I was pleased to see a story on the proposed minimum wage increase last week. However I was disappointed to see that, while you included a full page of testimony from nine executive directors and business owners, you did not include stories or opinions from anyone making below $15 an hour.
Right now in this town and across our state, there are Vermonters trying to raise their families on $10.50 an hour. They struggle, and often fail, to meet basic needs. Many of them rely on government benefits, which means in reality their jobs are subsidized by other taxpayers.
It is cruel and inefficient to let businesses pay their employees so little that full-time, 40-hour-a-week workers cannot support their families on their wages.
Vermonters who make more than that should realize that they are, in effect, subsidizing businesses by allowing them to pay their workers starvation wages, which pushes full-time employees onto government benefits.
I support an increase to a $15-an-hour minimum wage. It will put more money into the pockets of those who need it most. It will also put more money back into the economy. When you give a raise to the folks who have the most immediate needs, that money re-enters the economy quickly.
Furthermore, under the proposed plan, wages would rise slowly until they reach $15 an hour in 2024. This gives employers time to adjust their business models.
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