Minimum Wage Set to Increase July 24

Op-Ed

Minimum Wage Set to Increase July 24

MINIMUM WAGE RISES TO $6.55 ON JULY 24

Increase Represents the Second Step in Three Step Minimum Wage Increase

Last year, Congress approved and the President signed into law, legislation of which I was a cosponsor to significantly increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. Last year, the minimum wage increased from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour, and on July 24, 2008 the federal minimum wage will rise from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour. The final phase of the increase to $7.25 an hour will take place on July 24, 2009.

Americans who work hard and play by the rules should be able to earn enough to provide for their families. For ten years under a Republican controlled Congress, the minimum wage was frozen at $5.15 an hour, a wage far too low to provide for the needs of a family, as gas prices, food costs and health insurance costs continued to rise. This represented the longest period in the history of the minimum wage law that minimum wage workers failed to receive an increased wage.

Raising the minimum wage to $7.25 will provide an additional $4,400 per year for families of the minimum wage workers. The increase in the minimum wage will benefit more than 12 million workers nationwide either directly or indirectly as a result of a new wage floor, including nearly 500,000 workers in Virginia. Nationwide, 3.1 million parents will benefit from the increase.

Increasing the minimum wage is a key step in working to strengthen the economy for all Americans, and I am pleased that that last year Congress approved and the President signed into law this minimum wage increase.

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