Posted on 04/26/2017 2:37:31 PM PDT by mdittmar
Sen. Murray: “It’s the right thing to do” for working parents, women, and local economies
Washington, DC – Addressing hundreds of low-wage workers outside the U.S. Capitol, Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
“I’m so proud of the strong steps taken in our state to make sure that full-time work doesn’t leave people in our communities living in poverty,” Senator Murray said. “I believe we need a $15 federal minimum wage to bring that progress to communities nationwide. It’s the right thing to do for working parents, for the nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers who are women, and as I’ve heard from business owners in our state, it’s the right thing to do for our local economies.”
“It is a national disgrace that millions of full-time workers are living in poverty and millions more are forced to work two or three jobs just to pay their bills,” Senator Sanders said. “In the year 2017, a job must lift workers out of poverty, not keep them in it. The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage and must be raised to a living wage.”
Eighteen Senate Democrats have signed onto the bill, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024 and would be indexed to the median wage growth thereafter. This raise would increase the minimum wage higher than its 1968 peak. The federal minimum wage has not been raised since 2009.
While labor productivity has more than doubled since the late 1960s, pay for workers generally, and for low-wage workers in particular, has either stagnated or fallen since the 1970s. At the same time, income for those at the top has skyrocketed. The richest one percent have seen their income grow by 15 percent since 2009 and by more than 130 percent since the late 1960s.
Sanders and Murray’s legislation would give more than 41 million low-wage workers a raise, increasing the wages of almost 30 percent of the U.S. workforce. A $15 minimum wage by 2024 would generate $144 billion in higher wages for workers, benefiting their local economies.
The bill will also gradually eliminate the loophole that allows tipped workers and workers with disabilities to be paid substantially less than the federal minimum wage, bringing it to parity with the regular minimum wage. Moreover, it would also phase out the youth minimum wage, that allows employers to pay workers under 20 years old a lower wage for the first 90 calendar days of work.
The current list of cosponsors includes: Sens. Schumer, Durbin, Blumenthal, Booker, Brown, Cantwell, Gillibrand, Feinstein, Franken, Harris, Hirono, Kaine, Leahy, Markey, Merkley, Reed, Schatz, Van Hollen, Warren, Whitehouse and Wyden.
The bill will be introduced in the Senate soon.
Read a summary of the bill here.
Read a copy of the bill here.
federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and we will have no jobs.
It will be the big “Domino” effect those that were at $15 an hour will want and get $30 an hour and on and on.
All costs will go up, a $5 hamburger will be $10, gas will go up...
You will move up into a higher income tax bracket and pay more tax’s
Correct to: Two yrs service.
Oh, ok.....
But patty loves our Military,she says it all the time.
Remove the Payroll Tax, both the Employee and Employer share for the working poor.
At the same time cut eligibility for SSI and welfare programs. Cut the amount of money for some of those who remain on programs.
This is a pragmatic, realistic approach that can put the Democrats on the spot and create a beneficial image for us. If done right, it will be revenue neutral. Isn’t that the establishment test?
Currently working poor often take home less than ablebodied people on welfare/SSI. We penalize people who work and reward people who fake a disability. That injustice must be corrected.
Seal the borders, slow down immigration to a crawl and you got a good idea. FY 2024 seems like a good goal. Whether you are for the minimum wage or against the arguments presented are compelling. This would take the politics out of the equation.
Typical Democrats.
Socialism!!
It’s the right thing to do!!
So say the millions of unemployed !!!
Because young black male unemployment is not high enough yet!
I started looking for buffalo and Indian head nickles today. If I find any can I still get a candy bar for one? $15 and hour? OK, but I remember when a candy bar was only 5 cents. The minimum wage then was $1 an hour. A Mc D’s hamburger was 15 cents. What do you think $15.00 will bring, make us richer? A new car back then was about 1500.00, what do they cost now? Hey why stop at 15 lets go right up to 25, what difference does it make, everything will go up anyway. Skilled workers will now demand more. The cost of living keeps going up so we need to invest wisely to keep pace. I suggest investing in Acme Wheel Barrel Co.. Eventually we will need one for carrying money to the market to pay for a loaf of bread and a train load to buy a new car. How about a little cost of living raise for those on SS? Its as easy to do as increasing the salary of the members of Congress.
How about this? Raise minimum wage to $15.00 on the day that all employers are required to check their current and future full, part-time, and temporary employees with E-Verify AND require certification from any vendors or subcontractors of the same. That’d be a deal worth taking. Further, that if any one doesn’t pass E-Verify, they are immediately reported to correct the record (carrot) or to be deported (and if they are using fake or stolen identification, prosecuted in the process). I bet if we did that, we might not need a wall. Everyone could be a winner!
We need a wall because Trump is not President For Life. You are thinking of “Papa Doc”.
Bernie and Patty should run in 2020,they would make a great team for the Democratic ticket.
Close the tattoo parlors, then they can save lots of money to use for other needful things.
Yes, you are right. We need the wall because we might be able to trust even him to keep illegals out and to deport the ones already here. The wall simplifies that concern.
I was in the service for quite some time and the thought of getting a tattoo never crossed my mind.
Yeah that’ll pass
Fine. For each double of wage, quarter the work force
Federal Minimum Wage = ZERO.
If a State decides to have a Minimum Wage, they can do what they like.
When Businesses move to neighboring States because of that same Minimum Wage, too damn bad.
As far as the Feds go, it ain’t in the Constitution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.