When it comes to raising the minimum wage, most of the action is in cities and states, not Congress
The $7.25 federal minimum wage is used in just 21 states, which collectively account for about 40% of all U.S. wage and salary workers.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The $7.25 federal minimum wage is used in just 21 states, which collectively account for about 40% of all U.S. wage and salary workers.
No lame-duck session in the nearly 5 decades for which data is available has been as legislatively productive as that of the 116th Congress.
Turnout in this year’s primaries for Congress and most state governorships surged compared with the last midterms in 2014, particularly among Democrats. Nearly a fifth (19.6%) of registered voters – about 37 million – cast ballots in primary elections for the U.S. House of Representatives – a 56% increase over the 23.7 million who voted in 2014’s House primaries. Turnout that year was 13.7% of registered voters.
More members of the U.S. House of Representatives are choosing not to seek re-election than at any time in the past quarter-century.
Although the movement to limit congressional terms has been largely dormant for the past two decades, 15 states do limit how many terms their own legislators can serve.
The spate of congressional retirement announcements may seem like a lot but is within historical norms. But the retirement of several long-serving members likely will further reduce overall experience levels in both the House and Senate,
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