Senators propose $15-per-hour federal minimum wage
June 10 (UPI) -- The federal minimum wage would rise to $15 per hour, with annual cost-of-living increases based on inflation, in a proposed bipartisan measure.
Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., co-sponsored the bill that they have named the "Higher Wages for American Workers Act" and would increase the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour for non-exempt workers.
"For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline," Hawley said on Tuesday in a joint press release with Welch.
"One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hardworking Americans every day," Hawley added.
Welch said inflation and rising costs are making it too hard for families to afford basic necessities.
"We're in the midst of a severe affordability crisis, with families in red and blue states alike struggling to afford necessities like housing and groceries," Welch said.
"A stagnant federal minimum wage only adds fuel to the fire," he continued. "Every hardworking American deserves a living wage that helps put a roof over their head and food on the table -- $7.25 an hour doesn't even come close."
"Times have changed, and working families deserve a wage that reflects today's financial reality," Welch added.
Hawley said the current federal minimum wage is less than what a worker earned in 1940 when adjusted for inflation.
If the proposed federal minimum wage increase is passed into law, it would take effect on Jan. 1 and allow cost-of-living increases that match inflation in subsequent years.
Many states have respective minimum wage laws that exceed the current and proposed federal minimum wage, but a dozen still were at the federal minimum wage in 2024.
Many large employers also have higher minimum wages, including Walmart, which has paid its workers at least $14 an hour and often more since 2023.
President Joe Biden in 2021 ordered the federal government to pay contract workers at least $15 an hour.
California lawmakers in 2022 raised the state's minimum wage for many fast-food workers to up to $22 an hour.
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