Congress Must Act Quickly to Secure Higher Minimum Wage

Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the introduction of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021:

"There's no denying that working people are in desperate need of a fairer federal minimum wage. The Raise the Wage Act will address inequities among historically marginalized groups and increase wages for millions -- including the essential workers who have sacrificed so much for all of us through the COVID-19 crisis. It's crucially important that Congress act swiftly by passing this legislation to give working people and their families the economic opportunity they need and deserve."

In 2019, The Leadership Conference testified before the House Education and Labor Committee in support of the Raise the Wage Act. And in 2018, The Leadership Conference's sister organization, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, along with the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, released a report, "Bare Minimum: Why We Need to Raise Wages for America's Lowest-Paid Families." Bare Minimum makes the case for raising wages and eliminating carve-outs to the federal minimum wage that is grounded in history, economics, and movements across the country, and particularly in the lived experience of our nation's lowest-paid working people.