Representative Mike Levin Helps Introduce The Raise the Wage Act of 2019
Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Mike Levin (D-CA) joined his colleagues in introducing the Raise the Wage Act of 2019. The bill would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 in 2024, index future minimum wage increases to median wage growth, and ensure all workers are paid at least the full federal minimum wage by phasing out the subminimum wages for tipped workers, youth workers, and workers with disabilities.
“It is unacceptable that hard-working Americans making the federal minimum wage cannot afford to make ends meet,” said Representative Levin. “It is long past time that we gradually raise the minimum wage so that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules can get ahead.”
Currently, there is no place in America where a full-time worker can make the $7.25 federal minimum wage and afford the basic essentials. The minimum wage has not been raised in nearly a decade. According to a 2016 Gallup poll, 58% of Americans support increasing the minimum wage to $15.
The Raise the Wage Act would:
- Gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 over the next six years to lift millions of workers out of poverty, stimulate local economies, and restore the value of minimum wage;
- Index future increases in the federal minimum wage to median wage growth to ensure the value of minimum wage does not once again erode over time;
- Guarantees tipped workers are paid at least the full federal minimum wage by repealing the subminimum wage for tipped workers, which will ensure consistent, livable pay;
- Guarantees teen workers are paid at least the full federal minimum wage by repealing the rarely used subminimum wage for youth workers; and
- End subminimum wage certificates for individuals with disabilities to provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to be competitively employed, taxpaying citizens and participate more fully in their communities.
To read the bill text of the Raise the Wage Act, click here.
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