State House candidate for the 101st District hails victory for Michigan workers
NORTHPORT – With Michigan’s minimum wage increase taking effect, Democratic State House candidate Dan Scripps hailed today as a victory for Michigan’s working families. The minimum wage will now be set at $7.40 an hour, the third and final step of a plan signed into law in 2006.
“Every Michigan resident deserves to be paid a fair wage for a hard day’s work,” said Scripps, a candidate for the 101st House District. “In these difficult economic times, we can’t continue paying today’s workers with outdated wages. Raising the minimum wage will give our working families some much-needed relief.”
After intense public pressure, a three-step plan to increase Michigan’s minimum wage was passed and signed into law in March 2006. Under the plan, the state’s minimum wage increased to $6.95 per hour on October 1, 2006; to $7.15 per hour on July 1, 2007; and to $7.40 per hour, effective today. A higher wage will help nearly 300,000 people who work at minimum wage jobs in Michigan – many of them the sole breadwinners of their families – and boost local economies.
Just two years ago, the minimum wage in Michigan was only $5.15 an hour – the federal rate that was passed in 1997. The federal minimum wage is set to increase to $6.55 per hour on July 24, 2008, but will still remain 13 percent less than the required Michigan minimum wage. Michigan is one of more than 32 states in addition to the District of Columbia to have a minimum wage higher than the federal rate.
“Increasing the minimum wage is a win-win for Michigan,” Scripps said. “It will put more money into our workers’ pockets, which will then be put back into our local businesses. With the cost of food, gas and other necessities continuing to increase, today’s action will give our working families the boost they need.”
The 101st District includes Mason, Manistee, Benzie, and Leelanau counties. The Inside Michigan Politics Newsletter lists it as a “Toss Up” and it is also one of the “Top 10 State House Seats to Watch,” according to the Michigan Information and Research Service.
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