owners, like gas station owner george dunbrook in upstate new york, who are doing the protesting. >> i may end up having to modify my business. i may end up having to close my garage business now. >> you got everything? >> reporter: and burbank restaurant owner michael papalia. >> that's a huge increase for us. we're already surviving on a very thin margin. >> reporter: according to the economic policy institute, 35 million americans, or more than a quarter of the workforce, earn less than $10.55 an hour. economist max wolf: >> when you raise the floor, everybody will have a potentially higher wage burden to pay, but the truth, is we haven't done it for a long time, and we've let our minimum wage fall way behind our cost of living so it's sort of overdue. >> reporter: legislators are hedging their bets, though. in new york, the budget allows for adjustments to the wage depending on how the economy is doing. scott, economists say one incentive for states is, the higher the wages, the more people come off public assistance. >> pelley: don dahler. thank you very much, don. we did notice a stubborn problem