Eradicating poverty hurts the economy. Really?

CAPE GAZETTE – LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Charlotte King |April 19, 2021 

Senate Bill 15 already passed by the Delaware Senate, would raise the minimum wage in Delaware from $9.25 per hour to $15 per hour by 2025.  Here it is important to note that the bill would gradually increase the minimum wage by just over $1 each year starting next year. Specifically, $10.50 by 2022; $11.75 by 2023; $13.25 by 2024 and $15 by 2025.

Nonpartisan groups have provided detailed analyses describing the benefits of raising the minimum wage for Delaware’s diverse population and for the economy, as well. According to David Cooper, senior analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, with the minimum wage at $15, SB 15 would increase the wages of almost “122,000 Delaware workers or approximately 28 percent of the state’s wage-earning workforce.”  Yet, one of Sussex County’s representatives, Ruth Briggs King, 37th District, Sussex County, opposes SB 15 because she believes the bill will hurt business more than help.

To read the entire Letter to the Editor click here.