Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr, just posted his testimony from this afternoon’s hearing on the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, or ‘living wage’ bill; you can read it in its entirely in the embedded document below.

Diaz led the living wage battle at the Kingsbridge Armory a few years ago, and he’s made passing this current legislation one of his top priorities.

In his speech, Diaz calls the bill “a matter of economic justice.”

“When billionaire developers beg for taxpayer handouts to make their projects work, they must do better by the people they hire,” his written statement reads.

“It is the responsibility of elected officials to use taxpayer dollars in a manner that leads to the best return on investment for those same taxpayers.”

According to some Twitter posts (you can check out the hashtag #LivingWageNYC to see what people were tweeting), Mayor Bloomberg ended the hearing after about two and a half hours.