Braley supports giving Iowans a raise

A minimum-wage position doesn't pay what it used to. The purchasing power of the minimum wage has declined steadily for the last 45 years. In 1968, a full-time worker at the minimum wage made the equivalent of $22,000 in 2013 dollars. Today, folks who are working full-time at the minimum wage of $7.25 make only $15,000. That's a decrease of more than $7,000. Thousands of Iowa families are working hard to raise a family on these wages. No one who works full-time should be forced to live in poverty. That's why it's important to give Iowans a raise.

Rep. Bruce Braley has co-signed legislation that would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10.

Braley stands up for Iowa's middle class because that's where he comes from. He was born in Grinnell and raised in Brooklyn, Iowa, he witnessed firsthand the importance of work. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father worked at a local grain elevator.

Braley worked a multitude of jobs to help pay for college including construction, detasseling, truck driving, and working at the local grain elevator. At a time when working families are being forced to stretch their budgets, we need people in the Senate who will fight for policies that strengthen the middle class. That is why I will be voting for Braley in November.

Nicole Lapitska

Cedar Rapids