On May 4th, 2023, Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage. The American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Vermont has held his seat since 2007. Sanders was the U.S. representative for the state’s at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007.

In order to compensate for the significant inflation that Americans have seen over the past two years, Sanders’s bill suggests the government raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour. Over a five-year period, Sanders plans to present legislation to raise the minimum wage to a rate that is $2 higher than the $15 per hour rate that Joe Biden and many other Democrats have advocated for in recent years. Republicans’ opposition to the measure is firm and shows no signs of changing. Sanders thinks that it is time to raise the minimum wage to a livable wage and that no one should be required to work at starvation wages in the richest nation in history.

Since 2009, the minimum wage has remained at its current level for workers in 20 states. The minimum wage has been increased to $15 per hour by voters in various states and towns, but the movement towards a federal increase has lagged. Democrats tried to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2021, but the plan was unsuccessful because eight Democratic lawmakers defected. President Biden issued an executive order raising the government contractors’ minimum wage to $17 per hour. Americans have seen the biggest inflation in the past two years since the 1980s, with consumer price growth reaching an annualized peak of more than 9% in June 2022.

Published on the news source The Guardian, Bernie Sanders says, “In the year 2023, in the richest country in the history of the world, nobody should be forced to work for starvation wages. That’s not a radical idea. If you work 40–50 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty. It is time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.”

Mary Kay Henry said, “We are going to be watching any congressperson, senator or in the House, that dares to say that they are not going to vote yes for Senator Sanders’ bill, because they need to be held accountable at the ballot box.”