Full video is below, the bill would raise minimum wage to $15 by 2024 and pegs it to inflation.
The bill has 30 co-sponsors in the Senate and 152 in the House. Bobby Scott (VA-3) who is introducing the bill in the House, noted that there has been no increase in the federal minimum wage for 10 years.
In the Senate, Patty Murray (WA) and Bernie Sanders (VT) will introduce the bill, they have 30 co-sponsors which is a majority of the Democratic caucus in the Senate. In the house, Robert “Bobby” Scott (VA-3) and Keith Ellison (MN-5) are introducing a companion bill which has the support of 152 members, again a strong majority of the Democratic caucus.
A majority of the Senate Democratic caucus is backing a bill that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 just two years after a comparable bill introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) received scant support from his colleagues.
Thirty of Sanders’ colleagues in the caucus joined the former presidential candidate in formally introducing the bill on Thursday, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. By contrast, just five senators co-sponsored Sanders’ 2015 bill raising the minimum wage to $15.
— HuffPo
Brittany Butler works in Union station and volunteers with Good Jobs Nation. Her employer is a federal contractor and she spoke about the fact that she and many other workers earning less than $15 an hour though they’re working for the Federal government.
Senator Murray (WA) spoke about constituents in her state who are working multiple jobs to provide the basics for their families. She spoke about the number of women, an black and hispanic working women who will see their lives improve with this bill.
Steny Hoyer (MD-5), Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) and Chuck Schumer (NY) also spoke. Hoyer had an interesting line about employers “pretending” to pay their workers when they pay starvation wages. Most of the speakers (including Pelosi) said they would make the rise to $15 immediate, if they thought it would pass.
Vice is also covering the bill and Carl Horowitz over at the Capital Research Center has a lengthy piece exploring the legislative background of the $15 minimum wage billwhich is worth a read.
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Cross-posted to NotMeUs.org | @subirgrewal