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Supporting the raising of the minimum wage in Minnesota.
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WHEREAS, In the richest nation on earth, it is simply wrong for anyone who works full time to live in poverty; and
WHEREAS, Full-time wages for someone earning $7.25 an hour come to only $15,080 a year and that is not enough to meet basic needs; and
WHEREAS, In Minnesota, 357,000 workers deserve a raise. They help us raise our children, care for our aging parents, clean our offices, serve our food, and more. They help everybody else do their jobs, yet they do not share the prosperity they help create. Their professions have been undervalued for far too long and it's time to make their hard work pay; and
WHEREAS, In a Minnesota family with two full-time working adults and two children, each parent needs to earn $14.03 an hour just to meet basic needs; and
WHEREAS, Raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour and indexed to inflation would pump more than $470 million in consumer-spending power to fuel Minnesota's economy; and
WHEREAS, Although raising the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour and indexed to inflation remains popular - with support consistently polling above 70 percent - this strong public support has not translated into action by the Minnesota Legislature; and
BE IT RESOLVED, We, the City of Saint Paul, support the campaign to ask the Minnesota Legislature to raise the minimum wage to at least $9.50 per hour and indexed to inflation by 2015; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, We will ask our community to contact their State Legislators and deliver the following message: "Please support legislation that will raise the minimum wage to at least $9.50 per hour and indexed to inflation by 2015."