A measure that would have increased the minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $8.20 within three months and $10.10 over three years was defeated in the GOP-led House of Representatives on Friday. One of the members of Congress voting no was Pinellas Representative Bill Young.
Young's opposition comes just a month after a Pew Research poll indicated that 71 percent of the American public supported such an increase.
A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emily Bittner, listed Young along with other Florida GOP members of the House for failing to support the legislation.
“In our country, it’s not right when men and women work hard at a full-time job and can’t earn enough to make ends meet or support their families, but Congressmen Young, Southerland, Webster and Buchanan would rather chose Tea Party ideology than help hardworking families,” Bittner said in a statement. “The people of Florida work hard and play by the rules but they’re getting squeezed by higher prices and lower earnings — and now Congressmen Young, Southerland, Webster and Buchanan just said no to a commonsense way to put more money in their pockets: raise the minimum wage.”
