Lawmakers Want to Raise the Federal Minimum Wage to $25 an Hour

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Sixteen years. No increase. Meanwhile, the price of groceries, rent, gas, and pretty much everything else has kept climbing.

Now a group of Democratic lawmakers wants to change that in a big way. They've introduced a bill called the Living Wage for All Act that would raise the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour. The proposal would also do away with the tipped minimum wage, which right now allows employers to pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 an hour, as long as tips cover the rest. -wesh.com

Supporters say $25 an hour is what it actually costs a single adult to get by anywhere in the country, based on research out of MIT. But let's be honest - minimum wage jobs were never supposed to be how you support a family. They were designed as entry level, starter wages. The problem is that in 2026, a whole lot of people are trying to do exactly that, and $7.25 is not even close to enough.

But here is the other side of that coin. For small business owners in Berkshire County, a jump like this would not be a minor adjustment. It would be a gut punch. A restaurant owner, a small retailer, a local service business - these are people already squeezing every dollar just to keep the lights on and their employees paid. Nearly tripling the minimum wage does not just affect the big chains. It hits the little guys the hardest.

A high minimum wage seems like an amazing idea - but most underestimate the costs it has on small businesses. We've spoken to many in Berkshire County.

Massachusetts already has a higher minimum wage than the federal floor, so Berkshire County workers are not sitting at $7.25 right now. But plenty of folks here are still well below $25, and this debate hits close to home.

The bill faces a tough road in Congress. But the conversation about what a fair wage looks like is not going away.