The current minimum wage can’t support families. The federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, amounts to only $15,080 a year. That’s over $7,000 below the federal poverty line for a family of four. A minimum wage worker working 40 hours a week cannot afford a two bedroom apartment in any state in America. People who work for a living should be able to support their families and live off their wages.

Can anyone raise a family on $15,000 per year? $1,250 per month? Of course not. Meanwhile on Wall Street, corporate profits are way up and the stock market reached record highs. But Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage since 2007. President Obama called for a minimum wage hike, and Democrats in Congress want to raise it to $10.10 per hour. But John Boehner and Tea Party Republicans won't let the minimum wage bill see the light of day. Record profits while low wage workers can't support a family. That's just not fair. Here in Maryland, we don't need to wait for John Boehner to give low-wage workers a raise. State legislators in Annapolis are pushing to raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour and then index it to inflation. That way as the cost of living goes up, the minimum wage will keep pace. The bill faces stiff opposition from the usual suspects: Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and right-wing think tanks funded by the likes of Karl Rove. If they had their way there wouldn't even be a minimum wage! Sign the petition below to tell Governor O'Malley, Senate President Mike Miller, and Speaker of the House Mike Bush: Working families can't wait for Congress. It's time to step up and lead the way for working families. President Obama has called for increasing the minimum wage, but for 500,000 low-wage workers in Maryland, we need Governor O'Malley to show that he is willing to stand up to Wal-Mart and McDonalds and raise the minimum wage now.

Indiana Server minimum wage is only $2.13 an hour and has not changes on over a decade while regular minimum wage has risen many times. Although servers get tips that help to cover the balance, with the economy the way it is, many servers cannot meet today's financial demands. We must help our Indiana servers to be able to support themselves.

New York’s minimum wage is just $7.25 an hour. For full time work, that adds up to just $15,000 a year. It's the bare federal minimum. The same as the minimum wage in Idaho and Kansas. It's hard to imagine anyone surviving on $15,000 for full time work, whether you're in in Brookhaven or Buffalo. New York City has the highest cost of living in America. But hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers do it every day. And with rising prices, that $15,000 buys less and less every year. Nobody who works full time should be forced to live in poverty. As corporate profits and CEO pay soar, workers should get paid a decent wage too. President Obama used his State of the Union address to call on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour and tie it to inflation. New Yorkers can't afford to wait for John Boehner and the House Republicans to get out of the way to raise the minimum wage. Thankfully, we don't have to. New York can raise the minimum wage on it's own, to at least $9 an hour and tie the new rate to inflation, so workers won't continue to fall behind as prices go up. Governor Cuomo should lead, and push Albany to raise the minimum wage.

In a high cost of living state like Massachusetts, no one can make ends meet, never mind support a family, on just $8 an hour. It's a poverty wage, and it's a shame. President Obama called for raising the minimum wage in his State of the Union address. But it'll never pass through Congress because of Republican opposition. In Massachusetts, we don't have that problem. We have large Democratic majorities in the legislature, and if we can't pass an increase in the minimum wage, we should be ashamed. Putting money into the pockets of the workers who need it most would lift working families out of poverty and boost the economy too. Gov. Patrick, with your leadership we can raise the minimum wage.

The current minimum wage can’t support families. The federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, amounts to only $15,080 a year. That’s over $7,000 below the federal poverty line for a family of four. A minimum wage worker working 40 hours a week cannot afford a two bedroom apartment in any state in America. People who work for a living should be able to support their families and live off their wages.

Taxes are becoming unbearable in Vermont for average workers and particularly retirees.

Governor Inslee and the House Democrats recently released a plan to help fund our kids' classrooms by closing unjust tax loopholes. Their plan would end tax breaks for Big Oil, out-of-state-shoppers, and big drug companies. This is a commonsense reform that's long overdue. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans cut funding for homeless kids, working families, and our most vulnerable seniors. But their budget was even more noteworthy for what it didn't do: they didn't close a single tax loophole. We know kids that are hungry, sick, or homeless can't learn. But special interest lobbyists are already gearing up to protect their special treatment by forcing legislators to choose between education and health care. We need our Senators to join the House and Governor Inslee standing up to special interests and putting our kids first!

Please put Georgians to work. Stop being partisan and realize that you govern all people

IUOE local 150 Operating engineer out of work while what we do is neglected.

IUOE local 150 Operating engineer out of work while what we do is neglected.

We should not pay for fuel efficiency. The polluters should pay