• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Letter: Residents urge legislators to raise minimum wage

Posted at 12:27 am November 30, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Letters 4 Comments

To the Editor:

Two bills in Congress to raise the minimum wage by about 95 cents per year for the next three years are HR1010 and S460. We, the undersigned, urge readers to contact their congressmen and senators to urge passage of these bills.

The minimum wage is now $7.25. If these bills pass, then over the next three years, the minimum wage would increase to $10.10.

Currently, if a worker is able to get 2,000 hours of work per year (in 50 40-hour weeks)—and unfortunately, not all can—he or she earns a yearly gross wage of $14,500, which is below the U.S. Department of Labor threshold of $1,245 per month ($14,940 annually) for receiving food stamps. If this worker’s wages increased by 95 cents an hour, he or she would earn $16,400 and thus would be raised above the poverty guideline.

The poverty guideline for two persons in a household is $15,510. With an increase of 95 cents per hour in wages—a couple, or a single parent with one child—would then be above the poverty level. With a three-person family, it would take a wage of $21,000, or $10.10 per hour, to raise them above the poverty level.

It is difficult to find statistics about the number of minimum wage workers in the Oak Ridge area, but it is safe to say than an increase in the minimum wage of $2.85 per hour over the next three years would increase their discretionary spending and help stimulate the local economy.

If you would like to see fewer people earning a wage that keeps them in poverty and forces reliance on government subsidies, and would like to see more local economic activity, then please urge our senators and congressmen to pass S460/HR1010.

Virginia Jones

Tom Burns

Joan Burns

Joan Cassens

Anne Garcia Garland

Tim Holt

Don Hurtubise

Filed Under: Letters Tagged With: Anne Garcia Garland, Congress, congressmen, Don Hurtubise, food stamps, HR1010, Joan Burns, Joan Cassens, minimum wage, poverty, S640, senators, Tim Holt, Tom Burns, U.S. Department of Labor, Virginia Jones

Advertisements

 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Recent Posts

  • Rocky Top woman pleads guilty to murder, sentenced to life
  • REAC/TS welcomes new team members: John Crapo, Josh Hayes and David Quillen
  • NASA Postdoctoral Program seeks early career and senior scientists for prestigious fellowships at its locations across the U.S.
  • ORAU names Brandon Criswell associate general counsel
  • Update on downtown Oak Ridge Tuesday
  • TVA has virtual open house for Clinch River Nuclear Site
  • Science and supercomputers at ORNL topic of Mar. 8 talk
  • First Presbyterian offers free meals & groceries on Mar. 10
  • Secret City Academy student charged with terrorism after alleged shooting, bomb threats
  • ORHS Masquers presents ‘Into the Woods’

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today