LaMalfa Opposes Job-Killing Wage Bill

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act. This bill would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15.00 an hour. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates this policy would destroy up to 3.7 million jobs and lead to an estimated $9 billion net reduction in family income.

LaMalfa said: "Increasing the minimum wage by 107% to $15 an hour would be very harmful for many hard-working families in America, to many jobs or in costs of what they buy. It would force many small businesses to close their doors, some of which I've seen in our own district due to California's wages, while causing larger businesses to scale back employees' hours or eliminate many steady-paying jobs altogether. Self-checkout registers in stores and kiosks at McDonalds would become far more common across the country – this at the expense of young people looking for their very first entry level jobs or the retired looking to stay busy with a little part time work. The increased costs would be passed on in the form of higher prices that would come out of the budget of already struggling families. It just shows the authors don't understand economics or human behavior. Fewer jobs and higher prices – that doesn't help working families. This bill would be harmful to those it claims to help."

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