Mike Levin: “I have long supported an increase in the minimum wage. I am pleased that, with the leadership of the new majority in…”

“I have long supported an increase in the minimum wage. I am pleased that, with the leadership of the new majority in Congress, this minimum wage increase will be passed by a bipartisan majority. In 1996 Congress raised the minimum wage by 90 cents an hour in two steps to $5.15 an hour. That increase was enacted more than 10 years ago. Since then, the real value of that wage has eroded by 21 percent and the nearly 5.5 million workers earning the minimum wage have already lost all of the gains from the 1996-1997 increase. Since then, Gallup polls have shown that 86 percent of small business owners do not think that the minimum wage affects their business, and nearly half of small business owners think that the minimum wage should be increased. Since then, 29 States, including Michigan, as well as the District of Columbia have recognized the importance of keeping our working families out of poverty by increasing State minimum wages. Unfortunately, since the 1970s, poverty has increased by 50 percent among full-time, year-round workers. Currently, 37 million Americans, including 13 million children, live in poverty. As the most prosperous nation in the world, our minimum wage should be a living wage, and it is not. When a father or mother works full time, 40 hours a week, year-round, they should be able to lift their family out of poverty.”