Although we've had recent success in raising the minimum wage in New York State, the rate of $7.15 is still too low to be considered a living wage in this state. Housing costs, fuel and the increase in the bare necessities across the table make that minimum rate unlivable.

I would suggest that $10/hour would be the minimum to allow us to be a proud people in the 21st century. Someone has to show me where people survive on such an income where they don't rely on some assistance to make ends meet.

Our soup kitchens and food pantries have lines of our working poor lined up out the door and with numbers they haven't seen before. If that isn't enough, those same services are struggling with a decrease in resources because of the rising cost in their own overhead.

I think New Yorkers should start a campaign to push our state leaders to revisit the minimum wage issue here in New York. Working families across the state deserve better.