(!) In my opinion, the minimum wage should be raised not only in the state of Texas but nationwide. The minimum wage of today being at $7.25 is part of the cause in our economy being as low as it is.

(!)

In my opinion, the minimum wage should be raised not only in the state of Texas but nationwide. The minimum wage of today being at $7.25 is part of the cause in our economy being as low as it is.  I think we all know that the raising of minimum wage is long overdue. This topic has been around for several years now and will most likely be around forever. Our country is not focusing on the real needs of the people who struggle daily to provide for themselves and their families. Instead, they’re are focused on putting more money towards political things. This then causes taxpayers to make up for it in paying money to the government in order to support low-wage workers who seek assistance. With the current situation in our country right now, the increase in minimum wage would encourage economic growth to re-stabilize the economy. With people making more money it would cause an increase in demand which would result in a lower poverty rate. All in all, I am in favor of raising the minimum wage in Texas especially with how much the state population is growing.

(2)

In my honest opinion, not only should minimum wage be raised in Texas, but we should increase the federal minimum wage up from $7.25.  The cost of living has gone up exponentially as well as inflation, yet the minimum wage was only raised from $6.55 to $7.25 in 2009.  According to a CNBC article, the data aggregated from all 50 states showed the bare minimum for minimum wage to meet rent.  In the state of Texas alone, a minimum wage of $20.90 is required to afford rent.   Also stated in the article was that in 95% of counties, full time federal minimum wage workers cannot afford rent.  On average, a minimum wage worker would have to work 97 hours a week to even get a fair market rate at rent.  Especially during these difficult times, when some people are making ends meet during a pandemic, subsidized housing and other welfare should be amplified to provide for those in need.  We see that in many bigger cities, such as Dallas or Austin,  one has to crack their back and work unstable minimum wage jobs just to provide housing for themselves and/or their family.  A KVUE (ABC affiliate in Austin, TX) described Austin as the 'worst place to live for a minimum wage' worker.  Comparably to other cities such as San Francisco, New York City, and San Jose ranked lower because of the higher minimum wage laws there.  Not only was Austin not the only Texan city on the list, but Plano and Arlington appear second and tenth towards the bottom of the list as well, respectively.  During the coronavirus pandemic, even temporary raises for essential workers did not mitigate that people had to make ends meet during this country's worst public health crisis in a long time, also the fact that the $1500 stimulus could only stretch so far.  What I propose is to increase the minimum wage and cut employment benefits as a trade off, as higher wages would result in higher quality and evidently, let the market "sort itself out" to find the most qualified workers.  Because not only has the wealth gap between the 1% and the working class grown larger, but so has poverty and debt.  We live in a first world country and it is time we treat our citizens like it.  

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