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Record 88 US Jurisdictions to Raise Minimum Wages in 2025 as Federal Pay Floor Remains Stagnant
"It's time for Congress to deliver for workers on the federal level," said one advocate.
Dec 24, 2024
While the federal minimum wage hasn't budged from a paltry $7.25 an hour since the last time it was raised in 2009, states and local governments are taking action to boost wages in the face of rising costs.
A record 88 jurisdictions will raise their minimum wage floors by the end of the coming year, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP), a nonprofit advocacy organization. The 88 jurisdictions include 23 states and 65 cities and counties—of those, 70 jurisdictions are enacting wages that will reach or exceed $15 an hour for some or all employees, and 53 jurisdictions will enact a wage floor that reaches or exceeds $17 an hour for all or some workers.
The states enacting increases on January 1, 2025 include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, per NELP.
"Next year, Illinois's workers are getting another raise," Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced proudly on X. Workers will be getting a minimum wage increase of $1 per hour in Illinois in 2025, from $14 to $15.
"In the absence of progress at the federal level, workers and advocates are continuing to take action at the ballot box, statehouses, and in their city councils. Thanks to years-long worker-led campaigns, these victories will help workers keep up with the rising cost of living, especially Black and brown workers who are disproportionately affected by low wages and economic insecurity," said Rebecca Dixon, president and CEO of the NELP in a statement.
"Now it's time for Congress to deliver for workers on the federal level," she added.
Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, and West Virginia, which all have minimum wage laws above the federal rate of $7.25, are not slated to raise their minimum wages in 2025. Currently there 20 states with a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, either because the state's minimum wage is $7.25 or below, or there is no state-mandated minimum wage, so the federal dollar amount applies, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The NELP report highlights particularly consequential wage increase victories. For example, voters in the GOP-controlled state of Alaska approved a ballot initiative that raised the minimum wage to $15 by 2027 and also enacted a paid sick leave policy, according to NELP.
"Alaska is one of seven states that do not currently allow employers to subsidize their payroll costs through the use of tip credits, making this victory especially consequential for tipped workers," according to the report.
In Arizona, voters defeated Proposition 138 by a wide margin. The ballot measure was restaurant industry-backed and "would have cut wages for tipped workers by expanding the 'tip credit' from a fixed $3.00 less than the full minimum wage to 25% less than the full minimum wage," according to NELP.
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'The Big Lie Is Back' as Trump's GOP Reboots Felony-Facing Fake Electors
"The election deniers are back at it, laying the groundwork to run the Big Lie playbook once again," warned one swing-state campaigner.
Nov 04, 2024
At least 1 in 5 potential battleground state electors for former U.S. President Donald Trump are linked to the Republican nominee's attempt to subvert the 2020 election, according to an analysis published Monday.
Politico reported that "of the 93 Republicans designated as prospective presidential electors for Trump from the seven battleground states, eight are facing felony charges for signing false Electoral College certificates in 2020."
Five additional possible electors signed similar documents in 2020 but were not criminally charged, according to the reporting, while at least half a dozen others "played notable roles in challenging the results of the 2020 election or promoting election conspiracy theories."
"These people continued to peddle and push not misinformation, which is accidental, but disinformation, which is intentional."
With numerous Trump aides and GOP officials facing criminal charges for their alleged roles in the former president's bogus "Stop the Steal" scheme, experts say it is somewhat less likely that the Republican nominee or his allies would attempt another such plot. However, Trump and his boosters have recycled similar claims of election fraud in what critics say is a bid to spread misinformation and sow doubt about the outcome of Tuesday's contest if the 2020 loser is defeated by Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
"It does show a lack of regard for the criminal and ethical problems with doing this," Mary McCord, a Georgetown law professor and executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, told Politico.
As Politico notes:
Six of the returning fake electors hail from Michigan. John Haggard, Hank Choate, Timothy King, Meshawn Maddock, Amy Facchinello, and Marian Sheridan were among the group of Michiganders who signed a document in 2020 purporting to be official electoral certificates claiming the state’s electoral votes went to Donald Trump, despite Biden winning Michigan by more than 150,000 votes. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, brought felony charges against them, including forgery-related crimes punishable by up to 14 years. Those cases are ongoing and all have pleaded not guilty.
In the battleground state of Wisconsin—where President Joe Biden defeated Trump by less than 21,000 votes, or 0.63%, in 2020—"election deniers are back at it, laying the groundwork to run the Big Lie playbook once again through actions designed to attack the electoral process, sow seeds of chaos set to bloom post-election, and further undermine confidence in our democracy," warned Wisconsin Democracy Campaign executive director Nick Ramos in a Sunday opinion piece in the Cap Times.
"That is exactly what their antics wrought after the 2020 election—chaos resulting in the January 6 insurrection and years of baseless conspiracy theories that did not, and will not, succeed in changing a single election result but did succeed in undermining the confidence of millions of Americans in our democracy," he continued.
"The bullies are back again, continuing their strategy to interfere in Wisconsin's elections," Ramos added.
While some observers claim that would-be election subversives are likely to tread gingerly in light of the potential criminal consequences for alleged Big Lie conspirators, McCord said that "it would appear that the party leadership in the states where there are fraudulent electors serving as electors again are not taking seriously things like the criminal charges that have been brought against these fraudulent electors."
Amy Tarkanian, a former chair of the Nevada Republican Party, told Politico that "these people continued to peddle and push not misinformation, which is accidental, but disinformation, which is intentional."
"It's definitely disappointing," she lamented.
In Arizona—where former state GOP chief Kelli Ward and 11 other Republican officials have been criminally charged in connection with the alleged fake electors scheme—current Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda has been pushing spurious election fraud claims. This, even as Loraine Pellegrino, a past president of a right-wing women's group who falsely attested that Trump won Arizona in 2020, earlier this year became the first person convicted in the state's fake electors case.
Democracy defenders have sounded the alarm on the potential for violence fueled by baseless claims of election fraud.
The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism said last week that it is "seeing the same warning signs of political violence based on election denialism combined with violent language across fringe platforms that we saw in the weeks before the 2020 election and before the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol."
According to a YouGov poll published Saturday, just over two-thirds of respondents—including more than 80% of surveyed Democrats and 55% of Republicans— believe it is either "somewhat" or "very likely" that Trump will refuse to concede if he loses to Harris.
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Arizona Community Leaders Say Trump Win Would Be 'Worst Possible Outcome' for Palestinians
"Trump must be defeated," Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and progressive leaders in Arizona wrote in an open letter. "The only way to defeat him is to elect Kamala Harris."
Oct 25, 2024
Dozens of community leaders in the battleground state of Arizona—including local Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim organizers—released an open letter late Thursday imploring voters to help defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump in next month's election by casting their ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris, despite the Biden administration's role in Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.
"We know that many in our communities are resistant to vote for Kamala Harris because of the Biden administration's complicity in the genocide. We understand this sentiment," reads the letter. "Many of us have felt that way ourselves, even until very recently. Some of us have lost many family members in Gaza and Lebanon. We respect those who feel they simply can't vote for a member of the administration that sent the bombs that may have killed their loved ones."
"As we consider the full situation carefully, however, we conclude that voting for Kamala Harris is the best option for the Palestinian cause and all of our communities," the letter continues. "We know that some will strongly disagree. We only ask that you consider our case with an open mind and heart, respecting that we are doing what we believe is right in an awful situation where only flawed choices are available."
"Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and the entire far-right in Israel want Trump to win and grant Israel total free reign. We cannot give them what they want."
The community leaders emphasized that their endorsement of Harris is in no way an expression of support for the Biden administration's approach to Israel's war on Gaza, which has entailed a steady flow of weaponry and diplomatic cover on the world stage as Israel faces a genocide case at the United Nations' highest court and some of its leaders face possible arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.
Rather, they said, it is a pragmatic decision made in light of the dire threat Trump poses to Palestinians, immigrants, democracy, and the planet.
"In our view, it is crystal clear that allowing the fascist Donald Trump to become president again would be the worst possible outcome for the Palestinian people," they wrote. "A Trump win would be an extreme danger to Muslims in our country, all immigrants, and the American pro-Palestine movement. It would be an existential threat to our democracy and our whole planet."
As horrific as Israel's assault on Gaza has been thus far, the letter stresses that "even a genocide can get much worse," pointing to Trump's recent remarks declaring that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "doing a good job" and lamenting that President Joe Biden is "trying to hold [Netanyahu] back" when he "probably should be doing the opposite."
Trump says he's about to speak to Netanyahu and says, "Biden is trying to hold him back ... he probably should be doing the opposite, actually." pic.twitter.com/i12koY0z1s
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 18, 2024
The open letter also cites a report that Miriam Adelson, one of Trump's billionaire donors, wants the former president to allow Israel to fully annex the West Bank in exchange for her financial support.
"Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and the entire far-right in Israel want Trump to win and grant Israel total free reign. We cannot give them what they want," the Arizona community leaders wrote. "Trump must be defeated. The only way to defeat him is to elect Kamala Harris."
The presidential race in Arizona is razor-close, according to FiveThirtyEight's polling average, with Trump leading Harris by just under two percentage points. President Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump in the state in 2020.
Given how close the race is likely to be in Arizona and other critical battlegrounds, the Arizona community leaders warned against voting for third-party candidates in those states as a way to "punish" Harris and other Democrats for their complicity in genocide.
"While voting third party may be strategic in non-swing states as a protest of the current U.S. Israel/Palestine policy or as a step to qualifying the Green Party for public funding in future elections by winning at least 5% of the national vote, doing it in Arizona or other swing states in such a close election could bring disaster," their letter states. "Instead, by helping to elect Kamala Harris, we can say, 'Despite it all, we gave you another chance and helped put you in office to defend democracy and uphold our highest American values. Now uphold them: End the genocide and secure Palestinian self-determination. We will fight every day to hold you to it.'"
"If Harris and Democrats win, we will wage that fight with more allies among the American people, Congress, and the White House than ever before," the community leaders wrote. "If they don't deliver, we will have a mandate and mass support to hold them accountable through every nonviolent tool of democracy, including protests, resignations, civil disobedience, primary election challenges, and even potential mass noncooperation. It's a difficult path, but the one that offers the most hope."
"The first step—and our best choice in this horrible situation—is defeating Trump by electing Harris," they added. "We urge you to join us."
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