FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Dec. 2, 2005
Contact: Dan Farough
Phone: (517) 373-2093
LANSING - Detroit Democrats today denounced Republicans for refusing to help working families when they voted against raising the minimum wage to $7.15 an hour, a move Democrats said shows Michigan families that hard work is valued.
"Raising the minimum wage gives families the opportunity to improve their quality of life," said State Representative Bill McConico (D-Detroit), chair of the Detroit Caucus. "We want to pay workers fairly for their hard work. We want to give young families a good start in life."
"This vote does not helping our working families," said Rep. LaMar Lemmons III (D-Detroit). "This legislation that passed is threatening our families and jeopardizing their opportunity for a better quality of life."
Democrats proposed an amendment that would extend unemployment benefits to 52 weeks, from the current 26 weeks. Republicans rejected both amendments.
"People who lost their jobs by no fault of their own need additional help in these hard economic times," Rep. Gabe Leland (D-Detroit) said. "Not giving them an extension on unemployment benefits is neglect."
"Republicans had a chance to stand up for those who are economically under privileged," Rep. Virgil Smith (D-Detroit) said. "Instead, they chose to ignore the basic needs of struggling families."
House Democrats have introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage to $7.15 an hour, up from the federal rate of $5.15 an hour, which has been unchanged since 1997.
The value of the dollar is at its lowest since 1949. In Michigan, a $7.15-an-hour minimum wage would directly benefit more than 460,000 workers. To date, 16 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages that are higher than the federal $5.15 an hour.