FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY CONTINUES IN THE HOUSE

In a late voting session last Friday, the House majority pushed through a bill that tied an increase in the minimum wage to additional tax breaks for our country’s wealthiest citizens.  I believe that pairing an overdue minimum wage hike for low income workers to unnecessary tax cuts is a mistake.  That’s why I have urged my colleagues in the Senate to support a fair increase in the minimum wage that is not attached to financially risky tax cuts.
 
For the past nine years, the Republican Majority has thwarted congressional efforts to raise the minimum wage for our citizens working at the lowest-paying jobs.  This latest bill is no exception, as the Senate has rejected such legislative efforts in the past.  Given rising energy and health care costs, the current minimum wage is not sufficient to keep our nation’s low income workers out of poverty.  

It is time for Congress to act in a serious way to keep working families out of poverty. A full time job should be sufficient for American workers to pay for the basic necessities, but for those currently earning minimum wage it too often is not.  That’s why Congress must pass legislation now that stands on its own to raise the minimum wage.

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