Yesterday, Colorado US Senator Michael Bennet and 37 Senate colleagues introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025.
“I’ve heard time and again from Coloradans who are working as hard as they can, but still can’t afford some combination of housing, health care, child care, and other essential needs. It is unacceptable,” said Bennet. “A $15 minimum wage is about making sure that everyone who works full-time can live with dignity. This legislation is one of many steps we need to take to build an economy that creates opportunity and security for everyone.”
The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 in five steps over the next four years. Beginning in 2026, the federal minimum wage would be indexed to median wage growth. According to an independent analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, the Raise the Wage Act would increase wages for nearly 32 million Americans, including roughly a third of all Black workers and a quarter of all Latino workers.
In addition to Bennet, this legislation is cosponsored by US Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker, (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The bill text is available HERE. A section-by-section summary of the bill is available HERE. A fact sheet of the bill is available HERE.