SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- For families and individuals struggling to get by, every penny counts in the "Drive for 15."
"Raise the minimum wage, restore decency, restore honor, restore dignity for the middle class and the working families in New York,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said to his supporters at the rally in Solvay.
More than a hundred people gathered in Solvay to show their support for the governor's plan. But down the road at Greg's Pizzeria, that wage increase doesn't look as appetizing.
"Fifteen-dollars-an-hour minimum wage is great if you're the worker, but if you're a business owner, $15 an hour, you might as well shut my business down,” said Greg’s Pizzeria Owner Greg Cerullo.
Some critics say $15 in Upstate New York is a lot different than $15 in the city.
"We live in the town of Solvay," Cerullo said. "This isn't New York City, so I'd be selling my slices for what? Eight bucks, seven bucks, just to pay my workers. That's not even realistic."
But Cuomo says they've taken the differences in the cost of living across the state into account.
"The rate would go up in New York City far faster than in Upstate New York. We would be talking about a gradual phase into $15 over about six years,” said Cuomo.
Of course, for his supporters -- many of them union members or medical workers -- that change couldn't come soon enough.
"They're not understanding how hard it is to live just a little bit over minimum wage,” said Tasha Cooper, a certified nursing assistant. "The struggle it is to buy groceries and pay for heating costs and things like that."
Ralliers are hoping that lawmakers will hear their call when they vote on the governor's budget. This stop in Solvay was just one part of Cuomo's campaign named for his father, the Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice.