“Gov. Cuomo’s decision to increase the state employee minimum wage to $15 per hour is misguided and wrong for New York. The minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage, and by raising it over 50 percent, we are essentially killing the motivation of state employees to work hard, take advantage of their opportunities and find better paying employment. In a state where our budget already is stretched thin, and we have trouble providing funding for deteriorating upstate infrastructure and paying down the Gap Elimination Adjustment education cuts, we simply can’t afford this added expenditure. Our residents already pay the highest taxes in the nation and asking them to absorb more of a burden is wrong.

“It is autocratic and disconcerting to the democratic process for Gov. Cuomo to sidestep the Legislature and unilaterally pass this minimum wage increase. Just as the case with the increase for fast-food workers, all laws should go through an appropriate legislative process that includes vetting and discussion. Any other way is irresponsible governing. What we need is a more fertile business environment that provides better paying opportunities for state workers, not dependence on the state for higher wages.”