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U.S. Senator Charles Schumer offered some thoughts on the subject Monday during his visit to RHI Monofrax in Falconer.
The federal minimum is currently $7.25 an hour, but President Obama used his State of the Union address to call for raising the wage to $9 per hour.
Schumer doesn't think it's fair for someone to work 40 hours a week and still be below the poverty level.
"It's at the level it was at in about 1961 ... if you take in inflation," Schumer said.
More than 15 million workers earn the national minimum wage, making about $15,080 a year. That's just below the federal poverty threshold of $15,130 for a family of two.
The proposal is already getting a trial run as ten states already make similar cost-of-living adjustments. Workers in Washington state earn at least $9.19 an hour, the highest minimum wage in the country. In all, 19 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages set above the federal rate of $7.25.
The topic is very much a magnet for debate.
Advocates claim boosting the minimum wage will pump more money into the economy. Business groups say it would burden employers and curb demand for new workers.