Macomb Daily - U.S. Sen. Gary Peters Working to Boost Minimum Wage to $12

News Article

By David Grocki

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (MI) has joined up with 32 other politicians to introduce to the floor the Raise the Wage Act, according to a United States Senate press release. The legislation seeks to increase the federally-mandated hourly minimum wage to $12 per by 2020, an incremental raise from the current $7.25.

The legislation would also eliminate the $2.13 tipped per hour wage seen in food service industries.

"Nobody who works full-time in this country should have to live in poverty, but that is the brutal economic reality for millions of families across the country right now who can't make ends meet in the face of stagnant wages and increased costs of daily necessities," Peters stated in the press release.

The goal is to foster broader economic growth -- a report from the Economic Policy Institute found that nearly 38 million Americans would see their wages increase with the new $12 figure.

In Michigan, some 1.2 million workers could expect to benefit from the increase, at a total amount of $3.1 billion for workers across the state.

During his term in the House, Peters had cosponsored the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10.

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