21 Democratic cosponsors on $15 min. wage bill introduced today

[PatsFan87]

This morning, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) re-introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Their legislation, dubbed the Raise the Wage Act, would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, increasing it from its current level of $7.25 an hour to $9.20 an hour once it’s passed and then adding about a dollar a year for seven years until it gets to $15. It would rise automatically after that as the country’s median wages rose.

The bill would eventually do away with the separate tipped minimum wage, which currently allows those who earn tips as part of their compensation to be paid as little as $2.13 an hour by their employers. It would increase that rate to $3.15 and then gradually raise it so it would eventually reach $15 an hour.

It also would get rid of lower minimum wages for disabled workers and those under the age of 20 who are newly hired, gradually increasing them to reach $15 an hour. As things currently stand, employers are able to get special certificates for hiring disabled workers that allow them to pay less than the minimum wage required for all other workers.

https://thinkprogress.org/democrats-15-minimum-wage-bill-f7631a21ec24

The 21 cosponsors are:

Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Al Franken (D-Minn.)
Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
Tim Kaine (D-Va.)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)

It'd be great to get out there and control the narrative on raising the minimum wage, thus putting pressure on Republicans and painting them as anti-worker.

[Renew Deal]

1. It's a symbolic gesture

Until the president changes

[emulatorloo]

2. Definitely worth getting on the record though

[Orsino]

3. This will help us work up a list of Dem Concresscritters...

...who think workers aren't worth $15/hour.

[demmiblue]

4. Neither of my senators cosponsored, which would have been a good/strategic move...

seeing as Michigan went for Trump partially due to perceived economic issues.

Ah well, it is nice to see 21 senators putting it out there.