Washington, D.C. — Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden released the following statement regarding the City of Seattle’s Income Inequality Advisory Committee’s announcement of a deal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour:
This is a historic day for Seattle and for American workers. Seattle business, community, and labor leaders understand that sustainable prosperity comes from the middle out, not from the top down. When workers make fair wages, they reinvest those wages in their local community, spending them at local businesses and on local taxes. Seattle’s encouraging announcement comes just one day after 41 Senate Republicans refused to raise the federal minimum wage for 28 million Americans, who are fighting to keep up with the rising cost of everything from groceries to college. Our elected officials in Washington, D.C., clearly have a lot to learn from Seattle, Washington, about how to strengthen our middle class and grow our economy.
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