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Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday introduced new legislation that would bring the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024 after wage hikes took effect in 20 different states this year.
More than 100 Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors of House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott's Raise the Wage Act of 2019, which aims to ensure all working Americans earn a living wage. It's expected to give roughly 40 million Americans a bump in pay, according to a press advisory. Once fully phased in, the average affected worker would see about a $3,500 increase in annual pay. Today, one in nine U.S. workers earn wages that leave them in poverty, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a companion bill in the Senate with 31 cosponsors. He laid out an argument on Twitter Monday for a hike in the federal minimum wage, which remains at $7.25, where it has hovered since 2009.
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