DeLauro: Time To Respect Work and Give Minimum Wage Workers a Raise

Renews Push for Increased Wages with the Raise the Wage Act

WASHINGTON, DC –Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today renewed her push for increased wages by cosponsoring the Raise the Wage Act. The bill would raise the minimum wage to $12.00 by the year 2020 and index the minimum wage to the median wage starting in 2021.

“The single biggest economic issue facing Americans today is that too many jobs do not pay enough to live on. Increasing the minimum wage would immediately put almost $110 billion back into the pockets of the 38 million workers who would see their paychecks increase under the Raise the Wage Act. This would help the entire economy by increasing consumer demand and creating economic growth. Passing this bill is the smart thing to do for workers, for families, for businesses and for the entire economy. I am proud to support it.”

For six years, the federal minimum wage has remained stagnant and lost value, failing to keep up with the cost of living and leaving working families to rely on government aid to make ends meet. With income inequality and productivity on the rise, it is long past time to give minimum wage workers a pay raise.

Indexing the minimum wage to inflation is critical to taking partisan politics out of this debate. With passage of this bill, the purchasing power of minimum wage earners would no longer be held hostage to partisanship in Congress or powerful special interests.


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