Create jobs by raising minimum wage, report finds
Des Moines, Iowa --More than 300,000 Iowa workers would get an average $560/year pay raise if a bill proposed by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin to raise the minimum wage to $9.60 over three years were passed into law, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington D.C.-based think tank.Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund (CCI Action) members call on President Barack Obama and his presidential contender Mitt Romney to prove they are serious about job creation and support the proposal on the campaign trail this fall.The new EPI report finds that raising the federal minimum wage would have important national implications as well, creating more than 100,000 new jobs, giving 28 million American workers a raise, and generating nearly $40 billion in increased wages.An increase in purchasing power can fuel demand, creating new jobs.“We need to raise the minimum wage to put Iowans back to work,” said Ross Grooters, a train engineer from Pleasant Hill. “We want to know where politicians running for office like Obama, Romney, Steve King, Christie Vilsack, Tom Latham, and Leonard Boswell stand on creating jobs by helping low-wage workers get a leg up.”CCI Action members also point to a report released last year showing that policymakers could pump nearly $140 million per year into Iowa’s economy, creating 2,056 jobs every year, by forcing big banks on Wall Street to write down all underwater home mortgages to market value.
Join in the fight
- Contact us for more information
- Join as an Iowa CCI Action Fund member today or chip in $10 to support our organizing on this issue.
- Sign up for our E-Mail Action list to get the latest updates
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
Click LIKE and TWEET to share this article with your friends.