On the recordJanuary 13, 2022
Madam Speaker, 20 States, including Louisiana, still have the same hourly pay floor as the Federal minimum wage: $7.25. Louisiana also has the second highest poverty rate of any State. That is because minimum wage is a poverty wage--a full-time salary is less than $16,000 a year. No one can survive on that, much less raise a family on that wage. While the Federal minimum wage has not increased since 2009, the costs of housing, medicine, food, and childcare have all exponentially increased. We cannot simply subject millions of our constituents to endure the trials of poverty. It is not a mystery. We can, we must, and we know how to help. It is time to finally increase the Federal minimum wage and lower the costs with the Build Back Better Act. ____________________
