VIRGINIA, USA — A proposed bill in the Virginia legislature aims to tackle the issue of minimum wage across the commonwealth. According to proposed Senate Bill 7, the bill aims to gradually raise the hourly wage across the state.
That first raise, according to the proposed bill, could go up to $10 per hour by July 1, 2020. The current minimum wage in Virginia is the same as the national average, $7.25 per hour.
A proposed bill by Virginia Senator Dick Saslaw, (D) Springfield, aims to increase the minimum wage in Virginia to $10 an hour by July 2020.
"Based on data provided by the Department of Human Resource Management, the minimum wage increase that would be effective on July 1, 2020, would have a total expenditure impact of approximately: $7.86 million (from both general and nongeneral fund sources) in FY 2021," the impact state for the proposed bill said.
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According to the Economic Policy Institute, the monthly cost for a four-person household in Fairfax County is $9,509. The housing cost averages $1,951 a month.
Arlington County’s average monthly costs for the same size family is about the same, but housing costs people more on average, according to EPI. In Prince William County the costs go down, monthly costs averaging $8,766, per EPI.
There are several other minimum wage bills making its way through the General Assembly. All have been referred to committee, and many will be discussed Monday.
Tennessee and Vermont are also discussing bills to raise the minimum wage.
On the national level, there have been discussions in the Democratic debates about raising the federal minimum wage.