By Kristin Toussaint
Fast Company, July 24, 2020

The last time the U.S. federal minimum wage was raised was July 24, 2009. For 11 years—now the longest period without a raise in the history of the minimum wage—the federal floor for earnings has been set at $7.25 an hour, or $15,080 a year. Over the course of those 11 years, that amount has lost its buying power to inflation, even as the cost of so many necessities has risen. With the country in an economic crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some employers are calling for the federal minimum wage to be increased to $15 an hour to not only help workers, but also boost struggling businesses.

By Eric Morath and Te-Ping Chen
Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2020

Some 25 million Americans are set to lose $600 a week each in federal unemployment benefits at the end of the month, one of the thorniest issues Congress faces when it returns to Washington this week to consider another coronavirus relief bill.

Many people view the payments as a lifeline, and analysts say the $15 billion a week in federal spending has provided vital support to an economy staggering from the effects of the pandemic. ...

Other businesses worry that a reduction in federal payments will hurt consumer spending...

By Melissa Repko
CNBC, July 15, 2020

... July 24 marks 11 years — the longest stretch without an increase since the federal wage was enacted in 1938 [during the Great Depression]. ... Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of the nonpartisan group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said it could be used to stimulate the economy again by putting more money into Americans’ pockets.

“It’s just that kind of shared recovery tool that we need now,” she said. ...

Barron-Menza said businesses support higher wages, too. Over 1,300 companies, executives and business organizations involved with the group pledged...

WLNS, Lansing, MI, July 5, 2020
This article is adapted from CBS News.

Low-paid workers in the U.S. have particularly felt the economic sting from the coronavirus pandemic since they tend to work in “front-line” jobs, such as in restaurants and stores. But some employees are getting a financial lift as three states and 18 cities and counties around the country move to raise their minimum wages.

Illinois, Nevada and Oregon raised the baseline level of pay starting Wednesday, as did cities including...Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and several other California municipalities. The boost could help families...

By Greg Bishop
The Center Square, July 2, 2020

Illinois’ minimum wage, which increased to $10 an hour this week, isn’t just affecting business owners...

A group called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage said when the minimum wage is increased in places like Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, D.C., it means more money in the pockets of workers and more consumer spending at local businesses. ...

On July 1, Illinois’ minimum wage increased to $10 an hour. That was six months after it increased to $9.25. The next increase is in less than six...

By Aimee Picchi
CBS MoneyWatch, July 1, 2020

Low-paid workers in the U.S. have particularly felt the economic sting from the coronavirus pandemic since they tend to work in "front-line" jobs, such as in restaurants and stores. But some employees are getting a financial lift as three states and 18 cities and counties around the country move to raise their minimum wages. ...

The boost could help families that are struggling with the impact of the pandemic-related recession and boost local economies, according to Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage....

By Niv Elis
The Hill, July 1, 2020

Higher minimum wages will go into effect for workers in Illinois, Nevada and Oregon, as well as a handful of major cities, starting July 1. ...

“The July 1 raises are welcome increases for the economy, because more money in the pockets of workers means more consumer spending at local businesses," said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. ...

The last federal minimum wage increase took place 11 years ago.

Read more

By Ben Werschkul
Yahoo Finance, June 30, 2020

Twenty-one states had minimum wage increases or cost of living adjustments at the beginning of 2020. And now, halfway into 2020, more are set to continue pushing the nation’s average minimum wage upwards even as the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25. ...

"We are just working our way up to what's truly a fair wage in our country," says Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, president and CEO ECOS, who also works with Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a group that advocates for higher rates.

ECOS, which manufactures environmentally friendly cleaning products, has a...

By Paul Davidson
USA Today, June 30, 2020. Also in Detroit Free Press, Daily News Journal (TN), Times Herald (MI), Ventura County Star (CA), more

While millions of Americans are losing financial assistance that has kept them afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, several states and 21 localities are partly offsetting the pain with a different kind of lifeline: minimum wage hikes.

On Wednesday, Illinois, Nevada and Oregon are set to raise their pay floors as part of large increases that are being phased in over several years . ...

“More money in the pockets of workers means more consumer...

By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU 88.5 (NPR), June 30, 2020

Advocates who fought for a $15 minimum wage couldn’t have predicted a threat like the coronavirus. ... But labor-focused economists and progressive business groups say an economic downturn is the wrong time to pay workers less.

“People forget that the federal minimum wage was enacted during the incredibly hard times of the Great Depression,” says Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, which supported wage hikes in Virginia and Maryland. “The goal of the minimum wage was to alleviate poverty and to boost...

Interview By Seana Smith and Ben Werschkul
Yahoo Finance, June 29, 2020

Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO of ECOS, joined The Final Round to discuss the minimum wage increases going into effect on July first in Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, D.C. and what it means for the economic recovery.

WATCH

By Christina A. Cassidy
Associated Press (AP), June 25, 2020

... Having access to quick test results will play an important role in resuming sporting events, keeping businesses and factories open, and returning to school in the fall. But the AP survey found it sometimes still takes days for results to be returned, despite an increase in the availability of testing across the country. ...

Judy Clinco, owner of Catalina In-Home Services in Tucson, Arizona, has had to test about 30 of her 110 staffers, who provide care and assistance to seniors in their homes. They...

By Jay Heflin
Washington Examiner, June 3, 2020

Restaurants across the United States are slowly and gradually reopening but face an existential risk: Many restaurants cannot survive below full capacity, meaning that the jobs of the roughly 6 million servers and bartenders laid off in the pandemic are still at stake. ...

Furthermore, patrons are not the only ones concerned about dining out. Some servers are also worried about returning to work.

“It’s too soon,” said Ned Atwater, owner of six restaurants in Maryland.

The state now allows restaurants within the state to serve patrons...

By Amanda Holpuch
The Guardian, May 25, 2020

... The March coronavirus stimulus package provided an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits for four months for the now 39 million people who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic ... Last year, the weekly payment for unemployment was on average nearly $378, according to the US labor department. Come August, the workers who aren’t making more on unemployment will suddenly face an even bigger drop in pay.

Outside of politicians, some small businesses who are struggling to hire back workers have complained that their employees won’t return...

By Jake Burns
CBS 6 News, WTVR-TV, Richmond, May 5, 2020

Virginia businesses are weighing two difficult options, one day after Governor Ralph Northam extended his closure order to May 15th: open their doors with restrictions to start making money again, or remain closed to protect the health of their employees and customers.

Alex Zavaleta and his co-owner at Charm School Social Club, an ice cream shop in downtown Richmond, have been hand scooping to-go pints for weeks after having to lay off their staff in mid-March when the virus began spreading in Virginia.

“We had...