Donald M. Payne: “the reason the minimum wage must be increased over 2 years instead of 3 years is simple, because the increase is long…”

“the reason the minimum wage must be increased over 2 years instead of 3 years is simple, because the increase is long overdue. The tiptoe approach that many Members of the other side of the aisle advocate is not fair for hard working men and women that find themselves at the lower spectrum of the income wage. Just a little while ago, I received a letter from a constituent of mine that worked full time all year-round and was still significantly below the poverty line for his family of three. If my colleagues are wondering how a full-time worker in this day and age could still be below the poverty line, the answer lies in the inadequate minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. Even a modest $1 increase that we are debating today is not enough to lift him and his family above the poverty line. Why then should he, and the other 11.8 million minimum wage workers, have to wait 3 years for a dollar increase to take place? The opponents of raising the minimum wage over 2 years claim that it will have a negative impact on jobs. Since the last increase in the minimum wage in 1996, 1997, the unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in 30 years, and an estimated 8.7 million new jobs are being created. These are not Internet jobs. By contrast, 1.2 million new retail jobs have been added, 415,000 new restaurant jobs have been added and over 4.4 million service jobs have sprung up. How does that have a negative impact on employment?”