It is a hot topic of conversation across the country. What are the pros and cons associated with a 15 dollar minimum wage increase? It is a proposal now taken out of legislation passed in the U.S. House and Senate but progressives want it considered as separate issue while conservatives want to leave the $7.25 federal minimum wage as is or see a much smaller increase. We take the politics out of the discussion on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall. Dr. Joyce Beebe is an economist and Fellow in Public Finance at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. She provides the pros and cons from both sides of the issue. She says progressives say it’s about time for an increase. “There’s more than half of the states and Washington D.C. that have already increased their minimum wage so they see this as a validation that this is really a policy that we need to consider.” But is it the right thing to do? Listen to some of the economic facts and you be the judge.
Keeping Freedmen’s Town history alive
The goal is to raise seven million dollars for the first phase of the “Building Racial Bridges” campaign as the Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum works to purchase and rehab properties in Freedmen’s Town. Museum co-founder Catherine Roberts says it’s about keeping that important history visible. “This was a population that represents American History,” she said. “An uncomfortable time in American history about a population of free but still marginalized people after the end of slavery.” They turned terrible conditions into a thriving community. Now the museum is working to keep that history alive. Roberts is joined by Museum Chair Dr. Theophilus Herrington on this week’s program.
More Information:
Joyce Beebe, Ph.D., Fellow in Public Finance, Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University
· Website: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/joyce-beebe/
· Twitter: @BakerInstitute
Theophilus Herrington, Ph.D., Chairman, Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum
· Website: https://www.rbhy.org/
Catherine Roberts, Co-Founder/Board Member, Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum
· Website: https://www.rbhy.org/