If U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has his way, America’s minimum wage workers will soon get a raise.
The Chicago Democrat has written a bill that would increase the federal minimum wage rate to $10 per hour. According to Jackson, he will formally introduce the bill on Wednesday.
America’s federal minimum wage rate has sat at $7.25 per hour since it was last raised back in 2007. If Jackson’s bill passes, it would affect more than 30 million workers around the country. Minimum wage discussions have been part of America’s landscape since the rate was first introduced by the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act.
Jackson says he was encouraged to write the bill by Ralph Nader, a former Independent Presidential candidate and consumer advocate.