LET JUSTICE ROLL HAILS NEW STATE VICTORIES, TELLS CONGRESS TO HEED WILL OF PEOPLE AND RAISE MINIMUM WAGE NOW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katy Heins 513-314-0074, letjusticerollohio@yahoo.com

May 9, 2007, Washington, DC -- As the federal minimum wage remains stuck at a miserly $5.15 an hour, momentum continues to build in the states. Last week, New Hampshire joined Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and New Mexico in enacting legislation since the Nov. election to raise minimum wages. Let Justice Roll, a nonpartisan coalition of more than 90 faith and community organizations, is calling on Congress to represent their constituents and raise the federal minimum wage now.

After a decade without a raise, the value of today's federal minimum wage is lower than it was in 1950. Minimum wage bills passed the House and Senate and compromise legislation was attached to the recently vetoed Iraq Supplemental.

"Stop playing politics with the lives of millions of low-wage workers and their families," Let Justice Roll says in a Letter to Congress. "A minimum wage raise deserves to move forward on its own merits. It is time to send a stand-alone minimum wage bill to the President for signing."

The states have led the way. Iowa's minimum wage rose from $5.15 to $6.20 on Apr. 1 and will reach $7.25 on Jan. 1, 2008. Illinois's minimum rises from $6.50 to $7.50 on Jul. 1 and reaches $8.25 in 2010. New Mexico's minimum rises from $5.15 to $6.50 on Jan. 1, 2008 and $7.50 on Jan. 1, 2009. Kentucky's minimum wage will rise to $5.85 on Jul. 1 and reach $7.25 in 2009.

Rev. Dr. Nancy Jo Kemper, Let Justice Roll steering committee member and executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, said, "We have been waiting for Washington to act and again it has stalled. The minimum wage is not just a matter of economics, but it is a values issue. There is a floor below which it is unjust and immoral to pay someone for their labor."

New Hampshire's minimum will rise to $6.50 on Sep. 1 and $7.25 in 2008. In his May 3 signing statement, Gov. John Lynch praised Martha Yager of the American Friends Service Committee and Let Justice Roll "for working tirelessly on this issue."

Yager said, "This is a significant step towards the point where a full time job will keep you out of poverty, not in it."

Even if enacted in mid-May, the first-step increase in the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85 would not happen until mid-July. The second step to $6.55 wouldn't happen until July 2008. America's poorest workers would wait until July 2009 for the long-promised raise to $7.25.

"Each day a minimum wage raise is not enacted is another day a family spends working harder and falling further behind," the Let Justice Roll Letter to Congress says.

More than 650 business owners and executives from every state have also urged an increased minimum wage, writing, "We know that a fair wage floor is essential to healthy businesses and communities, and enduring economic growth." The statement and growing list of signatories is available at the Business for Shared Prosperity website, http://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org.

For interviews with Let Justice Roll organizers or workers, please contact Katy Heins at 513-314-0074 or letjusticerollohio@yahoo.com. For businesspeople, contact Hez Norton at 857-928-0432 or hez@businessforsharedprosperity.org. The full Letter to Congress follows below.

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"There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American [worker] whether he is a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid, or day laborer." -The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

May 8, 2007

Dear Members of Congress,

The Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign calls on the 110th Congress to heed the will of the American people and RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE NOW!

Minimum wage bills have passed both Houses and went through conference reconciliation before minimum wage was attached to the recently vetoed Iraq Supplemental. A minimum wage raise deserves to move forward on its own merits. It is time to send a stand-alone minimum wage bill to the President for signing.

Even if passed by mid-May, the first-step increase in minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85 would not happen until mid-July. The second step to $6.55 wouldn't happen until July 2008. And America's poorest workers would wait until July 2009 for the long-promised raise to $7.25.

Our nation broke the record for the longest period without a minimum wage raise in December 2006. It is unconscionable that our nation's poorest workers still haven't gotten a raise. It is unconscionable that a minimum wage raise passed both Houses of Congress by the first of February and is still stalled in Congress.

After a decade without a raise, the value of today's minimum wage is lower than it was in 1950. Each day a minimum wage raise is not enacted is another day a family spends working harder and falling further behind.

Join with Let Justice Roll, more than 650 business owners and executives from every state have also urged an increased minimum wage, writing, "We know that a minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is simply not enough for workers to afford necessities for themselves and their families. We know that a fair wage floor is essential to healthy businesses and communities, and enduring economic growth."

Let Justice Roll calls on Congress to stop playing politics with the lives of millions of low-wage workers and their families. Let Justice Roll calls on Congress to send the President a stand-alone minimum wage bill without further delay, and give America's poorest workers their long overdue, desperately needed raise.

Sincerely,

Rev. John Boonstra
Let Justice Roll, Executive Committee Chair

Katy Heins
Let Justice Roll, Assist. National Coordinator

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