For Release: Immediate   Contact: Ken Willis
July 21, 2006   (202) 225-3101

Butterfield Wants House Vote on Minimum Wage Hike

Washington, DC—After casting the eighth vote to increase the federal minimum wage in the past month, Congressman G. K. Butterfield says he’s hopeful the issue will be moved forward by the House.

“It’s shameful that someone can work 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year and still fall far below the federal poverty line,” Butterfield said. “Congress owes it to the millions of Americans suffering in poverty to make every effort to get a bill passed that will provide them with some assistance in their struggle in this difficult economy.”

Butterfield pointed out that a full-time minimum wage worker earns just $10,712 per year – which is $5,888 less than the $16,600 needed to lift a family of three above the federal poverty threshold. He also said that while the costs of housing, healthcare, education and energy has been rising dramatically over the last nine years, the federal minimum wage has held steady.

It’s estimated that 6.6 million people would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage, including 1.8 million parents with children.  Nearly three-quarters of minimum wage workers are adults over the age of 20, and many are responsible for over half of their family’s income.

This week, House Democrats forced a procedural question seeking consideration of the Fair Minimum Wage Act. The move was defeated along party lines. Last week, 64 House Republicans broke party ranks and voted in support of increasing the minimum wage as part of the motion to instruct conferees to the Vocational Education Improvement Act. In all, there have been eight votes on raising the minimum wage since June 22. A similar effort is underway in the Senate.

The vote also came after 28 House Republicans sent House Majority Leader John Boehner a letter calling for the House to vote on a minimum wage increase this month, before Congress leaves for its long August recess.

Butterfield said that many states have already grasped the problem and have moved to address this situation. Twenty-three states, including North Carolina, have already raised minimum wages above the federal level. And, the issue could be on the ballot in six more states this fall.

“People in these states understand that in the four years after the last minimum wage increase, the economy experienced its strongest growth in over three decades,” Butterfield said. “Nearly 11 million new jobs were added, at a rate of more than 200,000 per month.”

Butterfield admitted that increasing the minimum wage alone won’t end the cycle of poverty in this country.

“There’s so much more that needs to be done, but this effort would be a start,” Butterfield said. “It's long past time for a fair increase in the minimum wage.”