TakeAction Minnesota Statement on Passage of Minimum Wage Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2014
Contact:  Greta Bergstrom, 651.336.6722, greta@takeactionminnesota.org 

St. Paul, MN –  TakeAction Minnesota issued the following statement upon Thursday afternoon’s passage of H.F. 2091, raising the state’s minimum wage and indexing it for inflation:

“TakeAction Minnesota applauds the Minnesota House and Senate for passing an historic increase in Minnesota’s minimum wage.  Raising our minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, indexed to inflation is a sensible response to the decades-long erosion of job standards in Minnesota.

“Today the majority of our legislature joined the majority of Minnesotans in calling for a new bargain for Minnesota families. By going to $9.50 an hour, Minnesota is starting to reverse the forty-six year decline in the value of our minimum wage.  By indexing to inflation, Minnesota is ensuring that the minimum wage’s value keeps up with the cost of living.

“This is the serious, long-view leadership that Minnesota’s families should expect from our state government. But it’s just a first step. When roughly a million Minnesotans still lack paid sick time, employer-sponsored retirement plans, or a living wage, we know we still have important work to do to help Minnesota families thrive, not just worry about surviving.

“This bold legislation would not have been passed without the leadership and tenacity of Representative Ryan Winkler, Senator Chris Eaton and the Raise the Wage coalition, led the by Minnesota AFL-CIO.  We praise their hard work and commitment to making sure our economy works for every Minnesotan.”

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TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide people’s network of individual and organizational members working together to motivate people to act publicly in order to advance economic and racial equity

in our state. The organization has offices in St. Paul, Duluth and Grand Rapids.