New England Governors Back Obama's Minimum Wage Hike Plan

Tamara Keith March 6, 2014

Obama took his push for a higher national minimum wage to Connecticut. The message was welcomed by the governors he appeared with, but back in Washington there isn't much political momentum.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Obama is hoping lawmakers will raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Many Republicans call that a potential job killer, and they're blocking the president's efforts in Congress. So as NPR's Tamara Keith reports, the president took his pitch to a place with a more receptive audience.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: It is good to be back in Connecticut.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Connecticut is a state where the minimum wage is already more than a dollar higher than the federal minimum, and where the governor, Dannel Malloy, has committed to try and boost it to 10.10 an hour.

GOVERNOR DANNEL MALLOY: New England needs to lead on this issue. We need to make sure that women move out of poverty, that young people move out of poverty, that they can raise their families.

KEITH: When polled, women and young people overwhelmingly favor raising the minimum wage, and they are also voters Democrats need. Malloy and the president were joined at the rally by three other New England governors, all working to raise wages in their states.

OBAMA: This is like a governor super-group.

KEITH: That super-group is doing what Congress will not. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said in a statement that raising the minimum wage will destroy jobs for people who need them the most. And if the speaker of the House isn't onboard, well, the president's proposal isn't going anywhere. That's why Obama is making the case that states, cities, employers, anyone who can, should raise their own minimum wage.

OBAMA: Nobody who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That violates a basic sense of who we are.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And that's why it's time to give America a raise.

KEITH: Six states have ballot measures this year to raise wages. Half of them have competitive Senate races, where Democrats hope this issue will help turn out voters. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.