WASHINGTON, DC – The last time the federal minimum wage was raised it was July of 2009 – Barack Obama had just been elected president, iPads hadn’t come out yet, and the world was experiencing a global recession.  Since then, corporate profits have risen as has the costs of goods, but the federal minimum wage -- which is supposed to ensure workers can afford the basic necessities -- remains stuck at $7.25 an hour.

U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are looking to ensure American workers can earn a living wage, drive economic growth, and reduce income inequality by raising the minimum wage to $17 by 2030 for all workers and gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth workers.

Today, Reed and Whitehouse teamed up with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), to introduce the Raise the Wage Act.  This bill would incrementally raise the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour by 2030, benefiting an estimated 64,000 Rhode Islanders.  

Rhode Island is among 30 states and the District of Columbia that have enacted higher wage floors.  Currently, the minimum wage in Rhode Island is $15 an hour.  Servers in the restaurant industry and other hospitality workers who derive a large portion of income from tips have had their hourly wages capped at $3.89 since 2017.

Last year, nearly one in four workers in the U.S. made less than $17 per hour. The Raise the Wage Act will raise the federal minimum wage to $17 over five years, eliminate the tipped subminimum wage over seven years, eliminate the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities over five years, and eliminate the subminimum wage for youth workers over seven years. According to analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), passing the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 would provide raises to over 22.2 million workers across the country by 2030.

If the federal minimum wage had increased with worker productivity over the last 57 years, it would be over $23 an hour today, not $7.25 an hour, which translates to a full-time salary of about $15,000 per year.

“The $7.25 an hour minimum wage is a starvation wage. It must be raised to a living wage – at least $17 an hour,” Senator Sanders said. “In the year 2025, a job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it. At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, we can no longer tolerate millions of workers trying to survive on just $10 or $12 an hour. Congress can no longer ignore the needs of the working class of this country. The time to act is now.”

“The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 for too long.  No one in today’s economy can make ends meet working for such meager pay.  Rhode Islanders deserve a raise and workers deserve to be fairly compensated.  Right now, those making minimum wage can’t afford housing, food, and transportation so taxpayers end up subsidizing employers that pay so little.  When all businesses have to operate on a level playing field with fair pay it helps prevent costly turnover and re-training of workers.  The Raise the Wage Act would help strengthen families, businesses, and our economy,” said Senator Reed.

“As rising costs squeeze families across Rhode Island, it’s well past time to increase the federal minimum wage,” said Senator Whitehouse.  “Our legislation will help more Americans get a foothold in the middle class by paying them a livable wage.”

Today, the value of the current federal minimum wage – $7.25 per hour – is the lowest it has been since 1956 and has declined by over 32 percent since it was last increased in 2009. While approximately four million tipped workers in the U.S. depend on tips for as much as half of their income or more, the tipped sub-minimum wage has remained stagnant at just $2.13 per hour since 1991. The current median wage for at least 37,000 workers with disabilities is just $3.50 per hour.

Meanwhile, across every state in the country, a living wage for a worker in a family with two working adults and one child is greater than $17 per hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) Family Budget Calculator. Many of these low-wage workers face persistent economic insecurity, struggling to put food on the table and afford basic necessities, including housing, health care, and childcare. Black and Hispanic workers disproportionately feel the burden of these low wages as compared to their white counterparts, and that disparity is even worse for women of color. Nearly 40 percent of Hispanic women and 35 percent of Black women make less than $17 per hour.

Joining Sanders, Reed, and Whitehouse on this legislation are U.S. Senators: Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-A), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

More than 85 organizations endorsed the Raise the Wage Act of 2025, including: Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFL-CIO, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Equal Pay Today, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), National Education Association (NEA), National Employment Law Project (NELP), The National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), One Fair Wage, Oxfam America, Patriotic Millionaires, UNITE HERE, United Autoworkers (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW).

Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce.