Small Business Owner Frank McKinney supports raising the minimum wage to $15/hour
NEWS RELEASE
Small Business Owners Say their Faith Calls them to Support Raising the Minimum Wage
Virginia Interfaith Center Delivers their Letter to Legislators at the General Assembly
RICHMOND – Feb. 6, 2020 – “Raising the minimum wage is good for business and reflects the moral teachings of my church,” said Frank McKinney, owner of Realty Executives Peninsula in Newport News. “No one can support a family on today’s paltry minimum wage of $7.25 dollars an hour. I call on our legislators to pass a law to increase the minimum wage in Virginia because it is good for business, for families, and it’s the ethical thing to do.”
McKinney and more than 20 other small business owners signed a letter calling on legislators to support Del. Jeion Ward’s bill, HB395 and Sen. Saslaw’s bill, SB7 to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024 or 2025. The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy delivered the letter with their signatures to legislators at the General Assembly today. The letter reads, “Many of us are active in our churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques. We are business owners who are guided by our faith traditions’ guidelines about caring for our neighbors.”
Business leaders hope to counter the many business lobbyists who have been lining up to testify against this legislation. The letter calls for the Virginia General Assembly to raise the minimum wage to $15 within a reasonable time period because 1) Workers are more productive when they are paid living wages 2) Consumers can better afford our products and services 3) Reducing poverty improves our communities 4) Raising the minimum wage is morally and ethically the right thing to do.
McKinney says the case for raising the minimum wage is clear, “In my experience, employees who are paid well are more dedicated and more caring of their colleagues and customers. This develops a culture of integrity and self-respect. Their children do better in school and people feel hope for the future. Legislators must to do the right thing and raise the minimum wage.”
Media contact
Roberta Oster
Communications Director
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
roberta@virginiainterfaithcenter.org
804-615-4192
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The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy advocates economic, racial, social and environmental justice
in Virginia’s policies and practices through education, prayer, and action.
VICPP is a non-partisan coalition of more than 750 faith communities working for a more just society.