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  • Press release
  • CBO Minimum Wage Report Shows $15 Wage Would Leave Workers “Unambiguously Better Off”

    For Immediate Release
    Monday, July 8, 2019
    Contact: Sam Quigley
    sam@pm-mig.test
    202-446-0489

     

    CBO Minimum Wage Report Shows $15 Wage Would Leave Workers “Unambiguously Better Off”

    The report finds unequivocally that the benefits of this bill outweigh the costs, with the bill giving 27.3 million low wage workers a raise and lifting 1.3 million people out of poverty.

     

    Washington, DC – This morning, following the Congressional Budget Office’s release of a score for the Raise the Wage Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024, Morris Pearl, former Managing Director of Blackrock, Inc. and Patriotic Millionaires Chairperson issued the following statement:

    “Today’s CBO report shows just how important it is to pass the Raise the Wage Act as soon as possible. The report finds unequivocally that the benefits of this bill outweigh the costs, with the bill giving 27.3 million low wage workers a raise and lifting 1.3 million people out of poverty. This is the kind of radical change that millions of struggling American workers need. Even with an inflated estimate of job losses, this report shows that low-wage workers as a whole would end up unambiguously better off as a result of the Raise the Wage Act.

    Even if the report’s estimated job loss, around 1.3 million, were accurate, this bill would still be an incredibly positive net change. That estimate, however, is much higher than what most research shows. The CBO report is radically inconsistent with the existing literature on the issue of minimum wage increases and job loss. It contradicts the emerging conventional wisdom among economists, including 134 who recently signed a letter supporting a $15 minimum wage, that minimum wage increases do not cause any meaningful levels of job loss. In fact, an overwhelming number of studies show that minimum wage increases, including up to $15 an hour, raise wages without losing jobs, making the CBO estimate of 1.7 million.”

    For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@pm-mig.test.

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    About the Patriotic Millionaires

    Proud “traitors to their class,” members of the Patriotic Millionaires are high-net worth Americans, business leaders, and investors who are united in their concern about the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in America. The mission of The Patriotic Millionaires organization is to build a more stable, prosperous, and inclusive nation by promoting public policies based on the “first principles” of equal political representation, a guaranteed living wage for all working citizens, and a fair tax system. You can find out more at http://pm-mig.test/about/

    The Patriotic Millionaires have appeared on hundreds of media outlets here and abroad, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and many others. You can find more coverage at http://pm-mig.test/media

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