04.30.15

Durbin Backs Bill to Raise Federal Minimum Wage

Raise the Wage Act would increase federal minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020, boosting wages for nearly 38 million Americans

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) in introducing a bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 to help more families make ends meet, expand economic opportunity, and help build an economy that works for all families, not just the wealthiest few. The Raise the Wage Act would also phase out the $2.13 tipped wage and would index the minimum wage to median wages.

“If you go to work and work hard for 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty in America,” Durbin said. “The Raise the Wage Act will increase wages for 38 million workers—more than one in four—and lift millions out of poverty. In Illinois alone, 1.6 million workers—28% of the state’s workforce—will see an average increase in wages of $3,200 a year. That helps families get off government support programs and give them more money to spend and put back into our economy.”

“No one who works hard in a full-time job should have to live in poverty. We owe it to workers across the country to make sure our minimum wage is set to a level that works for them and their families.” said Murray. “Raising the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 is a key component to helping more families make ends meet, expanding economic security, and growing our economy from the middle out, not the top down.”

In the House of Representatives, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) introduced a companion bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020.

  

Senate Cosponsors of the Raise the Wage Act: Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Gary Peters (D-MI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Harry Reid (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tom Udall (D-NM), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).