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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL)

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Statement from Rep. Ryan Winkler on Pay Increase for Federal Contract Workers

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Today, the White House announced plans for an executive order that will increase the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 an hour. The order will only apply to new workers and does not need congressional approval. Rep. Ryan Winkler, the Chief Author of a bill in the Minnesota House of Representatives that would raise Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, released the following statement.

 

“I’m happy to see President Obama take on such an important issue for workers in this country. Increasing wages to over $10 an hour will go a long way towards helping these workers earn a living wage. But for those who will not be receiving this pay increase, there is still plenty of work to be done. In Minnesota, we were already far behind the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. This announcement is another reminder of the urgent need to improve wages for workers across Minnesota as well. After seeing such significant increase for federal workers, I’m hopeful we’ll at least be able to find broad support for an increase to $9.50 an hour in the Legislature this year.”