Any plan to raise the minimum wage in New York -- and the all-important details -- will be part of a conversation among Democrats in the state Assembly, Speaker Carl Heastie on Monday told reporters. 

Heastie left the door to a wage increase as progressive advocates this year are launching a campaign to do so alongside increasing taxes on New York's wealthiest residents. 

The wage proposal backed by advocates would lift New York's minimum wage to $21.25 by 2026 and tie future increases to the rate of inflation. The minimum wage in the New York City region stands at $15 an hour; in counties north of Westchester it is $14.20 per hour having increased by $1 at the start of the New Year.

A wage hike would be a "conference discussion" Heastie on Monday said, though he noted his Democratic conference has been favorable to the idea in the recent past. 

"I think in general our members always like to see the minimum wage increase," he said. "It does help ​local business because particularly when lower-income people, the people on the bottom, when the minimum wage is raised, they spend that money locally."

Most business organizations in New York have been steadfast against a wage hike, pointing to the costs borne by employers as a result, rising inflation and a tight labor marketing already driving up payrolls.