Kaptur Votes to Raise Federal Minimum Wage to $15/Hour
Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) voted to pass the Raise the Wage Act, a landmark piece of legislation to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 over six years. According to independent economic analysis, the bill would increase pay for up to 33 million American workers, including 128,300 workers (39.8%) in Ohio's Ninth Congressional District. The average wage increase for affected workers in OH-9 would be $3,200.
The Raise the Wage Act is an important step toward delivering on House Democrats' promise to restore the value of work and raise wages for workers in Norther Ohio and across the country.
Rep. Kaptur took to the House floor to speak in favor of the legislation [download video]:
"Madam Speaker,
Corporate America and Wall Street are awash in profits and cash, but American workers haven't had the benefit of a federal minimum wage increase in over a decade, while the prices of everything have gone up. Medicine, housing, food, cars.
A recent study found there isn't a single congressional district in the entire nation where a full-time minimum wage worker could afford a two-bedroom apartment.
While many states and cities have raised their own minimum wage requirements, millions of Americans are stuck at $7.25 an hour.
What does this really mean? A person working full time for minimum wage takes home an annual salary of $15,080.
With inflation, these workers have effectively had their wages CUT by an astonishing 17%.
That is why I rise today in support of the Raise the Wage Act, a bill that will:
- Gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2025
- Lift 27 million Americans out of poverty
- Give roughly 40 million Americans a raise - nearly a third of our workforce
- Stimulates local economies as Americans have money to spend at local businesses
- And puts $3,200 in the pockets of more than 128,000 workers just in Northern Ohioans per year.
Madam Speaker, the Raise the Wage Act will dramatically improve the lives of millions of hardworking people and families in communities across our country. Let's come together to help the American people who are working and pass this much needed legislation without delay."
Background:
After more than 10 years without an increase in the federal minimum wage – the longest stretch in history – low-wage workers have suffered a 17 percent pay cut due to inflation. There is no place in America where a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage can afford the basic necessities for themselves and their families.
The Raise the Wage Act of 2019 would:
- Gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 over the next six years, lifting millions of workers out of poverty, stimulating local economies, and restoring the value of minimum wage;
- Index future increases in the federal minimum wage to median wage growth to ensure the value of minimum wage does not once again erode over time;
- Guarantee tipped workers, youth workers, and workers with disabilities are paid at least the full federal minimum wage by phasing out the subminimum wages that currently allow these workers to be paid below $7.25 an hour.