Texas lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are debating a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $25, with some arguing the increase is long overdue and others saying it is not sustainable for small businesses.
The Living Wage For All Act was introduced by Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and co-sponsored by Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ), who successfully fought to raise New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 in 2019. The bill would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $25 an hour.
The federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), chair of the Professional Progressive Caucus, also co-sponsored the bill and former labor organizer, said this increase is necessary given the rising cost of living over the last 17 years.
“The cost of education and healthcare and childcare went way up, and minimum wage didn’t,” Rep. Casar said during a press conference at the House Triangle on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Casar called the current “poverty” minimum wage a “scandal,” and an offense to hard-working families across the country. Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said these "starvation wages" are part of our country’s capitalist system, which she says is designed to work against these families.
“We cannot solve the cost of living, talk about affordability, in these chambers without raising wages,” she said. “That’s exactly what our Living Wages For All Act does.”
Although Casar said the bill would “phase in” the increase, Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) said it would “devastate” small businesses by eliminating entry-level jobs, accelerating automation and forcing higher prices on families already struggling with Biden-era inflation.
“You cannot legislate wealth by destroying the jobs ladder and bankrupting the people who sign the paychecks,” she said, adding that democrats are pushing this increase with “zero regard for reality.”
Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) agreed that this bill would not necessarily help all working-class families, instead leading to increased costs.
“Hardworking families don’t need clickbait slogans dressed up as policy, and they sure don’t need far-left ideas becoming costly realities for them," he said. "That isn’t ‘Living Wages for All.’ That’s living wages for none.”
