Labor Secretary Opposes Federal Minimum Wage Increase

On May 1, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta told House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) that a federal minimum wage increase would burden states that haven't increased their minimums above the federally mandated floor of $7.25 an hour. "Three-fifths of the states have passed a minimum wage that exceeds the federal level," Acosta said in testimony to the Committee. "It's our view that a federal minimum wage would be those three-fifths of the states imposing a cost structure on the remaining two-fifths of states that have chosen not to increase the minimum wage above the federal level." Asked whether he opposes the concept federal minimum wage altogether, Acosta said, "We do not support a change to the federal minimum wage at this time."

Acosta’s comments follow the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis regarding Rep. Bobby Scott’s $15 minimum wage “Raise the Wage Act,” which shows the Act would cost private businesses $48 billion a year and that state and local governments would have to pay an additional $3 billion to workers each year.

Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C. have minimum wages higher than the federal $7.25.