Durbin Says Minimum Wage Workers Deserve a Raise
DURBIN SAYS MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS DESERVE A RAISE
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
[Washington, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called the latest Republican attempt to cut the estate tax for America's wealthiest families shameful politicking at the expense of millions of workers who have not seen an increase in the minimum wage in almost a decade.
"The Republicans are offering a take it or leave it proposal - they're going to take $750 billion from the U.S. Treasury to give to the richest Americans or they're going to leave millions of Americans without a minimum wage increase," Durbin said.
Durbin added, "In exchange for a raise of $2.10 an hour for the lowest-paid workers in America, we are being asked to add more than $750 billion to the national debt. And that is on top of the $30,000 debt that every American already owes as a result of our national debt - a debt that has exploded to $9 trillion under Republican rule. That will be the inheritance for the sons and daughters of middle-class Americans if we pass this bill: more debt for our children and grandchildren to pay off."
Durbin urged the Republican leadership to schedule an immediate vote on a bill to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour that does not include a major reduction to the estate tax. The pending Republican bill would provide an average tax giveaway of $1.4 million for each of the 8,200 richest heirs in the country.
"More than six million Americans, including 333,000 Illinoisans, would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage compared to 8,200 families across the country that would get an average tax cut of $1.4 million. But the Republican leadership would rather eliminate taxes for the wealthiest Americans and raise the national debt instead of working on behalf of Americans looking for a decent wage, for an honest day's work," Durbin said.
Additionally, minimum wage workers in seven states would actually see a pay cut under the Republican proposal. The bill would take wages away from tipped workers in seven states: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. These states currently require employers to pay tipped employees the full state minimum wage, regardless of the amount they make in tips. The Republican proposal would override these state laws, demanding that these states reduce the wages for tipped employees.
http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=261258&&