT NEW YORK AND MAYBE NOT ABLE TO GROW HERE.

WE'RE TALKING BEFORE ABOUT INDIVIDUALS IN TERMS OF THE MINIMUM WAGE, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BUSINESSES.

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THOSE BUSINESSES THAT DON'T SEEM TO BE ABLE TO MAKE A LOT OF PROGRESS HERE, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE STATE NEEDS TO DO ABOUT THAT?

WELL, LOOK, I WOULD LIKE TO PUT THIS CONVERSATION IN SOME CONTEXT.

SURE.

BEING FROM ROCHESTER NEW YORK, I HAVE SEEN KODAK, EASTMAN KODAK, GO FROM 62,000 EMPLOYEES IN THE ROCHESTER AREA TO 1,300.

THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE.

AGAIN, THERE'S A LOT OF FACTORS THAT PLAY INTO THAT.

SIMPLY NOT BEING HERE IN NEW YORK THAT LED TO THAT KIND OF DECREASE.

IT'S SORT OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT WE'RE FACING, RIGHT?

IT'S GLOBALIZATION.

IT'S THE FACT THAT A LOT OF OUR COMPANIES ARE FACING COMPETITORS WITH LOWER COSTS.

SO YOU KNOW, NEW YORK BUSINESSES ARE FACING A TON OF COST INCREASES WHETHER IT'S UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, WHETHER IT'S MINIMUM WAGE, OR, YOU KNOW, WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE IMPACTS OF THE CLCPA, THE CLIMATE LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY PROTECTION ACT.

WE JUST RECENTLY SAW THE PSC, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, APPROVE IN THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS A HUGE 15 INCREASE ON PEOPLE'S BILLS.

YOU'RE GONNA SEE INCREASES BETWEEN, I BELIEVE, ANYWHERE FROM 3 TO 16% IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.

THE 16% IS REALLY TARGETED AT INDUSTRIAL USERS OF ENERGY.

THAT'S GOING TO MAKE IT REALLY TOUGH FOR FOLKS AND FOR BUSINESSES TO PAY THOSE BILLS BUT WE'RE LIKELY TO SEE AS A RESULT OF THAT INCREASED PRESSURE ON THE BUSINESS IS EITHER THOSE PRICES ARE GOING TO PASSED ALONG TO CONSUMERS, AND IT'S THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT IS REALLY DIFFICULT FOR NEW YORKERS.

DO YOU THINK THE BURDEN IN TERMS OF THE PSC, THOUGH WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT UTILITIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, DO YOU THINK THE BURDEN IN HELPING CONSUMERS AND RATE PAYERS, DO YOU THINK THAT LIES WITH THE PSC, OR IS IT WITH THESE UTILITY COMPANIES?

I MEAN, AS I'M LOOKING AT MY NATIONAL GRID BILL, I KEEP IT GOING UP AND UP AND UP AND UP AND GENUINELY, I COULD NOT TELL YOU IF THAT'S A PROBLEM WITH NATIONAL GRID OR THE PSC.

THESE A GREAT QUESTION, DAN.

I'M GLAD YOU ASKED IT.

THE FACT IS, YOU KNOW, THE PSC AND THE UTILITIES HAD NO CHOICE BUT WHAT?

TO ADDRESS THE TRANSMISSION LINES AND THE NEED TO UPGRADE TRANSMISSION IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE CLCPA.

WHAT WE HAVE IS THE PSC ACTING AS A DE FACTO TAXING AUTHORITY AND IT LEADS PEOPLE TO GET UPSET WITH THE PSC AND GET UPSET WITH THE UTILITIES WHEN, IN FACT, THIS IS 100% THE RESULT OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO TAKE 16 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS.

IT'S REALLY INTERESTING.

I'M SURE IT'S AN ISSUE THAT A LOT OF NEW YORKERS ARE INTERESTED ESPECIALLY IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS AWE SEE THE STATE'S CLIMATE ACTION COUNCIL SCOPING PLAN START TO TAKE EFFECT.

JUSTIN WILCOX FROM UPSTATE UNITED, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU.

[ THEME MUSIC ] AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER ISSUES FOR UPSTATERS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE COMING WEEKS AS WELL.

ISSUES LIKE EDUCATION AID AND INFRASTRUCTURE WILL ALSO BE PART OF THE STATE BUDGET.

MORE ON THAT OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

WEEKS.