Livable Wages

More and more people in this community are struggling to get by, not because they are lazy, but because costs have gone up at much faster rate than wages have. Businesses and their leaders are not struggling the way those in our community are. Thirty years ago a family could raise their kids with 1 income, sometimes 2, but they didn't both have to be doctors or lawyers to do so.

It's 2024 and there are families out there now struggling to get by with both parents working, paying utilities, car payment, phone, sometimes even student loans and yet they can barely afford rent, let alone saving up for emergencies. The folks in the service industry work just as hard as some of those in factories and construction but they make a fraction of the income. This means that many of you out there are working two, sometimes 3 different jobs just to make ends meet.

This is a travesty and we could go a long way to increasing home ownership, decreasing food insecurity, boosting mental health if we just had more businesses willing to pay a livable wage. Since that doesn't always happen naturally, I will work tirelessly for those who need help the most. As Paul Wellstone liked to say, "We all do better, when we all do better."