Bishop, Miller Take Action to Give Millions of Americans a Raise
WASHINGTON—Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) today filed a discharge petition to force an up-or-down vote on Rep. George Miller’s (D-Calif.) bill that will give at least 25 million hard-working Americans a raise. The Fair Minimum Wage Act (H.R. 1010) increases the minimum wage over three years from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour, indexes future annual increases to inflation thereafter, and gradually increases the tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the minimum wage.
“The discharge petition I filed today is an unfortunate necessity in order to ensure action will be taken by this Congress to improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans,” said Rep. Bishop. “This is an issue that has wide support among the American public but so far has not been acted on in Washington. It is time for that to change and it is time to raise the wage.”
A minimum wage of $10.10 would lift between 1 million and 4.5 million Americans out of poverty and raise the incomes of the lowest wage worker by an average of $1,700. Furthermore, increasing the minimum wage will help all Americans by growing our economy, generating some $22 billion in increased economic activity and creating 85,000 additional jobs.
Businesses like Gap and Costco have embraced paying a higher minimum wage because it will strengthen their bottom line, leading to more productive employees, less turnover, and more customers who have more money to spend.
“Large, bipartisan majorities have repeatedly voted to raise the minimum wage when it has come to the floor in the past, and Republican and Democratic presidents alike have signed it into law,” says Rep. Miller, senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “The American people are clamoring for this pay raise, and it’s well past time for congressional Republicans to hear their voices and bring H.R. 1010 up for a vote. When this comes to the floor, it will pass. We just need a vote.”
The Fair Minimum Wage Act was introduced by Rep. Miller on March 6, 2013, and has 194 cosponsors. But even though Americans support raising the minimum wage by a ratio of four to one, congressional Republicans have failed to schedule a hearing or a mark-up on the bill, or to permit an up-or-down vote in the U.S. House. As a result, the Democrats launched a discharge petition today to force action on this broadly supported legislation. Once a simple majority of members of Congress (218) have signed the discharge petition, it will require consideration of the minimum wage legislation, including an up-or-down vote.
“No one who works full time should live in poverty. Unfortunately, our outdated minimum wage has left too many families in this country struggling to make ends meet,” said Miller and Bishop. “There is a growing consensus that an increase in the minimum wage is long overdue. It is time for Congress to raise the minimum wage now.”
For more information on the Fair Minimum Wage Act, click here.
Next Article