“Time and time again, the downstate-controlled Assembly has put forward job-killing legislation and their minimum wage bill – which has an escalator tied to inflation and no credits for job creators or exemptions for family farms – could cost nearly 30,000 jobs here in our state. We need a better regional approach to living wages, one that takes into account the local cost of living, includes a youth training wage and seriously looks at how we can lift regulatory and tax burdens on our mom-and-pop shops so they can better afford to hire more workers and offer higher wages to their employees.”