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…
News February 26, 2021

Wyden/Sanders proposal is Dems’ latest idea to kill jobs

Faced with a stinging defeat on minimum wage from the Senate Parliamentarian, Democrats are eager to find another avenue to kill jobs while deceptively screwing smaller businesses. The so-called “Plan B” from Sen. Wyden is described this way: My plan would impose a 5 percent penalty on a big corporations’…
February 25, 2021

Pres. Biden’s “Relief” Plan Will Cause Up to 2.7 Million Job Losses

On Thursday, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) ran a full-page ad in the Washington, DC edition of the Wall Street Journal, condemning President Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $15 minimum wage hike as part of a coronavirus “relief” package. The ad was released ahead of Sanders’  Senate Budget Committee…
February 19, 2021

Permanent Minimum Wage Mandates Will Harm Small Biz, Despite Temporary Tax Relief

President Biden and Senate Democratic leadership continue to grapple over whether a standalone minimum wage bill can be passed as part of a budget resolution package for Covid relief. Proponents of the Raise the Wage Act, championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, continue to press on, offering additional arguments to get…