The leader of New York’s Democrat-controlled Assembly wants to accelerate the state’s scheduled minimum wage increase to $9 by 2015 and tie it to the inflation rate.

Speaker Sheldon Silver says he’ll introduce legislation to do that.

The Assembly passed a bill this year to raise New York’s minimum hourly wage for most workers from $7.25 to $9 with inflation adjustments. A compromise approved by the Assembly, Senate and governor’s office raised the rate to $8 for 2014, $8.75 a year later and to $9 in 2016 without inflation adjustments.

Silver says that “poverty is not a fair reward” for people who work full time.

Democrats in Congress are expected to push in 2014 for increasing the federal minimum wage above $7.25 an hour.

(AP)