President Obama Monday evening commended the Rhode Island legislature and the state’s governor, Gina Raimondo, for passing and signing a minimum-wage bill, the latest of 17 states to do so.
Obama first called on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage in 2013, but Republicans have prevented any action, arguing that such a move would hurt job growth and could stall the nation’s economic rebound.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office weighed in last year, finding that raising the minimum wage could help lift nearly 1 million people out of poverty but also cost the economy 500,000 jobs.
In a Monday statement, Obama said the states’ collective actions to raise the minimum wage would “grow the paychecks of millions of American workers.”
He also praised private companies that have acted on their own to increase wages, saying these businesses recognize “that paying workers fairly is both good for business and the right thing to do.”
“This year, more than half of our states guarantee their workers a wage higher than the federal minimum, but despite this progress we still have work to do,” Obama said. “I continue to encourage states, cities, counties and companies to lift their workers’ wages, and I urge Congress to finally do the right thing and give America a raise.”
Democrats are trying to make raising the minimum wage a major issue in 2016 Congressional races. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has released statements targeting several vulnerable GOP senators for their opposition, including Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of N.C., Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
