Yonkers Times: Business Owners Say New Year Minimum Wage Hikes Will Boost Consumer Spending, Strengthen Businesses and Local Economies

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Press Release
Yonkers Times (NY), December 27, 2024

Twenty-one states will raise their minimum wage on New Year’s Day as the calendar turns to 2025. Two other states and the District of Columbia have increases scheduled later in the year. Business owners across the country are welcoming the increases, saying they will boost consumer spending, increase productivity, improve hiring, employee retention and customer service, and strengthen local economies.

Hundreds of business owners in Missouri and Alaska worked with Business for a Fair Minimum Wage to support November 2024 ballot initiatives in their states to raise the minimum wage and enable workers to earn paid sick leave. More than 500 Missouri businesses in the Missouri Business for a Healthy Economy coalition and more than 130 Alaska businesses in the Alaska Business for Better Jobs coalition supported the ballot initiatives, which passed resoundingly with 57.6% of Missouri voters and 58% of Alaska voters approving.

With voters in Missouri and Alaska approving ballot measures, 15 states plus D.C. have a minimum wage of $15 or higher now or are phasing in scheduled increases to $15 or higher: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington State. Washington has the highest state minimum wage at $16.66 as of Jan. 1, 2025.

“It’s great news that 23 states are raising their minimum wage in 2025,” said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. “Workers are also customers and minimum wage increases boost consumer buying power. They go right back into the economy as increased spending at local businesses. Fairer pay also reduces costly employee turnover, increases productivity and improves customer service. Employees often make the difference between a repeat customer and a lost customer. State raises are vital for workers, businesses and communities as the federal minimum wage remains stuck at just $7.25, falling further and further behind the cost of living.” ...