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WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Senator Bob Casey today voted in favor of a cloture motion to help push toward final passage of an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. The cloture motion passed by a vote of 87 to 10.

“Today’s vote brings us one step closer to passing a much needed and long overdue increase in the minimum wage,” said Senator Casey. “It baffles me why obstructionists in the Senate have delayed passage and insisted on adding more tax cuts to the minimum wage.”

Senator Casey reiterated statements made in a speech on the Senate floor last week:

“Increasing the minimum wage is an issue of economic justice for the hard working men and women struggling to raise families and to make ends meet. No one, no matter how hard they work, can keep pace with the avalanche of cost increases over the last ten years.”

“Sixty percent of minimum wage workers are women working to make ends meet, supporting their children. If the minimum wage is raised, six million children will benefit. Recently, the Children’s Defense Fund reported that a single parent working full time at the current wage of $5.15 earns enough to cover only 40% of the cost of raising children.”

Since the last minimum wage increase in 1997, congressional pay has risen 24% -- over $30,000 or almost three times what a minimum wage worker earns in a year. During this same period, the value of the minimum wage has eroded by 20%.

Senator Casey also made clear that he thinks small businesses need help to lower costs and to provide health care for their workers. Reducing the cost of health care for Americans and small business is one of his top priorities. However, this assistance should not be tied to a long overdue increase in the minimum wage.

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