BILL: Should We Raise the Minimum Wage? - Raise the Wage Act of 2023 - H.R.4889

The Bill

H.R.4889 - Raise the Wage Act of 2023

Bil Details

• Sponsored by Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.) on July 25, 2023
• Co-sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
• Committee: House - Education and the Workforce
• House: Not yet voted
• Senate: Not yet voted
• President: Not yet signed

Bill Overview

• Pushes for an increase in the federal minimum wage. Would gradually raise the minimum wage to $17 by 2028 and give approximately 28 million Americans (19% of workers) a long-overdue raise.
• Pegs 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.
• Eliminates the tipped sub-minimum wage over seven years, the sub-minimum wage for workers with disabilities over five years, and the sub-minimum wage for youth workers over seven years.
• After more than a decade with no increase in the federal minimum wage — the longest period in U.S. history — millions of people are working full-time jobs but are still struggling to make ends meet.

What's in the Bill

Addresses poverty among workers

• One in eight workers are paid wages that leave them in poverty.
• There are no cities in America where a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage can afford to cover the rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment.
• Almost 30% of workers (44 million people) make less than $17 per hour. Many of these low-wage workers face persistent economic insecurity.

Supports economy

• When workers earn more, they spend more on local businesses, boosting the economy from the ground up.

Supports a fair minimum wage

• Over the last 50 years, $50 trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90% of America to the top 1%.
• The value of the current federal minimum wage, $7.25 per hour, is the lowest it has been since 1956 and has declined by nearly 28% since it was last increased in 2009. 
• Approximately 5 million tipped workers in the U.S. depend on tips for nearly three-quarters of their income, but the tipped sub-minimum wage has remained stagnant at just $2.13 per hour since 1991.
• The current median wage for approximately 120,000 workers with disabilities is just $3.50 per hour.

What Supporters Are Saying

• Rep. Scott said:

“No person working full-time in America should be living in poverty. The Raise the Wage Act will increase the pay and standard of living for nearly 28 million workers across this country. Raising the minimum wage is good for workers, good for business, and good for the economy. When we put money in the pockets of American workers, they will spend that money in their communities."

• Sen. Sanders said:

“The $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. It must be raised to a living wage – at least $17 an hour. In the year 2023 a job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it. At a time of massive income and wealth inequality and record-breaking corporate profits, we can no longer tolerate millions of workers being unable to feed their families because they are working for totally inadequate wages. Congress can no longer ignore the needs of the working class of this country. The time to act is now.”

What Opponents Are Saying

• The conservative think tank, The Cato Institute, has been vocal about the drawbacks of raising the minimum wage. The Institute argues that it would have little effect on alleviating poverty, would harm consumers in the form of higher prices, and would hurt low-skilled workers. They argue that it will lead to job loss, citing Joseph Sabia and Richard Burkhauser's 2010 estimate that “nearly 1.3 million jobs will be lost if the federal minimum wage is increased to $9.50 per hour.” 

Tell your reps to support or oppose this bill

-Emma Kansiz

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