Democratic Lawmakers Announce $15 Minimum Wage Bill
Call for modernizing Ohio’s wages, giving 1.8 million
Ohioans a raise
Ohio Democratic state lawmakers, workers and advocates last
week announced a bill to address Ohio’s bad economic growth
and low wages with new legislation to increase Ohio’s
minimum wage to $15 per hour. House Assistant Democratic
Whip Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati), Senate Assistant
Democratic Whip Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) and state
Senator Joe Schiavoni (D-Boardman) called for the
legislation, which would give a raise to 1.8 million
Ohioans.
“A job should lift you out of poverty – not keep you in it,”
said Rep. Kelly. “America is supposed to be the land of
opportunity, but too many people in Ohio know it doesn’t
matter how hard they work, they still have to live paycheck
to paycheck to make ends meet. By modernizing our minimum
wage, more people can earn the opportunity for a better
life.”
Today almost 70 percent of new jobs in Ohio pay poverty
wages. And an Ohio family of three with a breadwinner who
works full-time at minimum wage makes $3,500 below the
poverty line, according to Policy Matters Ohio.
“When companies pay low wages, that costs the taxpayers,”
said Senator Thomas. “That’s because low-wage workers are
forced to rely on social safety net programs to make ends
meet. When we raise the minimum wage, we recognize the
dignity of work and the belief that all workers deserve the
opportunity to build a better future for themselves and
their families.”
Small businesses agree that an increase in income for
low-wage workers is good for business. A 2014 survey found
that small business owners believe raising the minimum wage
will increase consumer purchasing power, boost the economy
and increase productivity.
“Raising the minimum wage is good for our economy and good
for business,” said Senator Schiavoni. “When people are
bringing home more money, they spend it in their local
economy. That means increased demand for goods and services
creating more jobs.”
Despite the myth that minimum wage earners are young
people, 88 percent of Ohio’s minimum wage workers are over
20. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average
minimum wage worker is a 35-year-old woman with some college
education working full-time. Raising the wage helps women
and their families. If Ohio increases its minimum wage,
nearly 700,000 Ohio children will have a parent who gets a
raise.
“No one who works full-time in our state should have to live
in poverty,” said Chaundra Kidd, a Cleveland-area nursing
home employee. “Working people deserve a wage that allows
them to provide for their families. Raising the minimum wage
gives workers a fighting chance for a better future.”
Ohio’s minimum wage currently sits at $8.30 per hour and
$4.15 per hour for tipped workers. The companion legislation
being introduced by the Democratic lawmakers would take a
tiered approach to raising the wage, calling for $12 per
hour in 2019, $12.50 in 2020, $13 in 2021, and 50 cents
every following year until 2025 when the minimum wage
reaches $15 per hour. The minimum wage would continue to be
adjusted upward for inflation every year following,
according to the Ohio Constitution.
Lawmakers cite the Ohio General Assembly’s 2016 ban on local
communities raising the minimum wage as a primary reason why
this bill should move through the state legislature.
The lawmakers are currently circulating co-sponsorship
requests to gain support from fellow lawmakers prior to
formal introduction.
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