Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee,

Greetings and congratulations on being re-elected this year, and I hope that you and your co-workers will be able take advantage of the new House majority to the benefit of the country!? I have lived in Houston for 25 out of my 30 years and am happy to call it my home.

I’m writing you about the minimum wage vote that passed the house today.? I am in favor of raising the minimum wage and fully support this bill, however I do not agree with the implementation of the hike.? Instead of raising the minimum wage through a manual bill why note institute a bill that automatically raises wages on a gradual basis, adjusted for inflation.

In my opinion, regular, gradual wage hikes will help to stabilize these positions, as well as provide assurance to employees that their wages are not totally fixed.? Manual bills to raise wages at unscheduled intervals will only increase the political polarization of this issue, and should be avoided at all costs.

Employers may argue that a guaranteed rate hike will encourage employees to work less, or that it will create more of a need for outsourcing and migrant workers.? THese are very real concerns that need to be addressed, but not at the cost of wasting the time of congress just so they can distinguish themselves from the other party.? Put some though into a permanent fix and then design controls around it instead of using it as political fodder when the time is right.

Also, the web page that led me to this web form required me to not only enter my zip code plus 4, but my state as well.? That is just plain lazy of the programmer that put that site together, as almost any other site with a “locator” can pull the state from the zip code.

Thank you for your time and I hope you are wish you good luck in this new year!

Sincerely,
Jason Cumberland
1827 Foxwood
Houston, TX 77008-1223