Raise the Wage Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, this is a big day. Today we pass the first minimum wage increase for workers in decades.
And, yes, I am proud to represent Seattle, a leader in the Fight for $15, where I served on the committee that actually drafted the legislation that passed, ultimately.
It has been 4 years since Seattle raised the wage, and I want to tell my colleagues across the aisle what the effect of that increase has been.
Seattle is flourishing. Today we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, and jobs are growing steadily.
Last year, Forbes ranked Seattle the number one best place for business and careers in 2018, and despite the doom and gloom predictions from the National Restaurant Association when we passed the bill, what we have seen is what The Seattle Times called ``a crazy restaurant boom''--that is a quote--with new jobs created every year.
The most recent and credible research shows that wages for Seattle's low-wage workers went up without any negative impact on employment, and local food prices remained constant so that families could better afford to buy healthy food.
When we increased the minimum wage in Seattle, Mr. Speaker, we got strong businesses, healthy families, and flourishing communities. All American workers deserve the same thing. Let's raise the wage today.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a second letter from the National Employment Law Project in support of this legislation. July 16, 2019.
The undersigned organizations enthusiastically support the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Patty Murray (WA), Representatives Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott (VA), Mark Paean (WI) and Stephanie Murphy (FL).
If enacted, this legislation would:
Gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2025;
After 2025, adjust the minimum wage each year to keep pace with growth in the typical worker's wages;
Phase out the outdated subminimum wage for tipped workers, which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991; and,
Sunset the much criticized ability of employers to pay workers with disabilities a subminimum wage through certificates issued by DOL.
Phase out the subminimum wage for workers under the age of 20.
At a time when wage stagnation and income inequality pose serious threats to our families and our economy, the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 will begin to reverse that cycle and raise pay broadly across the bottom of the workforce. According to the Economic Policy Institute, this Act will deliver long-overdue raises to more than 1 in 4 workers, 90% of whom are over the age of 20. The average age of workers who would get a raise is 35, nearly half have some years of college education. In fact, those who work year-round would see a raise in the order of $3,000 a year, which is enough to make a tremendous difference in the life of a preschool teacher, bank teller, or fast-food worker who today struggles to get by on around $20,000 per year.
28 percent are working parents with children, and half have family incomes of less than $40,000 per year. Women make up nearly 58 percent of the workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage, which would be instrumental in helping to close the gender-wage-gap. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would also significantly benefit workers of color, with 38 percent of African American workers and 33 percent of Latinos seeing a pay increase once this law goes into effect.
These are the frontline workers who make America run-yet due to the erosion of the real value of the minimum wage over the last half century, they are struggling even as our economy enjoys a solid recovery.
The time for the Raise the Wage Act is long overdue, and we cannot delay in working toward its passage. We call on Congress to enact this important piece of legislation as quickly as possible, and for President Trump to sign it when it comes to his desk. Sincerely,
Jackson State University; Jewish Women International; Jobs with Justice; Just Harvest: A Center for Action Against Hunger; Justice and Advocacy Committee of the Lehigh Conference of Churches; Justice for Migrant Women; Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes; Kansas Association of Community Action Programs; Kentucky Equal Justice Center; Kentucky State AFL- CIO; Keystone Progress; Keystone Research Center; Kings Local Food Pantry; Korean Resource Center; KWH Law Center for Social Justice and Change.
La Frontera Ministries; La Plata County Thrive! Living Wage Coalition; Labor Education Program, School of Labor and Employment Relations, University of Illinois; Lamoille Family Center; Law Foundation of Silicon Valley; Law Students in Court; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Leadership Conference of Women Religious; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Leadership Team, Sisters of the Presentations; Legal Aid at Work; Legal Aid Service of Broward County; Legal Momentum: The Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund; Legal Voice; Let Justice Roll: Living Wage Campaign.
Lincoln Hills Development Corporation; LiveWell Colorado; Long Beach Gray Panthers; Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy; Louisiana Budget Project; Louisiana Progress Action; Main Street Alliance; Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence; Maine Women's Lobby; Mainers for Accountable Leadership; Make the Road PA; Maryland Center on Economic Policy; Maryland Hunger Solutions; Maryland National Organization for Women; Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
Maternal and Child Health Access; MCCC/MTA; Men of All Colors Together (MACT)/Phila.; Mercyhaven Inc.; Methodist Federation for Social Action; Metro-Detroit Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association; Michigan League for Public Policy; Michigan's Children; Middlesex Coalition for Children; Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers Organization; Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless; Mississippi Families for Kids; Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative.
Missouri CLUW Chapter; MomsRising; Mountain State Justice; MWC, AFL-CIO; NAACP;
NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina; Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter; National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF); National Association of Social Workers; National Association of Social Workers--NJ Chapter; National Association of Social Workers Connecticut Chapter; National Association of Social Workers, West Virginia Chapter; National Association of the Deaf; National Black Justice Coalition.
National Black Sisters' Conference; National Center for Lesbian Rights; National Center for Transgender Equality; National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence; National Coalition for the Homeless; National Consumers League; National Council of Churches; National Council of Jewish Women; National Council of Jewish Women--PA; National Council of Jewish Women--Texas; National Council of Jewish Women-- Florida; National Disability Rights Network; National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Education Association; National Employment Law Project.
National Employment Lawyers Association; National Employment Lawyers Association--Eastern Pennsylvania National Employment Lawyers Association--Georgia Affiliate National Employment Lawyers Association--New York; National Equality Action Team (NEAT); National Health Care for the Homeless Council; National Human Services Assembly; National Immigration Law Center; National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC} National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund; National Low Income Housing Coalition; National Partnership for Women & Families; National Resource Center on Domestic Violence; National Rural Social Work Caucus; National Urban League.
National Women's Law Center; National Working Positive Coalition; National Workrights Institute; NC Justice Center; NC State AFL-CIO; Nebraska Appleseed; Nebraska Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers Neighbors Helping Neighbors Teton County MT; NELA Hawaii Chapter; NELA--Kansas City Affiliate; NELA--Saint Louis; NELA--Alabama; Nenana Tortella Council on Aging, INC; Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility; NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice.
New Jersey Policy Perspective; New Jersey State Coalition of Labor Union Women; New Jersey Tenants Organization; New Mexico Association of Community Partners (NMACP); New Mexico Black Caucus; New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty; New Orleans Associates of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament; New Voices for Reproductive Justice; New York Paid Leave Coalition; North American Climate, Conservation and Environment(NACCE); North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans; North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence; North Carolina Council of Churches; North Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers; North Dakota Economic Security and Prosperity Alliance.
Northwest Indiana Community Action; Northwest Pilot Project; Oakland Park Democratic Club; Oakland Symphony; Oasis Legal Services; Ohaha Family Foundation; Ohio Coalition of Labor Union Women; Ohio Domestic Violence Network; Oklahoma Policy Institute; Oklahoma Women's Coalition; One Pennsylvania; One Stop Career Center of PR Inc; Orange County Poverty Alleviation Coalition; Organize Florida; OURNOVA.
Oxfam America; Pathways PA; Patriotic Millionaires; Pax Christi Florida; Pax Christi Illinois; Pax Christi USA; Peace, Justice, Sustainability Florida; Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center; Pennsylvania Council of Churches; Pennsylvania Together; People Demanding Action; People's Institute for Housing Justice; Philadelphia Coalition of Labor Union Women; Philly Neighborhood Networks; Piedmont Housing Alliance.
Planet Earth; Policy Matters Ohio; Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign; Positive Women's Network-USA; PowHer New York; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Pride at Work; Princeton Community Housing; Professional Child Care Provider Network of Prince George's Co., Inc; Project Bread-The Walk for Hunger; Promise The Children; Provincial Council Clerics of St. Viator (Viatorians); Public Advocacy for Kids; Public Citizen; Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY); Public Justice Center.
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