What happened
Following Resolution 2024-144, Tompkins County asked the Cornell ILR Ithaca Co-Lab to explore a countywide minimum wage above New York’s $16.00. Between March and June our team held eight public convenings and six focus groups with businesses, farms, care providers, public-benefits staff, young workers, and low-wage workers, and gathered more than 100 survey responses and 11 recorded testimonies. We shared the findings at a final public convening at the Tompkins County Public Library on August 27.
I co-authored the final report with Ian Greer, David Bateman, Wen Li Thian, and Matt Vidal, writing the sections on what workers told us. It was released on September 4 and taken up by the County Legislature in September.