Ali Meyer of the Washington Free Beacon highlights interesting information about congressional supporters of a $15 minimum wage.
The majority of lawmakers sponsoring legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour do not pay their interns, according to a report from the Employment Policies Institute.
The Raise the Wage Act, which would increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024, was introduced by the Congressional Progressive Caucus in May. …
… [T]he analysis conducted by the Employment Policies Institute shows that the majority of the lawmakers who have co-sponsored the measure do not pay their interns a wage at all. The study found that of the 184 lawmakers who supported the bill, 174, or 95 percent did not pay their interns. …
… “If Democrats in Congress are passionate about raising the wage to $15, they should start by paying it to their own staffers,” said Michael Saltsman, managing director at the Institute. “It’s the height of hypocrisy to hire interns for $0 an hour, while asking private small businesses to pay $15.”
“Entry-level jobs, like unpaid internships, provide young employees with valuable experience–experience that will be difficult if not impossible to come by if the minimum wage is hiked by 107 percent,” he said.
