Friends,
I am extremely proud of having voted for raising the Minnesota minimum wage for the first time in eight years. The bill passed 68-62 Friday.
The minimum wage currently is $6.15 for large employers and $5.25 for small employers. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 for large employers.
Our bill will raise the minimum wage for large employers to $8.00 in 2013, $9.00 in 2014 and $9.50 in 2015 and raise the minimum wage for small employers to $7.00 in 2013, $8.00 in 2014 and $8.50 in 2015. Then, starting in 2016, the minimum wage will automatically adjust to inflation, capped at 2.5 percent.
More than 350,000 Minnesotans currently earn the minimum wage.
Even with this proposed increase, $8 an hour is far from a livable wage. An adult with a family of four would still need to work well over 100 hours a week to make a living wage.
But even these sample bumps in wages per hour will help many of those families. Many of the workers affected are the lowest paid workers in Minnesota with some of the greatest needs. It stands to reason that by giving these folks a few more dollars, those dollars will be immediately reinvested in our communities and our economies. Each dollar spent in Minnesota turns itself over many more times.
This is truly a good bill. It’s good for workers who toil doing some of the hardest work imaginable. It’s good for employers who should find it easier to retain employees. It’s good for Minnesota because history tells that every time the minimum wage is raised it boosts the economy.
Raising the minimum wage is the compassionate, moral and smart thing to do.
Stay in touch
Please feel free to contact me with your questions, suggestions and concerns. My office is room 549 in the State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-4201 and by email at rep.sheldon.johnson@house.mn. You can also monitor activities at the House, track bills, watch live video and sign up for my email update list by going to http://www.house.mn.
Have a great week,
Sheldon