State Minimum Wage Experience Belies Argument Against Raising It

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/5047

State Minimum Wage Experience Belies Argument Against Raising It

Twenty-Nine states were ahead of Congress and already have minimum wages that are higher than the federal one. And as Jesse Russell reports in Oregon it’s already higher than the new federal minimum will be.

One of the arguments against raising the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour on Wednesday was that states have been moving ahead and doing it on their own. Republican Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia argued that the move was a political ploy by the Democrats that ignored this fact:

: This is going to be good politics for them because most people won’t realize that since 1997, the last nine years that 29 states have increased the minimum wage and that is a fact that keeps getting overlooked.

Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer comes from Oregon, a state that ties their state minimum wage to inflation and currently pays $7.80 per hour. He says his state shows that increasing the minimum works:

: Our economy is stronger and our business leadership will tell you that what we’ve done is fair; it’s good for us, and not poor. I hope this is a first step that is followed by increased awareness and sensitivity to lower income Americans. Helping 13 million today with their first pay raise in 10 years is a good start.

AUDIO version here: http://www.laborradio.org/files/lo/winsheadlines.ram

[frylock]

1. w0w!! twenty-nine whole states?! over a nine year period, no less..

now that's fucking progress! Jagoff.