Hilda L. Solis: “next week the House will have its first vote to increase the minimum wage in over 10 years. This is good news for the…”

“next week the House will have its first vote to increase the minimum wage in over 10 years. This is good news for the more than 7 million hardworking Americans who today only make $5.15 an hour. It could also be good news for millions of middle class workers who could see their hourly wage increase as a result of the higher minimum wage. Despite repeated efforts by the House Democrats to expand economic opportunity for millions of Americans over the last 9 years, the House Republican leadership has refused to allow the floor vote on increasing the minimum wage. Next week they have no choice, however. Thanks to action in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, the committee voted to gradually increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. The American people should not be surprised that the out-of-touch House Republican leadership is also voicing strong opposition to the wage hike and vows to kill it next week. This would be shameful, and millions of Americans will be affected. They need to have a living wage. I look forward to the vote next week and hope that the House will finally take action in a new direction to expand economic opportunity for all. ____________________”