U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has introduced legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $17 for all workers.
The “Raise the Wage Act” has Democratic support in the Senate and House of Representatives. While raising the minimum wage, it also would gradually eliminate sub-minimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth workers.
Last year, nearly one in four workers in the U.S. made less than $17 per hour. In New York, the minimum wage is currently $15.50 in most parts of the state and $16.50 on Long Island and in New York City, and Westchester. According to analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), passing the Raise the Wage Act would provide raises to 213,000 New Yorkers.
The value of the current federal minimum wage – $7.25 per hour – is the lowest it has been since 1956 and has declined significantly since it was last increased in 2009. Black and Hispanic workers disproportionately feel the burden of these low wages as compared to their white counterparts, and that disparity is even worse for women of color. Nearly 40 percent of Hispanic women and 35 percent of Black women make less than $17 per hour.
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