Chicago – June 26, 2026
The minimum wage would be raised to $25 an hour under a new bill to be introduced by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) on Thursday, in a bid to enthuse the working-class voters who have abandoned the Democratic Party.
The legislation, dubbed the Living Wage for All Act, has a companion bill already introduced in the House.
Murphy, whose name is frequently floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said he is pushing his party to take more aggressive stances on affordability, following its punishing defeats in the 2024 elections.
“Democrats need to offer solutions that are as big as the problems people are facing,” Murphy said in an interview. “The way you solve people’s basic economic problem – not having enough money to pay the bills – is by making a minimum wage be a living wage.”
The bill would incrementally increase the minimum wage from its current rate of $7.25, with the first jump to $12 an hour in the first year of enactment. Major corporations would have six years to work up to a $25 minimum wage, while smaller employers would have a 13-year runway. The legislation would also do away with subminimum wages for tipped workers, such as restaurant servers, youth workers and workers with disabilities. Nearly half of the American workforce makes less than $25 an hour.
