NEW YORK, NY June 11, 2009 —Governor Paterson told WNYC's Brian Lehrer he would sign the "Domestic Workers Bill of Rights" if the Senate passes the legislation.

PATERSON: Clearly, in the law, these workers deserve equal rights and if they're able to pass the bill, or if they're able to ever get the legislature to come back, I will sign it.

REPORTER: It's the governor's first public endorsement of the bill, and an emotional moment for Ai-Jen Poo, lead organizer with Domestic Workers United.

POO: It's incredibly exciting that after over seventy years of exclusion from labor laws and five years of a campaign in Albany, that we've got the support of the governor.

REPORTER: The bill promises overtime pay, sick leave, severance and health benefits to domestic workers, who usually care for children or the homebound elderly.