ICYMI: Brandon Presley Proposes Minimum Wage Increase While Reeves Gives Himself A Raise 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               Contact: Press@Mississippidemocrats.org

November 3, 2023                 

ICYMI: Brandon Presley Proposes Minimum Wage Increase While Reeves Gives Himself A Raise 

Jackson, MS – A recent article from the Mississippi Free Press highlights Tate Reeves’ stance on supporting Mississippians: there always seems to be enough for Tate Reeves, but never enough for working families.

When discussing raising the minimum wage for the lowest-paid Mississippians, Tate Reeves said they should “focus on learning skills that will appeal to employers.” Meanwhile, there are 8,000 fewer Mississippians at work in 2023 than last year and thousands of jobs that have left the state under Reeves’ watch.

Mississippi has the lowest per-capita income in the country and is the state with the second-highest percentage of workers working for minimum wage. As Tate Reeves refuses to cut the state’s sky-high grocery tax while working families struggle to put food on the table, he found time to give himself a nearly $40,000 raise.  Not to mention, Reeves refuses to expand Medicaid which would produce as many as 20,000 new good-paying jobs and provide an additional $212 million over four years to the state general fund. 

As a small town mayor, Brandon cut car tag fees twice and balanced budgets. As governor, he’s pledged to cut the car tag fee and the country’s highest grocery tax to give working families more room in their family budget. 

See article below:

Mississippi Free Press: Presley Vows Minimum Wage Raise, Reeves Says Workers Need ‘Marketable’ Skills For Higher Pay

Even as Democratic candidate for Mississippi governor Brandon Presley pledged to raise the minimum wage if elected, incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves suggested over the weekend that low-wage workers should focus on learning skills that will appeal to employers.

“There aren’t a lot of people in Mississippi that are working for minimum wage now,” he told reporters when asked about his views on the minimum wage at the Mississippi Economic Council’s Hobnob Mississippi 2023 event in Jackson on Oct. 26.

Reeves said Presley’s promise to increase the minimum wage is something “every Democrat for the last hundred years” has used as a policy. “Mississippians can get better pay by developing “a skill that is marketable in the workplace,” he continued, echoing similar remarks he made in July when he suggested people who cannot afford health care need “better, higher-paying jobs”—not Medicaid expansion.

Mississippi and four other states—Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee—are the only five that do not have their own minimum-wage laws, meaning the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour applies. Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia have minimum-wage laws above the federal level.

Presley has said if elected, he would work with the Legislature’s Republican majorities to raise wages but did not point to a specific number.

“Definitely, $7.25 is not the figure,” the Democrat said at a Tougaloo College forum on Oct. 24.

The last time Mississippi’s lowest-paid workers enjoyed a minimum wage increase was in 2009 after Congress raised the federal minimum by 70 cents from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour.

[...]

In an interview with Zerlina Maxwell on the Mornings with Zerlina radio show, Mississippi Democratic Party Chair Cheikh Taylor said Democratic lawmakers have been looking at raising the minimum wage to $10 or $15 an hour to “lift people out of poverty.”

“Not only are people overworked and underpaid, but at $7.25, you are denied basic services,” Taylor told Maxwell on Oct. 25. “You can’t go home and take care of your children. You’re probably working two jobs to do this and you wonder why our communities are actually imploding every day.”

Mississippi is the poorest state in the nation, with the lowest median household income of all states at $49,111 and a poverty rate of 19.1%, 2021 U.S. Census data shows.

The Legislature passed and Reeves signed House Bill 1426 into law in 2022, raising the Mississippi governor’s salary from $122,160 to $160,000; the pay raise will go into effect on July 1, 2024. Mississippi’s attorney general, secretary of state, insurance commissioner, state auditor, treasurer, agriculture commissioner, transportation commissioners and public-service commissioners will also enjoy salary increases.

###

About Mississippi Democratic Party:

The Mississippi Democratic Party is dedicated to advancing progressive values, fostering inclusive policies, and promoting equal representation for all Mississippians. As the state's leading Democratic organization, we work tirelessly to build a strong and diverse coalition, advocate for meaningful change, and support Democratic candidates who champion social justice, economic fairness, and access to quality healthcare and education. Together, we strive to create a brighter future for Mississippi by ensuring that every voice is heard and every vote counts.