Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Leader Chuck Schumer, Independent Democratic-caucusing Sen. Bernie Sanders, and other top Democrats have introduced a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Read the bill that was introduced by Sen. Sanders in the Senate, and Rep. Bobby Scott in the House:
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Sen. Sanders (I-VT) said, “Just a few short years ago, we were told that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour was ‘radical.’ But a grassroots movement of millions of workers throughout this country refused to take ‘no’ for an answer. It is not a radical idea to say a job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it. The current $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. It must be increased to a living wage of $15 an hour.”
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Speaker of the House Pelosi (D-CA) said, “A $15 federal minimum wage affirms the bedrock idea of fairness in our country: that hard work deserves a decent wage. We will open up opportunities for working families and drive economic growth that lifts up all communities – because our economy works best when it works for everyone, not just the wealthy and privileged few. I commend Chairman Bobby Scott and all our House Democrats for their leadership for America’s working men and women, who are the backbone of our country.â€
Senate Democratic Leader Schumer (D-NY) said, “For a long time, Democrats have been trying to raise the minimum wage to keep pace with the times. The harsh truth of the matter is that the minimum wage is now a poverty wage in too many parts of America. And no American with a full-time job should be living in poverty. Despite campaigning as a champion for working Americans, President Trump has abandoned working Americans while in office. He’s tried to strip away workers’ health care, given a massive tax cut to corporations and the wealthy, and used workers as bargaining chips in shutting the government down. If President Trump isn’t going to stick up for American workers on key issues such as raising the minimum wage, Democrats will.”
The Raise The Wage Act is likely to pass the House and be denied a vote by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate, but House passage would be a moment of major progress. Republicans will trot out their stale and debunked arguments that raising the minimum wage hurts the economy, but a Democratic takeover of the Senate and the White House in 2020 will make it a virtual certainty that the federal minimum wage will be increased.
Democrats are united on raising the minimum wage, and they are making their move to show the American people the possible future that awaits.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
