West Virginia April 30, 2021

Full-Page Ad Thanks West Virginia Senators for Standing with Tipped Workers

Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) placed a full-page ad in the Dominion Post and Charleston Gazette Mail thanking West Virginia Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin for standing with West Virginia tipped workers and opposing legislation that would eliminate the federal tip credit. Senator Joe Manchin, a key senate vote, was…
April 23, 2021

Dems Get it Wrong on Linking Minimum Wage to Productivity Gains

Advocates maintain various rationales for raising the minimum wage to extraordinarily high levels – yet none are rooted in historical or economic precedent. One such argument seems to be that the federal minimum wage should correlate with gains in labor productivity. This idea is…
April 15, 2021

New Data: On Average, Tipped Workers Report Earning More than $15-Per-Hour

Since the “Fight for $15” has begun its push to end the tip credit, tipped restaurant workers like servers and bartenders have pushed back – rejecting the well-documented consequence of reduced tips and income. New data confirms tipped workers on average already make more than $15 per hour, and…
Maine April 8, 2021

Maine Restaurant Workers Applaud Sens. Collins and King for Opposing a Federal Tip Credit Ban

Today in the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald, full-page ads thanked Senators Susan Collins and Angus King for standing with Maine’s tipped workers and voting against the elimination of the federal tipped minimum wage. After successfully rallying to restore the Maine tip credit and save their tips…
April 1, 2021

Americans’ Support for $15 Drops When Presented With Its Job Killing Effects

A new survey commissioned by the Employment Policies Institute finds that Americans across party and socio-economic lines are significantly less likely to support minimum wage increases when presented with their negative effects. Following Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office…
March 26, 2021

The West Coast Case Against Ending the Tip Credit Nationwide

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Raise the Wage Act proposed to raise the minimum wage to $15 nationally, and also eliminate the tip credit, raising the tipped minimum wage also to $15. Currently, states across the country vary in allowing tip credits to account for substantial tip income. States like California, Washington,…
March 24, 2021

Economists Warn Congress About Changing the Tipped Wage

Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) took out a full-page ad in Roll Call warning lawmakers on the consequences of eliminating the tip credit, as Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Raise the Wage Act would do. Tipped workers nationwide have actively opposed legislation to change the tipped minimum…
March 18, 2021

In 1998, Biden Appointee Thought A 40% Wage Hike was “Too Aggressive”

Last week, the Washington Post reported President Biden has selected former campaign advisor Gene Sperling to oversee the administration of the recently-passed stimulus package. Notably absent from the plan is a $15 federal minimum wage, since it was ruled not incidental to the budget, and failed to gain 60…
March 12, 2021

“New Minimum Wage” Economists Prioritize Politics Over Evidence of Consequences

While the immediate fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 under reconciliation has subsided, activists are beginning to look toward a future standalone $15 federal wage bill. Proponents, including politicians, consistently claim that raising the minimum wage will have no costs, only benefits. President Biden repeatedly claimed…
March 4, 2021

‘$15’ is Not a Historically-Grounded Target for the Minimum Wage

Nowhere in the history of the Fair Labor Standards Act is there any inflation-adjusted precedent for a $15 minimum wage today. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that this wage target would cost up to 2.7 million jobs. In a 2019…