Pascrell Helps Lead New Push to Finally Raise Federal Minimum Wage

Raise the Wage Act would lift minimum wage to $17 by 2028 after years of inaction

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today joined nearly 150 House Democratic colleagues and labor champions introducing yet another effort to raise the federal minimum wage. The Raise the Wage Act would lift the minimum wage to $17 by 2028.

“The last time the federal minimum wage was raised the original Avatar was in theaters and the New York Yankees were actually good,” said Congressman Pascrell. “The failure to raise the federal minimum wage for now 14 years is a slap in the face to the working class and a disgrace to America. The current $7.25 an hour is unconscionable, a poverty wage, a starvation wage, upon which families cannot make ends meet. Raising the minimum wage will help feed children, lift workers, help businesses, and boost the entire economy. The House passed a minimum wage increase, only to be blocked by Senate Republicans. Raise the damn wage – it is time.”

After more than a decade with no increase in the federal minimum wage – the longest period in U.S. history – millions of American workers are working full-time jobs but are still struggling to make ends meet.

A whopping one-in-eight U.S. workers are paid wages that leave them in poverty, even when working full time and year-round. And there is now no place in America where a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage can afford to cover the rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment.

The Raise the Wage Act of 2023 would:

• Gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 by 2028;
• Index future increases in the federal minimum wage to median wage growth to ensure the value of minimum wage does not once again erode over time;
• Guarantee tipped workers are paid at least the full federal minimum wage by phasing out the subminimum wage for tipped workers, which will ensure decent, consistent pay without eliminating tips;
• Guarantee teen workers are paid at least the full federal minimum wage by phasing out the rarely used subminimum wage for youth workers; and
• End subminimum wage certificates for workers with disabilities to provide opportunities for workers with disabilities to be competitively employed and participate more fully in their communities.

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