Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for the Senate, said Wednesday that supporting a $15 per hour federal minimum wage is “a hill I would die on.”
Fetterman, who is seeking retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) seat, told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that he would promote a higher minimum wage as a senator, calling it “a fundamental issue of our time.”
“That’s a hill I would die on,” he said. “It’s a lie that has been in our society for generations that you can do anything closely resembling getting by on the minimum wage. It is reprehensible.”
Addressing opposition to a hike, he said those who think the current $7.25 federal minimum wage is “acceptable” should be “forced to live and work on that wage so they can demonstrate to the rest of us how it’s possible to get by.”
Fetterman also said constituents of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has opposed $15 minimum wage, should contact their senator, note that he does not live off a low minimum wage and ask “Why would you want any of your constituents to do that?”
“It is a fundamental moral and ethical issue, but it’s also just good public policy,” he said.
Earlier this month, Manchin came out against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour saying he’s instead “supportive of basically having something that’s responsible and reasonable.”
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