Bill Text: TX HCR6 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-09-27 - Referred to International Relations & Economic Development [HCR6 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HCR6-Introduced.html
| 87S30145 BK-D | ||
| By: Reynolds | H.C.R. No. 6 | |
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| WHEREAS, Federal law sets the federal minimum wage at $7.25 | ||
| an hour; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The last time Congress raised the federal minimum | ||
| wage was in 2007; that year, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 was | ||
| passed to gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an | ||
| hour to $7.25 an hour in 2009; the Act included small business tax | ||
| relief provisions and was signed into law by President George | ||
| W. Bush; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Speaking at a 2006 news conference, President Bush | ||
| said that he supported increasing the federal minimum wage, adding | ||
| that to achieve this and other goals, Congress needed to put aside | ||
| partisan differences and work constructively to address the vital | ||
| issues confronting our nation; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In the 14 years since President Bush signed the last | ||
| federal minimum wage increase into law, the desire for Congress to | ||
| raise the federal minimum wage has grown stronger in the states; and | ||
| WHEREAS, To account for cost of living increases, 29 states | ||
| have set their minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage, | ||
| though not at the level of a living wage; 14 states, including | ||
| Texas, have set their minimum wage in line with the federal minimum | ||
| wage; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Supporters of a living wage emphasize that | ||
| increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would reduce | ||
| poverty and grow the economy; their review of previous minimum wage | ||
| increases found little or no evidence that raising the minimum wage | ||
| reduces employment; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Demonstrating that paying workers more reduces | ||
| turnover, several companies, including Amazon, Walmart, and | ||
| Target, are now paying many hourly workers at least $15 an hour; a | ||
| 2017 Quinnipiac University poll found that a majority of Americans | ||
| would support a minimum wage of $15 an hour; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Offering a Texas perspective, noted American | ||
| economist Dr. James K. Galbraith, a professor at The University of | ||
| Texas at Austin, wrote that states such as Texas would benefit from | ||
| raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour because such states | ||
| have too many low-wage workers, too much poverty, and too many | ||
| people who are getting food stamps and other welfare because they | ||
| aren't getting paid enough; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The well-being of this nation depends on a strong | ||
| and vibrant economy, and Congress should heed the advice of experts | ||
| such as Dr. Galbraith and raise the minimum wage; now, therefore, | ||
| be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas, | ||
| 3rd Called Session, hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the | ||
| United States to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour; and, | ||
| be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
