Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would benefit more than 22 percent of St. Lawrence County's workforce, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says.

Using data from 2011, Gillibrand said 9,600 of the county's 43,000 workers would benefit under legislation which would incrementally raise the minimum wage.

U.S. Sen. Gillibrand wants to increase the bottom wage $7.25 an hour to $10.10 over the next three years, with future increases indexed to the rate of inflation.

Gillibrand is a co-sponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which she says would boost the incomes of an estimated 1.8 million New York workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and generate an estimated $3.2 billion in wage increases for New York workers, sparking new consumer spending at New York businesses.

“It is simply unacceptable to have so many hard working New Yorkers putting in full-time hours to provide for their families and yet still living below the poverty line,” Sen. Gillibrand said.

“By raising the minimum wage and rewarding hard work, not only can more families raise themselves into the middle class, but we can grow the economy. Raising the minimum wage is a common sense way to grow our economy, support job creation, and rebuild America’s middle class.”