Raise the Wage Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the Raise the Wage Act that raises the federal minimum wage to $15, This bill is smart federal policy that will improve the lives of workers and their children across the nation, helping them pay their bills, support their children, and grow our economy via their increased spending power.

Many do not remember that--from the outset--the intent was that the minimum wage should be a livable wage, The federal minimum wage was part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; critical legislation supporting workers and children by setting a federal minimum wage, requiring time-and-a-half pay, and banning the atrocity of child labor in factories. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt even said, ``It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country . . . and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level--I mean the wages of decent living.''

At a time in our country when the wealth gap is appallingly large, I am proud that the Democratic Leadership is prioritizing a livable wage. For over a decade millions of hardworking Americans worked full-time making just $7.25 an hour. Tipped workers, teen workers, or workers with disabilities have made even less. Current law allows tipped workers to make just $2.13 an hour plus tips, allows teen workers to be paid just $4.25 an hour for their first 90 days, and allows a subminimum wage for people with disabilities, unjustly denying them the equal pay that they deserve. Men and women throughout the nation work full-time yet remain trapped in poverty by their low-wages. According to the American Association of University Women, a single mom raising two kids while working a full-time minimum wage job earns only about $14,500 or $5,000 below the poverty line. Clearly, the current minimum wage is not a living wage but a policy that systematically grows the divide between the poor and the secure, creating barriers for low- income workers to break out of poverty.

The minimum wage increase in this bill will help close the wage gap that women--especially African-American and Latina-American women--face due to their disproportionate overrepresentation in tipped employment. Raising the minimum wages also will reduce child poverty. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the increased minimum wage will give raises to 41 million women, 28 percent of whom have children.

As many may know, helping low-income workers is a primary legislative priority for me. In my District, almost 31 percent of children live in poverty and half of those children live in extreme poverty, Further, 25 percent of the tax filers in my district are low-income working parents. I see the challenges that these children and their families face first hand. They are hard-working and incredible people trying to better themselves.

I reject opponents' arguments that increasing the federal minimum wage will eviscerate jobs. I know first-hand the benefits of an increased minimum wage because the minimum wage in the City of Chicago is $13 an hour, much higher than the federal wage of $7.25. According to the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, the transition to this wage had no impact on the employment rate nor did it negatively affect private businesses. Rather, the higher minimum wage created a higher demand by low-income households for employment. Given the positive outcomes from raising the minimum wage in Chicago and given state-wide economic needs, Governor J.B. Pritzker and our state legislators just raised the state minimum wage to $15--making Illinois, D.C., and five other states national leaders in providing livable wages for their workers. Our new law will help almost 1.4 million Illinoisans currently making less than $15 an hour, lifting thousands out of poverty and growing our economy at the same time.

Now today as a Congressman, I proudly cast my vote in support of raising the federal minimum wage to strengthen workers, families, and our economy.

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