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Posted on 06/26/2026 10:16:24 AM PDT by Red Badger
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) introduced legislation on Thursday to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $25 per hour through phased increases.
The bill, titled the Living Wage for All Act, includes a companion measure in the House led by Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Illinois). It aims to phase in the increase, starting with an initial jump to $12 per hour, reaching $25 over several years. Larger employers would face a shorter compliance timeline of about six years, while smaller businesses would receive up to 13 years.
The proposal would also eliminate subminimum wages for tipped workers, youth employees, and workers with disabilities.
The federal minimum wage has stood at $7.25 per hour since July 24, 2009, the last time Congress enacted an increase under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.
Only about 1% of workers currently earn exactly that rate, as many states have set higher floors, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Bill Details and Sponsorship
Murphy introduced the bill on Thursday with co-sponsors including Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Andy Kim (New Jersey), and Ron Wyden (Oregon). A separate Senate proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) seeks a $17 minimum wage and has 33 Democratic co-sponsors, including Murphy.
The $25 target draws on MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates, which factor in the costs of food, housing, transportation, health care, and other basics.
Next Steps in the Legislative Process
The bill was introduced in a Republican-controlled Congress following the 2024 elections, making its near-term passage unlikely. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. If advanced, it would require committee approval, floor debate, and passage in both chambers before reaching President Donald Trump’s desk. Similar past efforts, including previous versions of the Raise the Wage Act, have stalled.
Current Minimum Wage Framework
The federal minimum wage applies nationwide under the Fair Labor Standards Act, but it sets only a floor. States and localities may set higher rates, and employers must pay the higher of the federal or applicable state/local rate.
Texas follows the federal $7.25 rate, with no state minimum wage law that exceeds it.
In contrast, 34 states, territories, or districts have minimum wages above $7.25, according to
the National Conference of State Legislatures. Examples include Washington, D.C., California, and New York, with rates often exceeding $15. States like Georgia and Wyoming have lower nominal rates, but the federal $7.25 applies to covered workers.
Potential Impact on Small Businesses
Business groups have historically opposed large federal minimum wage increases, arguing they raise labor costs, particularly for small and independent firms in low-cost areas.
Economist Ryan Bourne of the Cato Institute wrote that such an aggressive hike “would be extremely risky” for the diverse U.S. economy and “could be very destructive,” noting that a high national floor would hit hardest in lower-productivity and low-cost regions while risking disemployment effects.
Studies on past state-level increases show mixed results. Some research indicates small businesses can offset costs through higher revenues and productivity gains, with limited overall employment losses but possible reductions in hiring of part-time or entry-level workers. Other analyses note risks of reduced business entry or shifts toward automation.
AI, Workforce Changes, and Wage Debates
Discussions around minimum wage have coincided with rapid AI adoption, which some analysts link to shifts in labor demand.
Research from the Dallas Fed and others indicates that AI has reshaped tasks more than it has caused widespread displacement so far, with varying wage effects across occupations.
Living Wage Context in Texas
According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator (updated February 2026), a single adult in Texas needs approximately $21.77 per hour to cover basic expenses without public assistance. This rises sharply with the number of children:
1 Adult (no children): $21.77 per hour
1 Adult + 1 Child: $35.77 per hour
1 Adult + 2 Children: $44.95
1 Adult + 3 Children: $56.14
The legislation now awaits review in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Similar federal minimum wage proposals have repeatedly failed to advance in recent Congresses, and the outcome of this effort remains uncertain.
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Buying votes with public money while simultaneously forcing the working poor onto welfare rolls.
Minimum wage increases generally boost baseline union wages.
looks like a job elemination program to me.
many fast food joints have automated food production. Several even have AI taking drive through orders.
won’t be long and you’ll have one human at a store to make sure everything is running well and to clean the bathrooms.
then they will work on eleminating that position too.
Nobody works for minimum wage. Functional minimum wage is somewhere around $15/hr or more.
When they were clamoring for 15, I knew they would soon be asking for 20 and then 25. They never stop.
The minimum hourly rate is stupid. Let the market decide.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I’ve never considered minimum wage jobs as employment to sustain someone long term.
I always thought it was a starting point to working up to more financially stable positions.
Am I out in left field?
Hey, who are you to say a burger flipper shouldn’t make as much as a registered nurse?
What are ya.....a bigot? 😂
So stores will pay out more depending on how many kids the baby mamma pooped? How much does 10 kids cost?
An increase in min wage creates a wave that eventually results in the increase not buying any more than the old min wage did. In the mean time the folks hut most are elderly living mainly on Social Security which would take forever to catch up. It’s just stupid. There should not even be a minimum wage other than the least anyone would take to do the job.
I had only 1 job in my life that paid minimum wage, I was in High School 1976
There is no raising of the minimum wage. There is merely outlawing low-paying jobs. That leads to unemployment.
That’s what they were for. They were never meant to be a ‘living wage’.
Get training wages then as you gain more skill you make more money.
But the Democrats have destroyed that image. They are telling their base that they deserve higher wages because they are in unskilled labor and are being oppressed by ‘The Man’.
When I was a teenager in Jacksonville, fast food was practically the sole domain of teens and young adults in college earning money during summer break.
Now you see older and single mothers with several kids working the fast food joints.
Somebody needs to tell these people that raising the minimum wage will get them laid off..............
“looks like a job elemination program to me. many fast food joints have automated food production.”
Yep. Certainly any job with mundane repetitive steps will be automated and performed by machines. Low hanging fruit for AI. Democrat policies will just speed up the process.
Me too. I made 50 cents an hour flipping hamburgers...........
A minimum wage based on living expense is stupid. Not every job needs to fully support a person or family. Kids, seniors, and others usually just want something for extra spending money or to supplement other income. So this type of “Living Wage” just eliminates all those types of jobs. But no journalist ever asks the politicians who propose such stupidity about this!
Very few workers are paid the Federal Minimum Wage, so the impact would be modest.
Of course, those places that pay the FMW will see dramatic price increases and/or layoffs because of the wage shock.
A $25 FMW WOULD eventually drive up prices as it ripples through the system.
If you think AI an automation are coming at a fast pace now…wait until you have to start paying $25 for a Big Mac.
“raising the minimum wage will get them laid off”
Im afraid they’re in large part gonna have to learn that lesson the hard way.
If I didn’t know better I’d suspect democrats are pushing this to shut down small businesses.....but that can’t be.....can it? 🤔 /s/
This has practically no chance to pass either the House or Senate and definitely not Trump.
This being an election year, it is simply red meat for the base to swoon over................
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