It’s 2026!!
The price of everything has gone up - except the American paycheck.

While members of Congress earn $174,000/year (over $83/hour), the federal minimum wage is still $7.25/hour, stuck where it’s been since 2009. That’s $15,080/year before taxes - less than the monthly rent in many major U.S. cities.

Meanwhile, working Americans are drowning under the rising costs of everyday survival:

Basic Need
2025 U.S. Average
Rent (1BR apartment)
$1,800–$2,950/month (Zillow)
Groceries
$450–$600/month (USDA, Numbeo)
Gas
$4.65–$5.85/gallon (AAA)
Utilities + Internet
$250/month
Healthcare
$400+/month (BLS, private market average)
Total Monthly Needs
$3,000–$4,500/month = $36,000–$54,000/year
Even middle-income Americans earning around $62,000/year (BLS) are one emergency away from crisis. And for millions of minimum wage workers, it's not just hard - it’s impossible.

Yet, corporate profits and executive pay keep climbing:

Amazon made $30 billion in profit in 2024
Walmart cleared over $15 billion
CEO pay has grown 1,322% since 1978
Worker pay? Up just 18% in the same period (Economic Policy Institute, 2025)
 
🔥 Our Demand
If Congress won't act to ensure the people earn enough to live,
then Congress should be required to live on what the people earn.

We demand that:

Congress members earn the federal minimum wage until a livable wage is passed into law.
The federal minimum wage be raised to at least $66/hour, indexed to inflation and local cost of living.
A national policy ensures no full-time worker lives in poverty, period.
Economic justice must start with policy accountability. If lawmakers had to survive on the wages they set, wage policy would no longer be theoretical - it would be urgent.

We’re not asking for luxury.
We’re asking for groceries.
We’re asking for rest.
We’re asking to live.

 
📌 Sign this petition if you believe leadership should be earned - not insulated from struggle.

Let’s build a country where working people don’t just survive - they thrive.