Miller-Meeks’ votes keep Iowans in poverty

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks voted to oppose COVID economic relief for Iowans. The American Rescue Plan Act (HR 1319) included a minimum wage hike that did not survive final passage. But her intransigence and insensitivity on both issues are on full display.

She also voted against advancing the budget then falsely claimed: ' ... partisan issues such as a national $15/hour minimum wage, which would kill thousands of jobs across the country and in southeastern Iowa ...”

This is not a partisan issue. The U.S. Department of Labor documents the creation of a minimum wage under FDR in 1938. Since then, only four U.S. presidents did not increase it: Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Both Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, Republicans, signed a wage hike into law. History matters.

By design, a gradual wage increase reduces the shock to employers. Estimates are 900,000 would be lifted from poverty. Half of all jobs lost during pandemic are low wage. Poor working conditions put low-wage workers at a higher risk for infection. If they don't show up for work they don't get paid.

Moreover, as Miller-Meeks continues to stonewall, she's pushing more Iowans below the poverty line.

Ellen Ballas

Iowa City