For Immediate Release
Monday, January 1, 2007
Contact Information:
Susan Lehman, 212–998–86318
Paul Sonn, 212–998–6328
New York For Immediate Release
Monday, January 1, 2007
Contact Information:
Susan Lehman, 212–998–86318
Paul Sonn, 212–998–6328
New York 1.5 million low-wage workers in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio received their first minimum wage increases in ten years when voter-approved ballot initiatives took effect on January 1. In most of the states, the Brennan Center helped draft the ballot initiatives and advised the coalitions that worked to win these long overdue raises for working families.
The federal minimum wage has been frozen at just $5.15 an hour since 1997 as the Bush Administration and its congressional allies have refused to raise it. Under the voter-approved state initiatives, the minimum wage in will increase every January to keep up with the rising cost of living.
“What these states have done is an important step in restoring a meaningful minimum wage for working Americans,” said Paul Sonn, co-director of the Brennan Centers Economic Justice Project. “We need Congress to follow their lead by both raising the federal minimum wage and making sure it keeps up with the cost of living in the future.”