Berkley Supports Minimum Wage Increase

Released: July 17, 2012

Contact: Xochitl Hinojosa 702-675-6722 or 702-483-1826 Colin Milligan 702-675-6711 or 702-582-9643

SHELLEY BERKLEY CONTINUES FIGHTING FOR NEVADA MIDDLE-CLASS BY SUPPORTING MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

Earlier Today, Shelley Was Proud To Become Original Co-Sponsor On
Minimum Wage Bill For Nevada Middle-Class Families; Effort Will Help
Families Put Food on Table and Pay Family Bills

While Shelley Fights For Nevada’s Middle-Class, Senator Dean Heller
Continues His Long Record Of Opposing Minimum Wage Increases
While Continuing To Fight For Wall Street Special Interests

Las Vegas – Today, the Shelley Berkley for Senate campaign announced that Shelley was proud to become an original co-sponsor of a bill to raise the minimum wage, while also highlighting Senator Dean Heller’s long record of voting against increases to the minimum wage as he goes to bat for Wall Street special interests.

Earlier this morning, Shelley became an original cosponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012, a common sense bill that wouldincrease the minimum wage in three 85-cent steps over three years from $7.25 to $9.80 per hour.

Increasing the minimum wage would be a boon to Nevada middle-class families by making it easier to put food on the table, gas in the family car and pay the mortgage and bills.  Shelley has voted six times to raise the minimum wage as part of her fight for Nevada’s middle-class.

On the other hand, Senator Dean Heller has a long history of opposing efforts to raise the minimum wage for Nevada middle-class families while continuing to fight for Wall Street special interests.  Heller has opposed previous efforts to raise the minimum wage three times while voting to protect tax breaks for corporations that ship Nevada jobs overseas, defend huge taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil companies, and end Medicare by turning it over to profit-hungry private insurance companies — twice.

“I’m proud to support efforts to raise the minimum wage for Nevada’s middle-class because Washington must start prioritizing Nevada families who need relief, not Washington special interests,” said U.S. Senate candidate Shelley Berkley.  “Unfortunately my opponent, Senator Dean Heller, continues to look out for Wall Street by supporting tax breaks for corporations that ship Nevada jobs overseas, backing taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil companies, and voting to turn Medicare over to profit-hungry private insurance companies.  It’s time Nevada had a Senator who fights every day for families struggling to make ends meet instead of the big special interests who don’t need our help.”

Berkley Has Voted Six Times to Raise the Minimum Wage

Berkley Voted to Raise the Minimum Wage.  In 2007, Berkley voted for an emergency appropriations bill that included a provision to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over two years.  To help small businesses with the cost of raising the minimum wage, the measure provided $4.8 billion in small-business tax incentives. The measure passed 348-73. [HR 2206, Vote #424, 5/24/07; Congressional Quarterly]

Berkley Voted to Raise the Minimum Wage.  In 2007, Berkley voted for legislation that would provide $42.8 billion in fiscal 2007 emergency spending for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the bill raised the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over two years and provided $4.8 billion in small-business tax incentives.The bill passed 221-205. [HR 2206, Vote #333, 5/10/07; Congressional Quarterly]

Berkley Voted for Minimum Wage Increase.  In 2007, Berkley voted for increasing the minimum wage from by $2.10 an hour to $7.25 an hour.  The measure passed 218-212.  [HR 1591, Vote #186, 3/23/07; CQ House Action Reports, No. 110-3, 3/20/07]

Berkley Voted for Fair Minimum Wage Act.  In 2007, Berkley voted for an increase to the federal minimum wage by $2.10 over two years — from the previous level of $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour.  According to a Rep. Shelley Berkley press release, “the increase supported by Berkley is the first to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in more than a decade.” The bill passed 315-116. [HR 2, Vote #18, 1/10/07; Office of Rep. Shelley Berkley, 1/10/07]

Berkley Voted for $1-per-Hour Wage Increase.  In 2000, Berkley voted for final passage of HR 3846, which would have increased the federal minimum wage by $1-per-hour over two years, except for certain occupations where employees tended to work unconventional hours (e.g., funeral home directors, computer professionals).  The bill amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and was procedurally tied to HR 3081 (through H Res 434), which provided an estimated $46 billion in tax cuts over five years. The bill passed 282-143.  [HR 3846, Vote #45, 3/09/00]

Berkley Voted to Speed Up Minimum Wage Increase.  In 2000, Berkley voted for an amendment to HR 3846, which increased the minimum wage by $1 by April 1, 2001.  The original bill phased in the increase through April 1, 2002.  The amendment passed 246-179.  [HR 3846, Vote #43, 3/09/00]

Heller Has Voted Against Increasing The Federal Minimum Wage

Heller Said He Would Vote Against Raising The Federal Minimum Wage Because “Market Forces Are Doing Their Job.” In January 2007, the Gannett News Service reported that “The freshman from Carson City could remain in the minority on some of the issues the House will consider next week. Among them: raising the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Heller noted that Nevada voters recently increased the state’s minimum wage to $6.15 an hour. ‘We have McDonald’s right now paying $10 an hour,’ he said. ‘I think market forces are doing their job.’” [Gannett News Service, 1/8/2007]

Heller Opposed Fair Minimum Wage Act. In 2007, Heller voted against an increase to the federal minimum wage by $2.10 over two years — from the previous level of $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour.  The bill passed 315-116.  [HR 2, Vote 18, 1/10/07]

Heller Opposed Minimum Wage Increase. In 2007, Heller voted against legislation that, among other provisions, increases the federal minimum wage by $2.10 an hour over two years — from its current level of $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. This increase would occur in three increments of 70 cents each, with the first increment becoming effective, 60 days after enactment. The measure also extends the federal minimum wage to the Northern Mariana Islands and to American Samoa. [CQ House Action Reports, No. 110-3, 3/20/07; HR 1591, Vote 186, 3/23/07]

Heller Voted Against Raising the Minimum Wage. In 2007, Heller voted against legislation that would provide $42.8 billion in fiscal 2007 emergency spending for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the bill raised the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over two years and provided $4.8 billion in small-business tax incentives. The bill also included $6.8 billion for hurricane recovery and relief, $3.3 billion for military healthcare costs and $2.25 billion for homeland security anti-terrorism programs. The bill also required another congressional vote in late July to release the remaining $52.8 billion for the Pentagon, and would withhold funds until the president reports by July 13 on progress the Iraqi government has made toward meeting specified benchmarks and goals set by the bill and Congress has adopted a joint resolution releasing the “fenced off” funds. President Bush opposed the bill. The bill passed 221-205.  [CQ Floor Votes;HR 2206, Vote 333, 5/10/07]

Paycheck Fairness up for a vote NEXT WEEK

When you walk into a grocery store, the prices for milk and bread are the same whether you’re a man or a woman. Women pay the same amount to put gas in their cars. Women pay the same amount to keep a roof over their families’ heads.

So why should a woman, who pays the same price for everything, earn less in wages (nearly $11,000 less per year) than a man who does the same work?
It’s not a trick question, it’s common sense — women and men should be paid equally for an equal day’s work.

Paycheck Fairness will be front-and-center next week in Washington, D.C. We need everyone to join the call for the Senate to pass paycheck fairness right now. Click here to sign on today!

Somehow, in this country, in the 21st century, women still earn only 77 cents on average for every dollar earned by their male counterparts.
It’s not right — and I have fought for years to correct it. Households across the country rely on women’s income to make ends meet, especially with our economy still reeling from recession.

Equal pay isn’t just a women’s issue, it’s a family issue, and it needs our attention right now.

The Senate will be voting on paycheck fairness NEXT WEEK — now is your best chance to help us close the gender pay gap for good. Sign the petition right now.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for staying in touch in this critical election year.

Shelley Berkley

Primary | Democratic Candidates for US Senate

Shelley Berkley Web Site Shelley Berkley has had a lengthy career in the House of Representatives and a safe Democratic seat for years. This statewide race is a new arena for her, but it’s also a critical component for control of the Senate — and Harry Reid’s job as majority leader. Berkley said she’s running: “to create jobs in Nevada, protect Medicare, build clean energy infrastructure, and make sure we keep promises made to our veterans.” To that end, Berkley has voted twice against the dangerous Ryan budget that would end Social Security and Medicare as we know it. She’s stridently pro-Israel, pro-choice and a generally reliable vote on the types of bills that pass for reform in Washington these days — health care reform, Wall Street reform. Berkley can still fire up the base, joking as she did at the Clark County Democratic convention, that when she took a road trip as a kid, at least the dog rode inside the car. She also understands constituent service. Her district office has become a go-to for Nevada’s unemployed and those facing foreclosure. It’s not just lip service. This woman works her patriotic heels off. Her schedule is unfathomable — even for the caffeine-addled. Berkley talks and talk and usually walks the walk with her votes. Her top three issues are jobs, jobs, jobs. Green jobs. Re-training. Tools. You name it and she’ll try it. In the House, Berkley successfully fought to bring a new clean energy transmission line connecting White Pine and Clark counties to attract renewable energy companies to the state. Supporters and endorsements include: Planned Parenthood and Nevada AFL-CIO. Endorsements and Supporters include: NSEA, AFL-CIO, Pro-Rating Planned Parenthood	Steve Brown Web Site Steve Brown could just as easily pass for a Ron Paul delegate. He served in the U.S. Army in West Germany in the 1970s’ in the Nevada National Guard and U.S. Navy Reserve in the 1980s. Brown is a former casino dealer and had his own masonry business. “Despite the fact that America is over 14 trillion dollars in debt, and is adding over a trillion dollars more in debt each year, none of the incumbent politicians or presidential candidates has anything resembling an actual plan to stop the borrowing,” Brown says.
Barry Ellsworth Web Site Barry Ellsworth said he decided to run for the Senate because he’s fed up with Washington and thinks Congress should be fired. He is the founder and former CEO and chairman of Green Plains Renewable Energy, an ethanol producer which employs more than 640 people. “In 1999, my opponent, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, and her friends in Congress passed a bill known as Gramm Leach Bliley,” Ellsworth says. “That bill destroyed some of the most important financial protections that the Glass Steagall Acts of 1932 and 1933 had provided to the citizens of this country.” Ellsworth said Congressional actions like that enabled Wall Street and other large corporations to push the nation into economic meltdown. It is still debatable what impact the repeal had on the crisis. Ellsworth would reinstate Glass Steagall, repeal the Bush tax cuts, and stop foreclosure processes until you reduce principal by 50 percent. Obviously, this would screw with the banks. “If they’re too big to fail, they’re too big to exist,” Ellsworth said. Ellsworth said he would have voted against the Affordable Care Act because “all it does is force everybody to buy insurance from the three health care companies. He points out that United Health Care’s CEO took in $109 million in 2009. If elected, Ellsworth said he also would build 25 square miles of solar panels in the Mojave Desert. He also vows to protect and restore the middle class, through a series of proposals found on his website.	Louis Macias Web Site Louis Macias counts a 1970s stint as a Ted Kennedy intern as his experience for this race. Somebody forgot to tell Macias that you shouldn’t kill the party-backed nominee with an attack from the right in a primary. Macias rails against the front-runner for her support of Israel and for landing in a House Ethics Probe. Macias said he does not think Berkley can beat Sen. Dean Heller in a general election match-up, but that he can, solely because he is Hispanic. “Help me win the Primary to send as message that we will not be tricked into an unnecessary and unconstitutional war in the Middle East,” Macias says.
Nancy Price Web Site Nancy Price ran for Congress two years ago and has since tried to become the Occupy Movement’s candidate. (That said, the Occupy Movement does not have candidates). She was unable to put “Occupy” as her middle name on the ballot, but is messaging the Occupy language as she runs for the nomination. Price argues to end political corruption, voter suppression, illegal war and torture and wants jail for Wall Street fraud. All laudable. She is a former University Regent and has belonged to many political parties over the years. She considers herself a “disillusioned Democrat” concerned about the military industrial complex and tax breaks for corporations. Price has a pro-choice rating from Planned Parenthood..

National Effort to Support the DREAM Act Tomorrow

A national effort in support of the DREAM Act takes place tomorrow (Monday, January 30) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. People from all around the country will be calling their congressional delegation and asking them to support the DREAM Act. Here is contact information for our Nevada delegation:

Senator Harry Reid
Phone: (202) 224-3542 l Fax: (202) 224-7327

Senator Dean Heller
Phone: (202) 224-6244 l Fax: (202) 228-6753

Rep. Shelley Berkley
Phone: (202) 225-5965 x1505 l Fax: (202) 225-3119

Rep. Joe Heck
Phone: (202) 225-3252 l Fax: (202) 225-2185

Rep. Mark Amodei
Phone: (202) 225-6155 l Fax: (202) 225-5679