Delaware Democratic Party

Democratic State Senator Robert Marshall will formally introduce a bill next week to raise the state's minimum wage to $7.75 in 2013 and $8.25 in 2014 in order to give working Delawareans a boost in the recession.  Senator Marshall recognized the law would come under attack by some Republican opponents, but said, “We had that same argument back in the ’90s with the traditional opponents...The reality proved it had no adverse effect. Job growth continued from the lower level up.” (Delaware State News, 1/13/12) The last increase in Delaware was in 2009, when the state minimum wage was raised from $7.15 to $7.25 in order to cooperate with federal statutes. The proposed increase would make Delaware's minimum wage one of the highest in the country. A state minimum wage that is high enough to help Delawareans support their families is essential to restoring the economy to health. Now that unemployment rates are finally trending downward and more people are getting back to work, Delawareans need to make a living wage to keep the economy moving. Part of our Democratic commitment to Delaware is working to reduce the number of families living in poverty, and helping to ensure working families have enough to get by. "Economists tell us that we're making a slow, steady comeback," Sen. Marshall says. "I think it's time that workers on the lowest rungs of our economic ladders can join in that comeback, too." Click here to read more from the News Journal.