Message from Senator Richard J. Durbin RE: Federal Minimum Wage

 

February 19, 2021 Mr. William Rosen ---------------------------- ---------------------------- Dear Mr. Rosen:           Thank you for contacting me about the need to increase the federal minimum wage.  I appreciate hearing from you and share your concern for working families.           I am an original cosponsor of the Raise the Wage Act, which was recently reintroduced this Congress.  This bill would gradually increase the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour by 2024.  This bill also would repeal provisions that allow tipped workers, youth, and individuals with disabilities to be paid less than the federal minimum wage.           Congress should do more to ensure that a person working full-time is paid a wage on which they can live.  In Illinois, there are about 2.3 million workers who earn less than $15 an hour.  According to 2017 estimates from the Economic Policy Institute, raising the minimum wage to $15 would increase wages for roughly 40 million people nationwide—nearly 30 percent of the workforce.  Around the country, millions of hard-working families would be lifted out of poverty.           I will keep your support for this issue in mind as I continue to work for policies that make it easier for working families to make ends meet.           Thank you again for contacting me.  Please feel free to keep in touch.
	Sincerely,       Richard J. Durbin       United States Senator
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