For Immediate Release: July 25, 2023
Contact: Eliana Gayle-Schneider, nelp@berlinrosen.com
NELP Applauds Legislation to Raise the Federal Minimum Wage
Washington, DC — The National Employment Law Project applauds Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), and Representative Jahana Hayes (D-CT) for introducing the Raise the Wage Act of 2023. This bill would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour and phase out the subminimum wages that apply to tipped workers, youth workers, and workers with disabilities. The bill would also index the federal minimum wage to average wage growth so that it could never again stagnate as it has for the past 14 years.
If signed into law, the Raise the Wage Act would mean increased earnings for over 60% of workers living in poverty, nearly one-third of all Black workers, and nearly one-quarter of Latinx workers. By 2028, the Raise the Wage Act could generate an additional $86 billion in higher wages for workers, particularly for those in the 20 states that still adhere to the current $7.25 federal minimum wage.
“We’re working to build a good-jobs economy, and a minimum wage that’s a living wage is central to that vision,” says Rebecca Dixon, president and CEO of the National Employment Law Project. “Workers across the country are building their power. They have demanded and won higher state minimum wages and higher wages from corporations and employers across the country. Unfortunately, Congressional inaction on this important issue is still keeping wages too low for too many, particularly Black workers in the South. Those opposed to raising the minimum wage, whether in Congress, state legislatures, or the corporate boardroom, should realize that workers have had enough, and that it’s time for action. All they need to do is look to the ‘summer of the strike’ that we are experiencing to realize that.”
NELP will work tirelessly with workers and their advocates everywhere to make sure that Congress raises the federal minimum wage, eliminates all exclusions from minimum wage coverage, and indexes the minimum wage so that workers never get left behind like this again.
