The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since July 24, 2009 — the longest period without an increase since the minimum wage was created in 1938. Adjusted for inflation, $7.25 today is worth less than the minimum wage was worth in 1956.

The Raise the Wage Act would have gradually increased the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 and indexed it to inflation thereafter. It passed the House in 2019. McConnell refused to bring it to a vote.

He also killed attempts to include a $15 minimum wage in COVID-19 relief legislation and blocked standalone votes on multiple occasions.

How It Harmed Americans:

A full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage makes just $15,080 per year — below the poverty line for a family of two. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that raising the minimum wage to $15 would lift 1.3 million Americans out of poverty and increase wages for 32 million workers — disproportionately Black and Latino workers and working women.

Instead, because of McConnell's blockade, millions of Americans continue working full-time jobs that don't pay enough to afford basic necessities. The result is not just poverty wages but also the broader economic drag that comes when workers can't afford to participate in the economy. Meanwhile, corporate profits and CEO compensation have soared.

Reference List:

• H.R. 582, Raise the Wage Act, 116th and 117th Congress

• Economic Policy Institute, "Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift wages for over 32 million workers" (multiple updates)

• Congressional Budget Office, "The Budgetary Effects of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021"

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers"

• National Employment Law Project, "Waiting for a Raise: The Federal Minimum Wage"