Gipson drives home his point
POUGHKEEPSIE – The 22nd annual Labor Day rally on the steps of the Poughkeepsie Post Office drew a slightly smaller crowd than in recent years, but the about 30 who did show up were just as vehement as ever on the key points, including raising the minimum wage statewide, sooner than is planned.
“The biggest reason why workers here in Dutchess County, in six years, are going to be making $15 an hour; no,” claimed event organizer Joel Tyner. “It’s 12 and a half an hour by 2021.”
That’s $2.50 below where the rest of downstate, including Westchester,
will be, at $15, by the end of 2018. That’s under legislation
signed by Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo in April.
Tyner, a Democrat county legislator, blamed that, in large part, on the
Republican-controlled Senate. No argument from politicians speaking
at the rally, all Democrats, including former State Senator Terry Gipson
who is trying to get his seat back this year.
“The only way we can get to that point is to make sure that we get a Democratic State Senate because that’s the only way we can, and my seat is pivotal to getting a Democratic State Senate,” said Gipson.
In the Senate, Democrats need to pick up of eight seats to gain control. Currently, a small number of independent Democrats caucus with the Republicans. Democrats already hold a substantial majority in the Assembly, going into the November election.
