[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 64 (Thursday, May 1, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2605-S2606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE MINIMUM WAGE

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to voice my 
disappointment over yesterday's vote to increase the Federal minimum 
wage. It is vitally important that working families receive a long-
overdue pay increase, but once again the Senate failed to move forward 
on a crucial piece of legislation.
  At $7.25 per hour, today's Federal minimum wage fails to provide a 
living wage for many Americans. Working a standard 40-hour week, 52 
weeks a year, with no time off and no sick days, the minimum wage pays 
just over $15,000 a year.
  In many parts of the country, including California, that salary is 
nowhere near enough for an individual to subsist, let alone a family.
  It is difficult to fathom how a single mother working a minimum wage 
job--or jobs--can survive. These are the Americans who would benefit 
from this bill.
  To get a better idea of what the standard 40-hour-a-week worker must 
earn to meet basic necessities, I had my staff look at the cost-of-
living in various California cities.
  In San Francisco, a single adult with no children would need to earn 
over $12 an hour to meet basic necessities.
  In Los Angeles, they would need to make over $11 dollars an hour. The 
same goes for San Diego. That amount only increases for families.
  By one measure, a single mother with two children living in San 
Francisco would have to earn almost $30 an hour just to meet basic 
necessities.
  I would add that we aren't debating an exorbitant increase. Moving 
from $7.25 to $10.10 would still leave many low-income working families 
well short of a living wage. But it is a start, and it would benefit 
millions of low-income working Americans.
  According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed minimum 
wage increase would increase incomes for 16.5 million low-wage workers; 
97 percent of the low-wage working population would benefit from this 
increase; 900,000 low-wage workers would move above the poverty line; 
and the increase in the federal minimum wage could reduce demands on 
other Federal assistance programs.
  A lot of attention has been given to CBO's estimate that increasing 
the minimum wage would lead to 500,000 job losses for low wage workers. 
It is important to note that CBO's estimate is the median in a wide 
range of estimates on the employment effects of increases in the 
minimum wage.
  When you study the report, you find that most estimates of job losses 
related to increases in the minimum wage are clustered around zero, 
which means that most studies have found that increasing the minimum 
wage has a negligible effect on employment.
  This isn't to say businesses won't have to make some adjustments. 
Some will have to raise prices, some might see slightly reduced 
profits, and some might slow hiring or choose to reduce their 
workforce.
  But the effects will not be devastating, as opponents of the minimum 
wage increase suggest. In fact, cities and States throughout the 
country are natural experiments for the effects of a minimum wage 
increase on jobs.
  The minimum wage in San Francisco is currently $10.79 per hour. Far 
from an economic catastrophe, San Francisco is enjoying a sustained 
period of economic growth and employment. San Jose, which has a similar 
minimum wage, also has a robust labor market.
  Bloomberg has also researched the effects of minimum wage increases 
on employment and found that employment effects are negligible and, in 
general, States that have recently raised the minimum wage are actually 
creating more jobs than those that haven't.
  Washington State increased its minimum wage in 1998 and tied the wage 
to increases in inflation. The minimum wage is currently the highest in 
the country.
  Since that time, annual job growth in Washington has outpaced the 
rest of the country, and the service industry has added thousands of 
jobs. There are many other examples of localities that exceed the 
Federal minimum wage and continue to experience sustained job growth.
  It is clear to me that businesses are capable of adjusting for an 
increase in the minimum wage in a way that will allow them to thrive.
  And a minimum wage increase would not only alleviate some of the 
burdens and obstacles facing the low wage work force, it would also put 
more than $30 billion in the pockets of workers struggling to get by, 
those most in need of a pay raise.
  According to many economists, that additional income could spur local 
economies, more than offsetting any negative effects from a minimum 
wage increase.
  In a time of nearly unprecedented income inequality--during which the 
wealthy have actually made even more money--it is vitally important 
that Congress enacts laws to allow all

[[Page S2606]]

Americans to benefit from economic advancement.
  Increasing the minimum wage is certainly not the only option. 
Congress should be looking elsewhere to do even more to ensure that 
children born into low income families aren't locked into a life of 
poverty. But increasing the minimum wage would be a step toward that 
goal. It would also serve as an indication that Congress appreciates 
the daunting challenges posed by income inequality and is willing to 
confront them.
  Mr. President, I fully support an increase in the minimum wage and I 
hope that we can come together to find a way to reconsider the minimum 
wage bill and move it forward.

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