To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

Minimum Wage

We support the call to raise the federal minimum wage. In his State of the Union address, President Obama showed vision and leadership by calling for a raise in the federal minimum wage as one way to "build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class."

Why is this important?

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.