House to vote on $15 federal minimum wage Thursday
by Sean Higgins
| July 16, 2019 06:38 PM
The House of Representatives will vote Thursday on legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, more than double the current rate of $7.25 an hour. The legislation, titled the Raise the Wage Act, is unlikely to be picked up by the Republican-controlled Senate.
The vote had originally been expected for Wednesday but has been pushed back a day, the House Majority Leader's office told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats have pointed out that it has been more than a decade since the minimum was increased. However a study by the Joint Economic Committee released Tuesday noted that an increase to just $10.15 an hour would bring the minimum wage in line with inflation. Last week, the Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business trade association, proposed a raise to that level, but the offer has found few takers within the majority Democratic Party.
"The federal minimum wage is stuck at $7.25/hr. That wasn't enough ten years ago when it was first implemented, and it isn’t enough now. It’s long past time to #RaiseTheWage so every American can earn $15/hr for a single job," Ro Khanna, a California Democrat tweeted Tuesday.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/house-to-vote-on-15-federal-minimum-wage-thursday
