Raise the Wage Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Scott for yielding.

The Federal minimum wage has been stagnant for too long, exacerbating income inequality and leaving working families behind.

A recent study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that someone working 40 hours a week who is earning the Federal minimum wage or the prevailing State minimum wage cannot afford a two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent in any State, metropolitan area, or county in the country.

Workers working full-time should be able to afford basic needs like food, housing, healthcare, and childcare.

Today, we can support working families by passing the Raise the Wage Act. This bill will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 and make sure that tipped workers, youth, and individuals with disabilities are paid a full, not a subminimum, wage.

Recent analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found that raising the Federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would benefit close to 27,000 workers just in northwest Oregon alone.

The Raise the Wage Act is good for workers and good for the economy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Scott for his leadership, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina.

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