Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement Wednesday after a Senate vote to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour fell six votes short of breaking a filibuster:
“It is simply unacceptable that a single parent working a full 40 hours a week to support a family still has to live in poverty. America is a place where hard work is supposed to be rewarded, where anyone can earn their way ahead in our economy. But today, Senate obstruction denied an opportunity to raise the minimum wage to a level that can give millions of hardworking Americans a chance at some basic economic security. Hardworking Americans deserve better. They deserve a fair shot to succeed in our economy.”
Senator Gillibrand is an original cosponsor of and has worked hard to pass the Minimum Wage Fairness Act. The federal minimum wage was last increased in 2009. According to studies, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over three years would:
- Increase wages for 1.6 million New Yorkers, including an estimated 856,000 women;
- Boost New York State’s GDP by $656.8 million;
- Support the creation of 3,100 New York jobs;
- Lift nearly 210,000 New Yorkers out of poverty.