The Minimum Wage

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I rise in support of the Minimum Wage Fairness Act because it is time to give everyone a fair shot. More and more States are voting to raise the minimum wage. Last week, the Hawaii State legislature passed a bill to raise the minimum wage in my home State. Hawaii's bill would increase the wage from $7.25 to $10.10, and increase the tip wage to at least $9.35.

Hawaii will become the tenth State enacting a wage increase since President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address. In 2014 alone, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, West Virginia, and Washington, DC have enacted wage increases. Hawaii will become the 26th State with the higher minimum wage than the current Federal minimum wage. It is time for Congress to join with the States that are leading the charge to give hard-working families a raise.

I am going to share a few reasons why the Senate should vote to raise the minimum wage. First, today's Federal minimum wage is a poverty wage. If the minimum wage had kept up with inflation since 1968, the minimum wage today would be about $10.68. This means that minimum-wage workers today earn less than $15,000 per year working full time. If someone is supporting a child or an elderly parent, that would put their family income below the Federal poverty line.

The bill we are considering today would raise the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016 and index it to inflation afterward. Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 would help lift nearly a million workers and their families out of poverty.

In Hawaii, raising the minimum wage will bring more than 12,000 people above the Federal poverty level.

Second, the minimum wage is a woman's issue. Growing up, my mother was a single parent. We were an immigrant family. She raised three children by herself on very low wages. I know what it is like to run out of money at the end of the month and what it is like for every dime to matter. Nationwide, nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers are women. In Hawaii, increasing the minimum wage will give 54,000 women a raise. One out of five Hawaii women workers will get that raise. That is important to the women in my State, where the cost of living is high.

During the legislative debate on this issue in Hawaii, numerous advocacy groups came forward to provide testimony on why the minimum wage should be increased in Hawaii. These included representatives from churches, unions, individual parents, students, and others. For example, Dr. Lori Kamemoto is an ob-gyn who came forward to testify. She told of her work in health clinics where many of her patients are minimum-wage workers. She testified:

The majority of patients I saw at the free clinic worked multiple minimum wage jobs, and each job made sure that they did not give my patient enough work hours to qualify for health insurance or benefits. Oftentimes, a patient would not be able to afford the medication needed for her health condition. She had a choice to either pay for her children's food or the recommended medication.

Another testifier, Laura Finlayson, is a student at Hawaii Pacific University. She testified:

As someone who has worked several minimum wage jobs, I have experienced firsthand how the low wages perpetuate the cycle of poverty. ..... Many must also rely on government aid in order to make ends meet.

These stories and countless others show why we must raise the minimum wage.

Many workers in Hawaii are tipped workers. The tipped minimum wage is especially far behind. I have met restaurant workers who can't afford to eat in the very restaurants in which they work. Take the example of Nyah Potts, whom I met recently. She is a tipped worker. She works in a restaurant in the Reagan Building in Washington, DC.

Due to her low wages, she has had to choose between buying diapers for her child or eating lunch that day. She decided to do something about her situation. Joining with her fellow workers and advocacy groups, she pushed the administration to raise the minimum wage for Federal contract workers. Nyah and her coworkers will now get a raise. It is time to give everyone in America a raise.

There is a common myth that tipped workers are teenagers just starting out. That is false. Eighty-eight percent of workers in tipped occupations are age 20 and over, and 45 percent are 30 or older.

Back in 2007, the last time Congress raised the minimum wage, the restaurant industry with its many tipped workers said it would cost their industry jobs. This did not happen. In fact, in 2013 the restaurant industry forecast said ``restaurants remain among the leaders in job creation.'' The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that between 2007 and 2013, restaurants added 724,000 jobs.

There is a misconception that all tipped workers are servers at fancy restaurants. This is also not true. Many people who work at the airport, who help you get your bags, who help you make it to your gate on time, are also tipped workers. Tipped workers include bar-backs, bellhops, parking attendants, car washers, airport wheelchair workers, and many people don't even realize that these workers need tips to survive.

On average, hourly wages for tipped workers are almost 40 percent lower than overall hourly wages. The fact is, raising the minimum wage is not just good for workers, it is also good for the economy. That is why a survey of small business owners found that three out of five small business owners supported raising the minimum wage. They understand a higher minimum wage would increase consumer spending on their goods and services. That is because minimum-wage workers spend new money from higher wages right away at local businesses in their communities.

In addition to the restaurant industry I referred to earlier, there are other persistent critics who claim raising the minimum wage will cost jobs. Some cite a Congressional Budget Office report that only looked at old studies and not the latest research. The fact is, the latest academic studies say a higher minimum wage increases consumer spending and does not cost jobs.

A March Goldman Sachs report said that States which raised their minimum wage in 2014 actually created more jobs than other States that didn't raise the minimum wage. Six hundred economists, including 7 Nobel prize winners, have endorsed a minimum wage of $10.10.

Raising the minimum wage also saves taxpayers money on social services, as many of my colleagues have already noted. The current minimum wage leaves many below the poverty line and eligible for assistance such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, or food stamps. If we raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10, we reduce taxpayer costs for SNAP benefits by $4.6 billion a year. In Hawaii, over 15,000 workers would no longer need SNAP benefits. This would save nearly $40 million in Hawaii alone.

In America, we believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you can get ahead. It is time for Congress to follow the example of Hawaii and other States that have raised their minimum wages. They are doing the right thing. It is time for Congress to do what is right. Let's give America a raise so all Americans can have a fair shot.

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