Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour could put 3.7 million Americans out of work, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
That didn’t stop all seven of Virginia’s Democrat Representatives from voting for a bill that would do just that earlier this week.
“You know there’s not a a city or county in the United States where a person working 40 hours a week at the minimum wage can afford a modest two bedroom apartment,” Rep. Bobby Scott, D-3rd, told the Daily Press. “I’m not talking about San Francisco or Manhattan; that’s everywhere in the United States.”
Republican Whip Rep. Steve Scalise sounded alarm bells, though.
“This report conclusively states that the Democrats’ latest ‘solution’ for American workers will put up to an estimated 3.7 million of those workers out of a job and will be devastating for our economy,” he said before the vote.
“We just saw an extremely strong June jobs report that included 224,000 new jobs and 3.1% wage growth, thanks to the work of President Trump and Congressional Republicans to cut taxes and eliminate bureaucratic red tape,” Scales said.
“Why are Democrats so determined to reverse our progress and hurt American workers? This $15-an-hour number was picked out of thin air and is not supported by any reasonable economic analysis.”
State-level Democrats are on the same train. No fewer than 14 House and Senate Democrats supported similar legislation during the 2019 General Assembly Session.