Peters discusses possible minimum wage hike
WASHINGTON, D.C. — There’s an ongoing effort in Washington to increase the federal hourly minimum wage over the next five years.
Senator Gary Peters was one of 33 people in the U.S. Senate to sponsor the ‘Raise the Wage Act.’ The bill would increase the federal hourly minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $12 an hour by 2020.
“What we have seen repeatedly when the minimum wage is raised is that the economy actually continues to grow,” said Peters. “Paying a wage that allows a person to live on it and to be above the poverty line is good for the economy.”
The American people believe that it is time to increase the minimum wage and it’s essential that middle class folks start seeing wage increases or our economy will not be strong,” Peters went on to say. “You cannot have a strong economy, you can not have a strong democracy, if you don’t have a strong and vibrant middle class.”
According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, raising the federal minimum wage would give 38 million Americans a raise.