Raise pay for people who care for New Yorkers with disabilities.

Politicians from both major parties have been racing to stand up for workers these past few years, molding populist themes to fit their needs. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been right there, winning higher pay for fast-food workers and a series of increases to the minimum wage.

So it's very hard to understand why Cuomo has failed to support a relatively small number of workers who have terribly important and difficult jobs, but make barely enough money to survive in New York. We're talking about the roughly 10,000 workers who care for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. They feed, clothe, bathe and generally nurture people who, to varying degrees, cannot care for themselves.

These highly trained workers, known as "Direct Service Professionals," are depended on 24/7, 365 days a year, to look after the most vulnerable among us.

And yet, these workers, who require so much emotional intelligence, are paid so poorly that many are leaving their jobs to work in fast-food restaurants and big-box stores.

DSPs work for nonprofit agencies that are funded almost entirely by New York State's Medicaid programs. The state sets the Medicaid rate of payment, and has frozen increases for salaries in seven of the last eight years.

Not surprisingly, these nonprofits are having great trouble keeping their workers. Their job vacancy rate jumped from 7.7 percent in 2014 to 11 percent as of July 2016. Remaining workers are having to put in extra hours at group homes and other residences, as shifts cannot be left unfilled.

Cuomo's budget proposal, once again, did not include adequate funding for DSP salaries. The governor certainly is aware of the need. A coalition of agencies that serve the developmentally disabled is waging an aggressive campaign — using the hashtag #bFair2DirectCare — that calls on Cuomo to amend his budget plan.

It now appears that majorities in the state Senate and Assembly are ready to support this. The chairmen of the mental health committees in each house have spoken out in favor of the coalition's proposal. A letter to Cuomo, signed by 23 senators, said this: "Simply put, if NYS does not make major investments in the direct support workforce this year, we risk staffing shortages that will cause provider organizations to collapse, and individuals with disabilities and their families to go without the vital supports on which they depend."

If nonprofit agencies are unable to care for the disabled, the state would have to do so, at far greater costs.

Each year, the creation of a new state budget raises philosophical questions about which New Yorkers are to be served and with how much public support. But there should be no debate about our obligation to pay a living wage to those who care for the disabled and, in doing so, represent us all.

We look forward to seeing Cuomo standing alongside New Yorkers with disabilities and the workers who enrich their lives when he commits to increased funding for DSP salaries.

This editorial was adapted from one originally published by The Journal News, a member of the USA Today Network.