Raising the federal minimum wage is long overdue, and with the economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s now a necessity for America’s economic recovery.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney is not supporting the Raise the Wage Act, which would raise wages for 32 million Americans. Instead, he has proposed legislation that raises the minimum wage to only $10 per hour over six years after the pandemic ends, and excludes employees working at small businesses. The result: 23.9 million workers would still be receiving a starvation wage. That is unacceptable.
Not only does Romney’s plan fail to raise the minimum wage to a living wage anywhere in the country, but it also excludes undocumented workers and imposes severe penalties on any employer who hires them. This provision will pit one group of workers against another, instead of focusing on their employers who aren’t paying them enough to survive.
We appreciate that Romney agrees that we must raise the minimum wage, but his bill simply will not meet the needs of many working families in Utah and across our country. $10 an hour doesn’t cut it. How can we expect people to make ends meet with an annual pay of $20,800?
Far too many Utahns are struggling to find the money they need to keep themselves afloat during these troubled times. Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next few years would go a long way to getting them back on their feet. In January, unemployment claims spiked again reaching the highest point since last summer. The pandemic has exacerbated Utah’s pre-existing economic problems, and many across the state are in need of help.
The federal minimum wage – which is followed by Utah and 21 other states – has not been raised since 2009. It’s estimated that 35.8 percent of the workforce in our state would benefit from raising the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour. That’s just under half a million people.
Nobody should have to teeter at the edge of financial despair while working full-time. The minimum wage was created to set the floor for the bare minimum standard of living; and at $7.25 per hour, it is woefully shy of that. $10 an hour wouldn’t get us anywhere close, especially considering it won’t even reach that point under Romney’s plan until 6 years after “the end of the pandemic”.
Big business interests and their mouthpieces, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, love to fearmonger that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs, decimate small business and destroy the economy. But as small business owners ourselves, we know firsthand that their attacks are erroneous.
Study after study of localities and states across the country that have raised their minimum wage in the past few years show that, not only does a higher minimum wage increase productivity and lower employee turnover rates, it also boosts job growth for retail and small businesses while having little to no effect on overall employment levels.
Businesses – and the economy as a whole – will fare much better if consumers have enough money to meet their monthly expenses and purchase consumer goods. After all, nearly 70 percent of our economy is dependent on consumer spending. When people on limited budgets have more money, they spend more and stimulate the economy.
During a crisis, the people who are the most adversely affected are those who can least afford it. Without increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour, our current economic crisis will drag on, particularly for the most vulnerable residents of our state and nation. We need legislation that increases the minimum wage to a living wage. This is too important to let the Senate fail us now.
Sens. Romney and Lee, Utahns are watching and pleading. Please do the right thing: Pass this aid package with its minimum wage increase to $15 per hour, and give the workers of this state and nation the raise they’ve long needed and deserved.
Jonathan Ruga | Patriotic Millionaires
Scott Young | Patriotic Millionaires
Jonathan M. Ruga and Scott F. Young are members of the Patriotic Millionaires, a nonprofit group that promotes, among other fair policies, providing a sustaining wage for working Americans. They are co-founders of Sentry Financial Corp., Salt Lake City, and allocate significant time and resources to addressing the needs of vulnerable populations in our communities.
