Latest news with #GloriaJohnson
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tennessee residents earn among the lowest hourly wages in the country but work more than the average hours in the U.S.
Data for May 2025 shows Tennesseans are among the lowest-earning hourly workers in the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its total private average hourly earnings by state, along with the average weekly earnings and the average number of hours Americans work per week for May 2025. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee had the ninth-lowest average for hourly earnings in the United States. Here's what the average hourly wage for Tennessee was and how it compares to the rest of the country. What is the average hourly pay in Tennessee? In May 2025, Tennessee residents were earning an average hourly wage of $30.81, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This figure is not seasonally adjusted. Nationally, Tennessee had one of the lowest average hourly wages, while working an average of 34.4 hours a week, which is higher than the median for the country at 33.9 hours. With the average hourly wage and hours worked, Tennesseans on average bring home $1,059.86 a week, which translates to $55,112.72 annually. Tennessee's average hourly pay is the ninth lowest in the country. States with lower average hourly wages include: Oklahoma, Iowa, Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi. How does Tennessee compare to other southern states? Tennessee is among the lowest-paying states in the South and the country as a whole. Virginia: $35.98, up from $35.94 in April 2025. Florida: $34.09, up from $33.85 in April 2025. Georgia: $33.93, down from $33.95 in April 2025. North Carolina: $33.60, down from $33.68 in April 2025. South Carolina: $31.48, up from $31.08in April 2025. Alabama: $31.15, up from $31.08 in April 2025. Tennessee: $30.81, up from $30.68 in April 2025. Kentucky: $30.01, down from $30.07 in April 2025 Arkansas: $29.79, up from $29.69 in April 2025. Louisiana: $29.53, up from $29.38 in April 2025. Mississippi: $27.95, up from $27.88 in April 2025. States with the highest hourly earners Out of all 50 states, here are the places with the highest average hourly pay: Massachusetts: $42.21, with 33.3 hours per week. Washington: $41.99, with 34.6 hours per week. California: $40.69, with 33.2 hours per week. Minnesota: $39.26, with 32.8 hours per week. Colorado: $39.02, with 33.0 hours per week. New York: $38.91, with 32.7 hours per week. Connecticut: $38.88, with 33.4 hours per week. Alaska: $37.85, with 34.6 hours per week. New Jersey: $37.82, with 33.2 hours per week. Hawaii: $37.34, with 32.7 hours per week. What is the minimum wage in Tennessee? Technically, Tennessee has no state minimum wage and defaults to the federal minimum wage of $7.25. There are 34 states, territories, and districts with minimum wages that exceed the federal standard. The other 20 states or territories have a minimum wage of $7.25. In 2024, Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, proposed a bill to raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour in Tennessee, but the bill failed. Two years prior, Sen. Sara Kyle, D-Memphis, proposed a bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 in 2023, $13 in 2024, $14 in 2025, and $15 in 2026. This bill also failed. What is the living wage in Tennessee? A living wage is the hourly rate that an individual must earn to support themselves and their family while working full-time at 2,080 hours a year. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's living wage calculator, a single adult with no children living in Tennessee should earn $20.77 to achieve a living wage. The poverty wage for the same person is $7.24, meaning minimum wage pays one cent above the poverty level. In a household with two working parents and no children, each person would need to make $14.07 to have a living wage. The poverty rate wage for these people would be $4.91. A traditional family of four would need to have both parents making $23.53 an hour. The poverty wage for this family is $7.50 an hour. Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What is the average hourly pay in Tennessee? Where the state ranks
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘We are starting fresh': Mom, 6 kids displaced after accidental fire destroys inside of their home
GREEN VALLEY RANCH, Colo. (KDVR) — A mom and six of her kids are working to get back on their feet after an accidental fire destroyed and made the inside of their home unlivable. 'My brother told me he smelt something burning, so I went downstairs. It was a poof, a big fire,' said Victory Johnson, one of the kids inside the home when the fire started. 'My sister was screaming, and she tried to put out the fire, and I tried to put a bucket of water on it, but the fire wasn't going anywhere.' Free on Your TV • New FOX31+ App for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV Victory told FOX31 she and her five siblings were inside the home and had been making some food when the fire started. She told us her mom had just run out for a quick errand a little before the fire started. 'I screamed for all the kids to get out the house so they all got out of the house,' Victory said. 'Then, my sister kept trying to put the fire out, she got the fire extinguisher to get it out and just kept running back in.' Mom, Gloria Johnson, explained that she is thankful all of her kids made it out of the house, but her 16-year-old daughter did everything she could to try and stop the fire. 'I'm just thankful all my kids made it out and made it out alive,' Gloria said. 'My daughter did get burned on her leg and on her foot, and she did inhale some smoke as well.' Gloria said she got the call from her kids about the fire and panicked. 'I got the call telling me, 'Mom, the house is on fire,'' Gloria said. 'You know people don't joke like that, but I thought no way, but it all happened so fast.' Tornadoes touchdown in NE Colorado, egg-sized hail reported: Photos, NWS data Gloria said she was right behind the firetrucks racing home. She said once she got outside the house, she realized how much damage had been done. She has rented that home for 17 years and raised all of her kids there. 'I guess you think this will never happen to you,' Gloria said. 'You hear about fires, you see about fires, but you don't think it'll happen to you.' Denver Fire confirmed with FOX31 that the house fire was incidental (meaning accidental) and started in the kitchen. Fire investigators also confirmed that one person, the 16-year-old daughter, was taken to a local hospital. 'This is our home, she was really trying to get the fire out, she was really trying to get the fire out,' Victory said. The family is now displaced and since they are such a large family, she said they are all living in different locations until they can find a better spot. She explained they have had help from the Red Cross, but basically left the home with only the clothes on their backs. 'When you've lived somewhere for so many years, it's like, how do you start over, you know?' Gloria said. 10 years later: Deadly shooting of Windsor cyclist John Jacoby still not solved FOX31 walked inside the home and saw the entire inside destroyed and the fire and smoke damage carried even to the upstairs. 'Right now we are starting fresh, we will eventually need new housing, new furniture, things like that, but at this point everything can be replaced,' Gloria said. 'The most important part is we still have each other and even when I get down or get sad, I think we still have each other, I have my kids and everyone made it out alive.' The family has started a GoFundMe to help raise money for clothes/furniture/new housing. If you'd like to help them out, you can by clicking on this link. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
09-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Colorado mother, 6 children displaced after fire rips through home
A Colorado family is rebuilding after a devastating fire tore through their home, displacing six children and their mother. The fire broke out on April 29, while Gloria Johnson briefly stepped out to grab dinner. Moments later, her worst fear became reality. A Colorado family is rebuilding after a devastating fire tore through their home, displacing six children and their mother. CBS "I had just had a long day, and I was very tired," Johnson recalled. "I was going to grab food and be right back. Then I got a call from my daughter saying the house was on fire." She raced home, following fire trucks through the neighborhood. "I was calling her, and she wasn't answering. I was just trying to make sure she got everybody out," said Johnson, who has 12 children—six of whom were living in the home at the time. She's raising them alone. The fire started in the kitchen. Her daughter attempted to extinguish the fire herself using the family's fire extinguisher, but the flames spread too fast. "She tried so hard," Johnson said through tears. "She felt so guilty because she wanted to save the house. This is the only house she's ever known." The daughter suffered burns to her leg and foot and inhaled a dangerous amount of smoke. Despite her injuries, the teen made sure her siblings escaped safely. Gloria Johnson had stepped out to get dinner when a fire consumed the kitchen and spread throughout the home. CBS "I smelled smoke upstairs," said her younger brother. "My twin went down and saw the fire. We all started crying, and my older sister kept going back in. We were telling her, 'Come out, come out!'" The children made it to a neighbor's home, where the youngest sat in a truck in their pajamas, shivering. The fire nearly reached the furnace before crews arrived. The family's home is now uninhabitable. "I was hoping it was just the stove," Johnson said. "But when I did the walk-through with firefighters, I was in disbelief. It's black inside. Everything melted - furniture, TVs, clothes." Trophies, family photos, and a chair that belonged to Johnson's late sister were also lost. "We won the 2013 AYL Super Bowl," another son said. "All that work, all those trophies, gone. You can't get that back." The family has been split up among relatives as they search for a way to stay together. "This is their safe place," Johnson said. "There's no place like home, and now they don't have one." The kids are struggling with nightmares and trauma. She's now working with social workers to secure counseling and trauma support. "I've been crying over the memories," Johnson said. "Birthdays, holidays, laughter, it all happened here." The family is working to stay together after the devastating fire. CBS Despite the devastation, the Johnson family is clinging to gratitude and community support. Friends, schools, the Red Cross, and several nonprofits have stepped in to help. "We left with what we had on our backs," Johnson said. "But we have each other. We'll make more memories, God willing, in a new home." A crowdfunding campaign has been created to help the family with emergency expenses and long-term recovery.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LIVE: Tennessee General Assembly votes on school vouchers
11:54 EST: Three Gloria Johnson amendments tabled Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) brought forth three amendments she said would create more accountability for private schools that take vouchers, largely relating to student testing. All three amendments were tabled along largely party-line votes. Amendment allowing undocumented students to access vouchers fails 11:30 EST: Rep. Gabby Salinas's (D-Memphis) amendment 14 called for removing a provision that would prevent undocumented students from using vouchers. Johnny Garrett's motion to table is approved 74-25 after Salinas refers to the Pleier v Doe position, which prevents public schools from discriminating against or denying education to undocumented children. 11:15 EST: Rep. Yusuf Hakeem (D-Chattanooga) calls for an annual audit of private schools that accept vouchers to try and prevent what he says has been a problem in other statewide voucher states — for-profit schools that 'pop up' to take advantage of the new opportunity. Hakeem called it an additional accountability measure. Rep. Jeremy Faison's (R-Cosby) motion to table, saying parents are the primary means of accountability because of their ability to choose their child's school. The amendment was tabled. 11:11 EST: Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville) offers an amendment (Amendment 8) that school systems receive inflation-adjusted 'hold harmless' payments if they have loss of enrollment. As with previous Democrat-generated amendments, this one was tabled on a largely party line vote. After the bill's sponsor, Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) brought the bill to the House floor, discussion was opened. Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) was the first to be recognized amid discussion of the bill and called it a 'scam' multiple times and referenced previous times the vouchers had been considered in Tennessee. He argued that the bill ought to stand on its merit alone instead of rebranding it. Mitchell had proposed an amendment that aimed to change the verbiage of the bill and retitle it the 'Governor Bill Lee Private School Voucher Bribery Scam Subsidy Act.' Mitchell failed to get the necessary votes to pass the amendment. Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville) also spoke on behalf of an amendment he had proposed to the bill in relation to Tennessee Lottery funds. Lamberth responded and moved to table the amendment, which was passed by the majority. Hemmer then spoke to another amendment he filed that he said called to attention the hypocrisy of the bill, but he withdrew it. Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) began the discussion of his amendment by reflecting on the recent fatal school shooting in his district at Antioch High School. He said after the shooting, he wrote to Governor Bill Lee and asked him to expand the special session to address school shootings and how they could be prevented. Powell said little action was taken after Lee called a special session after the Covenant School shooting. 'And here we are yet again facing another school shooting in our community,' Powell said. Powell said several of his constituents had expressed their opposition to school vouchers, which he mirrors. However, Powell said the feelings he and his district have toward vouchers is eclipsed by the horror students have experienced returning to the place where a shooting occurred. As a result, Powell said he has filed an amendment to allocate funds that would allow the portion of a school where a shooting occurred to be torn down and rebuilt differently to spare students the pain of returning to it. Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) responded to Powell and said that while he recognizes the difficulty students at Antioch face, he did not see the relevance of the amendment and moved to table it. That move drew a loud and emotional reaction from Powell who insisted that the time to address gun violence and help children was now. 'We can do this right now on behalf of Antioch High School,' Powell said. The motion to table Powell's amendment passed. Before Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) began the discussion of his amendment, House Speaker Cameron Sexton warned people in the gallery to remain quiet and not interrupt the proceedings. Clemmons' amendment sought to make a provisional $2,000 bonus for teachers that is part of the voucher bill as part of their base salary instead. Garrett again responded and said while he hopes the bonus does eventually become part of the salary, he asked to table Clemmons' amendment. Clemmons argued that that seems hollow as the bonus is conditional on the passage of the vouchers. Clemmons' amendment was also tabled. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Tennessee lawmakers are deciding the fate of Governor Bill Lee's Education Freedom Act on Thursday. The act, commonly referred to as school vouchers, would provide families with publicly-funded scholarships that could be put toward tuition at a private school or any other school of parents' choice. The Tennessee House of Representatives will take up the bill, HB6004, first at 10:30 a.m. ET. If the bill passes the House, it must then clear the Tennessee Senate, which convenes at noon. The school voucher bill is the first item on the agenda for the House and the second of only two items on the Senate's agenda. Establishing the voucher program was a primary reason Lee called the ongoing special session, in addition to passing Hurricane Helene relief for East Tennessee and passing legislation related to immigration. The Education Freedom Act has drawn heavy criticism from public school boards and superintendents, and Northeast Tennessee lawmakers found themselves split on their opinions of the bill before heading to Nashville. Lee attempted to push the voucher program through last year, but it failed to pass the legislative bodies at the time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher bill soars through House committees
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher bill, which would use tax money to pay for students to private school or other options if their parents choose, quickly passed through two House committees, on track to be debated on the House floor as early as Wednesday evening. The process didn't come without some resistance from Democrats, who strongly oppose the bill, claiming it would take funding from public schools, among other concerns. Just two hours before the first House committee hearing, lawmakers filed a lengthy amendment that would require a sample of students who receive a voucher to take a standardized test like TCAP—the same test administered in public schools—so the state could compare scores. PHOTOS: Protesters convene at TN State Capitol In addition, the amendment prioritizes which public school districts would receive funding generated from sports betting, which the bill promises it will allocate to public schools to use for maintenance and construction. The amendment says districts in at-risk and distressed counties and high performing, fast growing districts would get first dibs at the money. Then, any districts facing natural disaster recovery could receive money. If there is any funding left, the remaining districts could apply for the money. During the House Education Committee hearing, Democrats tried their best to pick apart the bill, questioning the sponsor and witnesses testifying on the bill, however, just before the vote, Republicans blocked them from asking any more questions. Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) called the act 'authoritarianism.' 'They can't answer questions on their bill because it's bad, because the people don't want it; they don't care. This is about billionaire interests from outside of our state. That's what all of this is about,' Johnson told News 2's Tori Gessner. However, Republicans in favor of the bill say it's about giving parents more options to choose the best education for their child. 'This money doesn't come from TISA, period, it comes from the general fund,' House Majority Leader William Lamberth said. 'There is no money coming from public schools at all. I know you don't want to believe it, but yes, that is absolutely too good for both parties. You may not want to believe it, but it's true. Public schools will continue to receive all the money and then some they're going to receive, and we're setting up a scholarship fund. It is very different from really anything anybody has done in the nation.' The bill easily passed both the House Education and Government Operations committees, along a party-line vote. The bill also passed the Finance, Ways and Means Committee Tuesday evening. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
