Increase the Minimum Wage

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 hasn’t been raised since 2009. If it were indexed to inflation, it would be over $9, and if it were pegged to the cost of living, it would be around $10.50. Today, most Americans agree it’s time to raise it.

However, it doesn’t seem like federal lawmakers have any interest in bringing up the minimum wage at the national level. That’s why many states and local governments are going ahead and raising it on their own.

Minimum wage policies do help raise the wages for America’s lowest-paid workers — making an adequate minimum wage an important pillar of a national antipoverty agenda.

Brenda Lawrence will fight to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

Support Student Loan Bailout

The economic impact is real. Federal watchdog agencies like the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are already sounding the alarm. Every day, this exploding debt stops more and more young people from moving out of their parents’ homes, from saving for a down payment, buying homes, buying cars, starting small businesses, saving for retirement, or making purchases that grow our economy.

Forty million Americans have outstanding student loans. The Bank on StudentsEmergency Loan Refinancing Act will save millions of these young people hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, putting real money back into their pockets. The sooner we pass refinancing legislation, the sooner they’ll get a little bit of relief.

Brenda Lawrence supports the Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) plan for college age students. This legislation would spend $51 billion over the next decade bailing out people who have trouble paying down their student loans, and offsetting that cost by raising taxes on high-income earners.

Support Paid Sick Leave

IWPR’s analysis also affirms fundamental inequities in paid sick days access by income, demonstrating that the workers who are least likely to have paid sick days are also those who can least afford to take an unpaid day off when they catch a cold or a child gets sick. According to IWPR, 83 percent of workers who are paid $65,000 or more annually have paid sick days, but just 28 percent of workers who are paid less than $20,000 per year can earn them.

The analysis also reveals new details about the gap in access between part-time and full-time workers. Seventy percent of full-time workers (those who work 35 or more hours per week) earn paid sick days, compared to less than 11 percent of those who work fewer than 20 hours per week. This means that people who have to piece together multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet are highly unlikely to earn paid sick days at any of their jobs – adding unnecessary pressure and financial strain.

Brenda Lawrence will enact a progressive agenda that will make it clear the need for public policy standards that guarantee all workers can earn the time they need to care for their health and their families without sacrificing their jobs or economic security.

Source: Brenda Lawrence.com