25
Jul
2014
Braley fighting to raise minimum wage to $10.10/hr & restore its purchasing power
Des Moines, IA - To mark the five-year anniversary of the last federal minimum wage increase, Bruce Braley today reiterated his call for an overdue increase to the minimum wage that would provide 300,000 Iowans with a raise.
While obstructionists in Washington and Iowa and oil billionaires like the Koch brothers are actively working to oppose a minimum wage increase, Braley has been a leader in fighting to increase the minimum wage to $10.10/hr to help lift thousands of Iowa working families out of poverty and strengthen Iowa's economy.
"No one in Iowa should work a full-time job and live near or below the poverty line," Bruce Braley said. "But five years after the last minimum wage increase, the minimum wage buys less and less for Iowa's workers. I refuse to allow partisan obstructionism in Washington and Iowa to keep our families at poverty-level wages while we provide tax breaks to oil billionaires. Instead, I am committed to raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, strengthening our economy, and providing a pay raise to 300,000 Iowans because I believe all Iowans deserve a fair wage for a hard day's work."
Braley is a sponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act that would increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10/hr and then tie future increases to inflation. According to a Des Moines Register poll, 65% of Iowans believe the minimum wage should be increased.
Since reaching its peak in 1968 at $10.69 an hour (in 2013 dollars), the minimum wage's purchasing power has steadily declined and left working Iowans struggling to support their families. Today's federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr means an Iowan working 40 hours a week would make just $15,000 a year.
A report from Progress Iowa earlier this year found that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10/hr would infuse more than $270 million into Iowa's economy.
While obstructionists in Washington and Iowa and oil billionaires like the Koch brothers are actively working to oppose a minimum wage increase, Braley has been a leader in fighting to increase the minimum wage to $10.10/hr to help lift thousands of Iowa working families out of poverty and strengthen Iowa's economy.
"No one in Iowa should work a full-time job and live near or below the poverty line," Bruce Braley said. "But five years after the last minimum wage increase, the minimum wage buys less and less for Iowa's workers. I refuse to allow partisan obstructionism in Washington and Iowa to keep our families at poverty-level wages while we provide tax breaks to oil billionaires. Instead, I am committed to raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, strengthening our economy, and providing a pay raise to 300,000 Iowans because I believe all Iowans deserve a fair wage for a hard day's work."
Braley is a sponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act that would increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10/hr and then tie future increases to inflation. According to a Des Moines Register poll, 65% of Iowans believe the minimum wage should be increased.
Since reaching its peak in 1968 at $10.69 an hour (in 2013 dollars), the minimum wage's purchasing power has steadily declined and left working Iowans struggling to support their families. Today's federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr means an Iowan working 40 hours a week would make just $15,000 a year.
A report from Progress Iowa earlier this year found that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10/hr would infuse more than $270 million into Iowa's economy.
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