Press Release – Friday, Jan. 16
Delaware Senate Majority Caucus
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jesse Chadderdon (302) 744-4282 or (302) 743-0945;
Patrick Jackson (302) 744-4046 or (302) 242-0036
Delaware Senate Majority Caucus
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jesse Chadderdon (302) 744-4282 or (302) 743-0945;
Patrick Jackson (302) 744-4046 or (302) 242-0036
Report calls for raising minimum wage, boosting protections for Delaware workers
DOVER – Delawareans who work for minimum wage would be up for a pay raise that would be annually adjusted to compensate for inflation, if lawmakers and Gov. Jack Markell go along with the recommendations of a task force that studied issues facing low-wage and service industry workers.
“We made some progress last year, when we raised the minimum wage, but we knew we still had work to do,” said Sen. Robert I. Marshall, D-Wilmington West, the task force’s co-chairman. “We think this plan has practical recommendations that will help, not just people at the bottom of the economic ladder, but all Delawareans.”
The report calls for increasing the state’s minimum wage to $10.25 per hour by 2017. That wage would be indexed to the Consumer Price Index to account for inflationary pressures. Ultimately, the task force said the state should move to a minimum wage in the $15 per hour range, which experts testified could save the state big money in Medicaid and other social programs.
“We wanted to find practical solutions that could be enacted,” said Rep. Michael Mulrooney, D-Pennwood, the panel’s other co-chairman. “Our goal was to recommend steps that will make the lives of Delaware’s working poor better and I think we’ve done that job.”
Among its other key recommendations the seven-page report calls for:
In a minority report, Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover, and Rep. Michael Ramone, R-Pike Creek, along with the panel’s representatives from the business community, supported the panel’s calls for studying increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and increasing funding for training programs. But it cautioned against increasing minimum wages and indexing them to inflation.
2-2-2-2
Low Wage Task Force Report
XXXX … to inflation
“Every time we’ve increased the minimum wage, we’ve heard arguments that it will wreck our economy, but they’ve never materialized,” Marshall said. “The changes the majority is recommending are actions we believe will make life better for people who are struggling to get by and, incidentally, may just save the state some money.”
The panel held hearings last summer and fall, taking testimony from advocates on both sides of the issue, as well as from people who are struggling to make ends meet in low wage occupations.
“What we heard from the people who are working these jobs was a call to action,” Mulrooney said. “We have an obligation to them to do what we can to enact these recommendations.”
“We made some progress last year, when we raised the minimum wage, but we knew we still had work to do,” said Sen. Robert I. Marshall, D-Wilmington West, the task force’s co-chairman. “We think this plan has practical recommendations that will help, not just people at the bottom of the economic ladder, but all Delawareans.”
The report calls for increasing the state’s minimum wage to $10.25 per hour by 2017. That wage would be indexed to the Consumer Price Index to account for inflationary pressures. Ultimately, the task force said the state should move to a minimum wage in the $15 per hour range, which experts testified could save the state big money in Medicaid and other social programs.
“We wanted to find practical solutions that could be enacted,” said Rep. Michael Mulrooney, D-Pennwood, the panel’s other co-chairman. “Our goal was to recommend steps that will make the lives of Delaware’s working poor better and I think we’ve done that job.”
Among its other key recommendations the seven-page report calls for:
- Increasing and indexing the minimum wage paid to tipped workers.
- Increasing the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and possibly making the credit refundable.
- Giving the state’s Labor Department clear authority in cases of unpaid overtime and shielding employees who report violations of wage and hour laws.
- Increasing investment in training programs for unemployed workers.
- Developing a program to pay for needed infrastructure work.
In a minority report, Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover, and Rep. Michael Ramone, R-Pike Creek, along with the panel’s representatives from the business community, supported the panel’s calls for studying increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and increasing funding for training programs. But it cautioned against increasing minimum wages and indexing them to inflation.
2-2-2-2
Low Wage Task Force Report
XXXX … to inflation
“Every time we’ve increased the minimum wage, we’ve heard arguments that it will wreck our economy, but they’ve never materialized,” Marshall said. “The changes the majority is recommending are actions we believe will make life better for people who are struggling to get by and, incidentally, may just save the state some money.”
The panel held hearings last summer and fall, taking testimony from advocates on both sides of the issue, as well as from people who are struggling to make ends meet in low wage occupations.
“What we heard from the people who are working these jobs was a call to action,” Mulrooney said. “We have an obligation to them to do what we can to enact these recommendations.”
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Press Contacts
Scott Goss
Communications Director
(302) 744-4180
scott.goss@delaware.gov
Dylan McDowell
Communications Assistant
(302) 744-4282
dylan.mcdowell@delaware.gov
Scott Goss
Communications Director
(302) 744-4180
scott.goss@delaware.gov
Dylan McDowell
Communications Assistant
(302) 744-4282
dylan.mcdowell@delaware.gov